[quote]I've always wondered about people who spend thousands on a cel- couldn't you simply commission the artist to do a one-off especially for you? [/quote]
That is interesting that you should note that. And I've tried that with mixed results. There are a lot of problems when it comes to "the artist" in that statement. It is not always so clear.
I've gone to the original manga artist, to beg to have something done on acetate, that was re-created by an OVA anime artist and directly derived from the same original story, however the person could not do it. Even though he was the creator of the original character design, he had no rights to the character any longer. Of course, he could give me a sketch. In other words, things are not always so cut and dry.
A lot of people are not in the position to redo something because of copyright issues, as well as, artistic reputation, non-disclosure agreements, and other contractual commitments made, etc. Many times artists don't even own the copyrights to the characters that they create. Since those characters are a part of a production, many times that they don't have rights to the "likeness" of any part of the production. Think MERCHANDISING. Sure they made the character and they are getting PAID FOR IT, by the production company. It is like a singer that sings a song. Sure they get a peformance fee, and may even get writers credit, but the ownership, publishing, and the actual recording of the song(s), (a.k.a "Masters") belong to the executive producers, distributors, and the label, unless the artist is a BIG NAME. Sure I'd love to have Hayao Miyazaki do me a cel. But, that is far and away a fantasy on to itself.
Almost all merchandised art is this way.
But, on the positive side. Say it gets done, Then there is the issue of "production" or reproduction concept. Smart collectors will know what is real and not. What was a production cel and what wasn't. You also have the question of "cut number or sequence number".. It will be a fake production cel if those are written in, now wouldn't it? So, now you have a cel, not in the production with no sequence number on it. A "one-off", is a reproduction, so if that is okay with the collector then fine. But, its perennial value is circumspect, if that is a factor that you are considering. They will also fade too, by the way.
Money values are always fluctuating with cels, but if you think of "The Little Mermaid" and a good scene of Ariel, and the animation history behind this production, it is not hard to find quite a few people that would pay thousands of dollars of a cel of this type, nor would it be hard to convince someone that restoration might help keep the value of the cel intact.
If you are thinking about anime only, as in Japanese anime, you will find quite a few people that have cel "upgrades" and partial restorations to cels that they like either for re-sale, or purely because they love the anime, or both. There are still quite a few cels out there that command over a thousand dollars. Whether you wish to buy them or not is anyone?s business I guess. That we buy them at all, could also be called into question, since studios used to pay people to take this toxic ?garbage away?.
So, simply putting it in economic terms may not really be useful for someone that "loves" a cel that they feel is worth the time, money, and the effort. Simply, waiting around for a sequence sister to appear is quite more of a gamble of time, patience, and perseverance in the face of a possibility that the next cel may not be found at all. You are right however, a cel is a flimsy thing, and preservation does have its limits, but so does everything in life, except perhaps diamonds and other precious metals.
To the original poster, there is one place noted on the links page here on RS:
http://www.srlabs.com/
