Advice for people new to cel collecting.

Another thing we learned during our cel collecting journey, it helps to create a serious list of characters/shows you really want one good cel from. Then create a budget for how much you honestly can spend. To us this means not going into debt and/or exceed your financial means. Going into debt over any hobby is not prudent.

I can only echo what's more or less been written: I only collect cels from series that I've seen (maybe only part of it, but enough to know that I like it) UNLESS something really, really catches my eye. My "cat guy" cel turned out to be a fan cel from Yu Yu Hakusho, although it was unknown to me. I've just got it and I LOVE IT!!! The reason I bought it was because it just looked so interesting, and I kept thinking about it for DAYS before I finally decided to buy it. I'm not disappointed, either. It may be a fan cel but it's really, really well done. Other than that, I buy cels from series that I know and love.

When I first showed my collection to one of my roommates, she asked me how much cels were, and I didn't know how to answer. I've paid $5 for a cel and sketch set and I've paid $80 for my Shido cel with background. No matter what I paid, I buy these things because I love to look at them. That's the main thing for me. I also use the "could I frame it and put it up on the wall?" benchmark. If I'd be happy framing it, then I'm happy to buy it.

Part of the reason that I don't have cels from InuYasha is because of how expensive they are right now, espically cels of InuYasha or Sheshy. But, another cel collector (and I've completely forgotten who) said something that really stuck with me:

"Even a broken watch will be right twice in a day."

Meaning that if you didn't get it the first time around, there's always the possibility that you'll get it later. I'm finding that sentiment to be right in a lot of other aspects of my life as well. :) So, I wait, and even though I spent a fair bit of cash this month (hehe) maybe 2 or 3 moths will go by where I don't buy a thing or even see anything that I'd like. But, I take my collection out and look at it and I'm a happy bunny, and that's kind of all that matters to me. (Although, I admit I LOVE compliments on my gallery!!)

What kind of protection would you all recommend for keeping your cels in the best condition possible?I am thinking about setting up a special shelf in my closet and finding a way to keep it temperature controlled.Would it be better to frame my cels and keep them upright in a shelf or keep them in a cel book.Either way should I invest in a humidifier as well?No price is too high to protect my collection.

Also can you recommend a great scanner?Is it true that the light from cels being scanned can harm the cel and potenially cause line fading?

I would love to get my gallery up and running!

[quote] What kind of protection would you all recommend for keeping your cels in the best condition possible? [/quote]

Well, here is the thing. Whatever you do there is no guarantee that the lines on the cel will not fade. Sometimes that happens even to the colors. It really depends on the materials the studio used. For example, my Kero cel, has no fading and I suspect it is because of the ink they used. While SM cels are very prone to fading. That said, there are things you can do to slow the deterioration process. I can tell you my way of storing cels but there are also other ways to do it. I keep my cels in a cel book (Itoya). The books in an acid free box for storage, the box in a closet. In other words away from all kind of Light (light fades cels if exposed for long or at least Japanese. Haven't tried Disney) Sometimes I also use a cel bag and then put the cel in the book. I also put acid free mat boards in the sleeves between the diffent cels so that they don't bend. Never put paper or backgrounds directly behind a cel or it will stick and that is not good. What else, framing. If you decide to frame, use hight quality acid free materials. However, I've heard people say that cels fade even after being framed and under Uv glass so you should decide for yourself which is best. I had actually two threads on framing and cel lines, which might be of interest (Cels & Original Artwork-Anime Cel framing services, hand inked and xerox cels). I personally like to scan my cels and look at them on my computer. That way I don't risk them getting damaged. Too much handling and touching is bad. There are a lot of posts, pages on storing your cels. You should check them out.