I don’t think that the price of cels goes up dramatically because a series is now airing in the US. If you think about the age group that is targeted by the show and network, these are not the people who make up the vast majority of cel collectors. The 12-18 age group generally does not have the finances to spend on cels. They would rather spend their limited money on other things. If you look at our forum here, we have perhaps 3 or 4 people who fall into that age group, with the vast majority of our group being either college students or older. None of my friends collect cels, but some do watch Anime. The friends that I do know that collect cels, I’ve met through cel collecting.

The prices you see on eBay are driven up not so much buy collectors, but by people who don’t know the price of what something is worth. As well as those who are trying to make a fast buck! How often have we seen as cel on eBay that was on a dealer’s site a few weeks before and now has an eBay reserve price much higher than the dealer’s price?

What you will see a demand for is the other mass merchandising that goes along with a “cartoon series”, the dolls, action figures, lunch boxes, etc ala Pokemon. Perhaps McDonalds/Wendy’s/Burger King will do a tie-in with their Happy Meal/Kid’s Meal. 

But these are just my thoughts, and I’m sorry to say my opinions have been wrong on more then one occasion. 


Regards-
Walt