How are your acquisitions this year?

Keropi · Post by **Keropi** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:35 pm

In many ways it must be tough being a sketch seller these days compared to how it was two or three years ago. Not only do you have the economic problems now, you also have a lot more sketch series that have appeared on the market through time. The more of a category of a collectible you obtain, the more likely you are to become pickier with your future purchases. The more sketch series are out there or have been out there, the less likely collectors are to go after any particular anime series.

There are only so many "good" (or well-liked) shows out there anyway for people to collect from.

Cels available to purchase only tends to decrease in the long run. Usually there are only temporary spikes when people decide to sell of their collections.

bran-chan · Post by **bran-chan** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:16 pm

I'm about the same this year. I have some new pieces that need to be scanned in which I'll get to eventually. Next year though I'll probably be cutting back drastically since I also collect other things besides cels, like statues/figures, and early next year is going to hit me hard in that department. Damn you Sideshow Collectibles, lol.

ginga123 · Post by **ginga123** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:10 pm

I'm actually up in purchases this year compared to 2008. I've made 13-18 purchases total for 2009 compared to 2008, I think it was 5-10. It was mostly CG artwork, but their is still some cels involved. As for price, the cg was more on the affordable side while cels were gaged by price and budgeted accordingly.

Updates have slowed a bit for my gallery since 2006-7 as well. I used to update every 3-4 months; but, I have noticed that over the 2008-9 calendar year I tend to update more frequently at the end of the year. I start in January, follow-up in June, then do constant monthly updates from October through December. Then the cycle starts again. I guess I find more items I like for sale at the end of the year. Not sure how this started.

I have other hobbies I like to: reading, cross-stitching, oil painting, and collecting Lucy Ball photos. (Right now, it's mostly reading and the knit-work. I find those low-budget and relaxing.

)

darksuzaku · Post by **darksuzaku** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 1:30 am

34 last year, 23 this year so far. My average price per cels is more or less the same though, but at this rate i'll be able to save some bucks this year compared to last year

Mappi · Post by **Mappi** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:30 am

I only bought one cel this year but it was something I wanted very much, so I'm happy.

zerospace · Post by **zerospace** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:53 am

I believe the hubby & I on average have purchased more this year or about the same as last year.

This has been for several reasons:

1. New CG series' we've been collecting.
2. Decreased prices on some of our old favorites.
3. Increase in availability of art from both newer and older shows.
4. Decrease in overall price of art we previously would have been unwilling to purchase has given us incentive to purchase some of these pieces.

There have been a couple of CG shows we've started collecting within the past year, so those have greatly added to the volume of artwork purchased. We've also been snapping up relatively inexpensive American artwork that before the current economic conditions had prices that kept us from pursuing it seriously. I'd imagine that as prices rebound, these purchases will die off. Our frequency of updates has been about the same as last year (we tend to update about once a month, occasionally more frequently, but sometimes less frequently).

I do believe the average price we've paid per cel or sketch set is down -- which is probably another big contributing factor to our overall increase.

majinuub · Post by **majinuub** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:05 pm

It's increased for me but I couldn't pass up the amazing prices for some items including a few wishlist ones.

Quacker · Post by **Quacker** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:47 pm

I am going to go against the major trend here and say that my purchases this Year to Date have actually increased. I find myself acquiring a new Cel every 2/3weeks on average?!

This is all no doubt due to certain events being in my favour this year: - the little Aussie Dollar increasing in value against both the USD & Yen coupled with the fact that the Cels I like to collect seemed to have come down in price over the course of the year (effectively given me a double-discount

).
My Business has also been quite remarkably strong compared to last year, so I don't feel as guilty rewarding myself for the hard work put into it

I cannot see this lasting forever so I may as well take advantage of it while I can.

EternityOfPain · Post by **EternityOfPain** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 9:29 pm

Have yet to buy a cel / sketch....

Cordelia · Post by **Cordelia** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:16 pm

I thought spending and number of artwork bought would go down but they went up this year instead

Mainly because I bought a few new CG series and for existing series, there were nice pieces available at decent prices.

I expect the economy to improve, so prices will go up and less people will sell their collection. So hopefully I will spend less next year...

Post by **sensei** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 7:52 am

[Reflecting on the above, especially the last couple...]

