31113

Ah, yes, time for another gratuitous "I gots lots of hits" entry. But, unlike all the previous examples of these entries, I didn't want to do a 30K post. *Everyone* blogs about 30K. But no one blogs about 31113. And really, that's a much cooler number than, say, 30,000.

Five and a half years later, and coinciding nicely on the Italian holiday of the La Befana, the good witch, my gallery hit that mark.

I realize that I probably should have long hit the 30K point, but, in order to prevent image theft, I organized my gallery under the Japanese name of the anime, 'Sailormoon'. But, as the new RS appears to geared towards increased viewership, the old titles have been replaced by the English version, 'Sailor Moon'. (sigh) I expect to see my scans hawked throughout the internet soon...

It's hard to imagine that I've had a gallery for slightly over five and a half years now. It's also hard to believe that I've been collecting anime artwork for six and a half years. But when I look back at how things were when I first began collecting and how they are now, it makes me appreciate more how things are now. Sure, in 2005, the yen/dollar exchange rate was favorable and there was a far larger supply of high quality cels, but, the community, while larger, was not as cohesive as it is now. When I first joined RS in 2005, several Sailormoon collectors would chat about a current auction, someone would, almost on weekly basis, state that the cel was their wishlist, and expect that everyone else would back-off. What surprised me even more was how reticent the other collectors were to step aside, even though I'm sure they were well aware of the scam the other collector was pulling. Now, though, while there are fewer collectors, the community seems to be more tight-knit. We work together far more than we used to.

But, the community isn't the only thing that's change in my stint here, so has my appreciation of other anime and other art forms. Both of these things I attribute to everyone else who has created and updated their galleries during the past six years. I used to be a strict collector of Sailor Moon cels. It was all I would ever buy. But, in looking back through this year's purchases, I find that Sailor Moon cels only comprised a small portion of those items. Everything else is from anime that I learned to appreciate after seeing all the fine example others have posted on RS. And, I'm sure that, years from now, I'll still be influenced by all the great artwork on this site.

(Eee...I'm becoming a bit of a sappy Rubberslug poster child, right?)

So, pardon the nostalgia post. I promise I won't do it again...or at least until I hit somewhere around the 66K mark. Actually, judging from the witchly nature of my gallery, I'm sure you can already guess what number that will be ^_~