an uncertain future

[adminpoll]63[/adminpoll]

And now, for the obvious question.

I think -- unlike past polls -- there is a right and wrong answer to this question and I don't like the right answer at all. A better question might be, "How do we prevent cel collecting from becoming dead (or spread so thin that it might as well be dead)?"

My solution (armchair quarterback that I am) is outlined here:

http://www.rubberslug.com/board/showthread.asp?T=705

Anyone else have any suggestions/comments?

I don't believe collecting is dying I think the supply is. With new mass market selling power online comes a greater amount of people who are now able to collect. As for supply from new shows I hate to side (partly) with Big companys but the idea of selling directly is hard to answer. Think about the prices if a show's cels were massly sold to the public, they would drop with to many cels out there. Even if they limited the release of cels we all know that the price of cels also depends of the current popularity of the show. Look at DBZ cels the amount of cels out there is huge, but they still go for sooo much money because of the popularity. While it is true that big shows like Naruto would makes money with cels what about the new shows that come out with no popularity base to start. The solution would be to wait until the show is out and popularity is up. That would work but then the lower budget collecters (like me) would be screwed since the prices would be to much for us to handle, not to mention getting cels out of Japan without a major markup. Its all very shady and so many things could happen that could help or hurt sales and thats a gamble many people will not want to take. I love collecting and I would love to see new original cels, but the idea of mass marketing takes something special away as well. I have had to hunt and bargain for every cel I own, and I loved every minute of it. To just go to a studio online store and buy a cel? That seems wierd, to easy maybe, but wierd. I think the best solution is that studios do what ever they did before to get cels out and then auction off only the really high quality cels. The money for the "good stuff" is always big and they would turn a profit and the little people (me again) would be happy. Hey you never know what will happen in the future and maybe I'm wrong about studios selling directly. What ever the case there are less cels out there, but plenty of collectors at the table.

I agree: cel collecting isn't dying, the supply is. If anything, it is just making collectors more rabid.

Hmm, I guess you do have a point. I was always more into the actual shows rather than the actual art. Many shows I like actually have surprisingly mediocre artwork. Dunno if that's a common thing.

Glad to hear that there are many out there actively collecting. Hey, it keeps this site afloat. As we grow, we'll be making more of an attempt to concentrate collectors and be generally more useful.