There are several factors at work here, rather than just the price/availability of good art. Many collectors like myself find our collections maturing, and as we eventually obtain a critical mass of things we like, then we naturally become more discriminating about what we add to it. Space and time needed to maintain a collection to archival standards are two increasingly important issues for me.

Then there's personal life considerations: some people are finding it more convenient to collect. There's a time consideration here, as browsing galleries and stalking prey assumes that you have the opportunity to do so. Some, because of work/family obligations, are finding a pastime like this just has to be put in its place. Others, who are new to collecting, are getting hooked and spending more quality time learning and growing.

I think that overall cost is not a major factor, as the art remains, as it was in 2000, relatively inexpensive overall, given its quality and significance. (Assuming that anime in fact is the major art form that I believe it is.) It's still a buyers' market, in spite of the exchange rate of the yen. While there have been some modest upturns in price, these are balanced by downturns in the asking prices for some series art that's been historically overpriced.

What we're seeing is just personal considerations like my retirement. Some relative newcomers are picking up the pace, other relative veterans like me are gracefully slowing down. I think we'll see the same dynamics ten years from now.

Just my 50 yen (now approaching 3 quarters' worth)...

cutiebunny · Post by **cutiebunny** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:30 pm

I think that I've purchased roughly the same amount of items this year as I did in the last. Although, it's harder to keep track of the previous year's amounts as I tended to delete images of the backgrounds that I won in order to make room for newer wins. This year, however, I've kept them all up, so I have a more accurate total. To date, I've purchased 100 items this year. Over 80% of these were backgrounds.

Unlike previous years, though, this one has caught me straying away from Sailormoon and more to anime whose artwork is more available. I haven't bought much in the past year Sailormoon wise simply because I don't see anything that I really like. Perhaps that is a reflection of the quality of artwork being released on the market or perhaps, as Sensei has mentioned, I've become more selective as my tastes have matured.

Because two of the anime that I enjoy and collect have not been promising this year, I've been able to take advantage of the sales that several animation companies have offered this past year in order to bulk up their coffers. Had the economy not taken the major downturn that it did, not only would I have likely have never seen these items but I also would not be able to afford them.

I've been very satisfied with my purchases this year. I've been able to purchase some nice items at some very nice prices. I hope that this trend continues into the next year.

Sui Kune · Post by **Sui Kune** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 4:43 pm

I only started collecting earlier this year, so my entire collection was purchased this year. XD (Well, with the exception of two cels that will be paid off in January.)

But I'd imagine next year would be around the same amount or less, since the character I collect is not only not very common, but expensive. I actually almost like it that way, because it gives me time to save rather than having to pass up something good because I can't afford it. Most of the items I have I've bought through private offers/direct purchase rather than auctions, which I like too since with auctions there's the pressure of no guarantee of winning and no fixed price.

I really look forward to what next year will bring.

I can't wait to see what you all will get next year, too!

Sue · Post by **Sue** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:47 pm

3 cels
1 sketch (that matched one of the cels but was a separate auction)

last year was 2 cels, before that one.

kel

toonybabe · Post by **toonybabe** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:23 pm

I bought 33 pieces of production art in 2008 and I bought 17 pieces of production art so far this year. But that is not counting two auctions I won at the beginning of the year for Unico genga sets and Unico settei. The Unico genga was very expensive - probably the most money I've spent in a transaction for production art, but that was because it was Mandarake's BWA and the exchange rate was horrible.

I don't know if my collecting is down or not. I would have to look at how much money I've spent instead of how many cels I've aquired. I am guessing my cel collecting has stayed the same or decreased a little since last year. Over Christmas break I am going to sit down with all of my records and figure out exactly what I've been spending on cels in the last couple of years - that will be very interesting.

I know for sure that it is really going to decrease next year. I recently bought a Macbook Pro, a Wacomb Intuos 4 Tablet and the Adobe Creative Suite. Plus I am getting two of my credit cards paid off by the end of the year (one of them financed the Macbook, lol) - not to mention Christmas shopping. I'm sure I will pick up one or two cels in the lower price range before the end of the year and I might get one for Christmas.

Starting in late spring, I haven't seen a lot of production art up for auction that I wanted to go for. Thats ok - I've got a couple cels on dealer websites that I've been eyeing for awhile...