I think that it comes down to how many cels you
can lay your eyes on and get a feel for. And what
ultimately your "soul" gravitates towards. Try
not to be too judgmental or prejudiced in your
views at first.
For me, I try to look at as many cels online and
offline as I can.
I try to get as much "exposure" and be a good
student of anime whenever I can.
I look at other peoplefs galleries too. I look
at cels I don't collect too, all of the time.
Sometimes, I look at other mediums of anime, and
not just cels; not really concentrating on
anything specific, but always looking for
something that catches my eye, my mind, and my
gut.
When I am like this, or in this 'mode', what
fascinates me the most is the artwork and design,
regardless of the artist, current price, or
resale value, popularity, name, whether or not it
is thought of as "high-end" or not. I don't care
if I've haven't seen the show before (although
for pricey stuff that figures into it more than
other cels most definitely).
When I have had enough of this, I return to my
collection and think is this "me"? I go through
all of my cels, and if I feel like anything is
not essential, I ponder its fate. I also
think "will this cel look good on my wall in a
nice frame?" If the answer is no, well there goes
another possible "victim".
Ultimately, I think that quality is at least a
two-part question. I think both come with
experience. One answer is what you think is
quality for you. Another one is a "reality check"
aspect to collecting that is deemed quality by
it's current and future market value, combined
with the historical revelance and artistic genius
associated with it, and deemed so by the anime
collecting community as a whole (whew!, all of
that?... YES!)
I think that by "training your eye" on so much
anime, after a while you will begin understand
what is good (for you) and what is not so good.
It took me a while to be able "to see"..things
like small line-fade, ink quality, cel age, and
eventually work by some anime artists that
just "stick out" so obviously. Many times now I
can just look at a cel of a popular artist and
without even knowing the anime or title, know who
the creator was. I am just beginning, I know..But
it surely is making a diffence in my collecting
knowing these things.
Last, some artwork is definitely of higher
quality for a variety of reasons, and then, it
breaks down to a matter of tastes. But then
again, I am a new collector. I am no professor.
You should ask some of the "Ol'school" around
here for the definitive answer. Just MHO.
On the other hand, when I think of my very
favorite and top cels to collect, all of this
light-hearted thinking gets tossed out of the
window, because I consider everything when it
comes to those cels, because I like them the
most.
Collecting is too complicated for me to say
everything is black and white. It is a
combination of feelings, reasons, and money
issues all bound together with a little awe,
mystery, and lots of excitement. So still
sometimes for me its I guess it's a hit and miss
situation. Or better like a "catch and release"
scenario most often mentally and physically.
I am getting better to know about when that
special fish, sometimes big, sometimes tasty
comes a long, I somehow know it is for me because
after having fished a many pond, lake, and stream
I have found out who my darlings are. It may
sound strange, but I feel that it comes down to
an emotional thing at the end of the day.
P.S.
( Now you, students can turn this paper in and
get a good grade ;) Sorry for being so long
winded!
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