tepidarium

While anything is possible, it would be, obviously, very unethical for Rinkya to do anything like this. I think it is much more probable that if it was internal bidding, there simply were Rinkya end-users doing the actual bidding.

Yes! We all love the episode 27 black and white sequence I was watching those dougas and it was quite something to see the prices they realized. I've not seen those prices for dougas. Still, it's Misa, and she's smiling (which is a rarity) so the price goes higher? Vinegar syndrome is scary. It's good of the seller to mention it, and I hope the buyer knows to keep it away from other cels.

The cel was very nice, however I was concerned with the warping and the seller's comment that it had a vinegar (syndrome) odor .

These auctions were crazy. Get out the warm popcorn indeed. But are you really surprised at the prices? It's been trending that way for some time. Not to reopen the whole "scalper" thing but, something is "worth" whatever someone is willing to pay for it. These items are worth their price because they got buyers, and we should expect that this is the current market. All it takes is a few buyers to change the market anyway. FWIW, at these prices, for single pieces, I don't think they were bought to be resold (at least immediately), so I tend to think these are going in private collections. Some of the prices on these may also be a reflection of what happens when the supply is so lean for so long (and of poor quality) that when something half way decent comes up demand increases.

The "boom" in cel collecting during the early internet years was a one and done. Small-time dealers setting up virtual shops online with low overhead and a generation of people demanding production art from the last wave of celluloid animated productions with good supply from the origin country all came together to create the market as it was. Yes, it's been bone dry for some time.

It's true, I didn't mention that my eBay comment related to auctions that are now over 15 years old! I bought quite a number of excellent cels that I treasure on eBay in the late 90s and early 2000s. As for shill bidding on YJ, one can never really know if it is occurring but I believe Rinkya, at one point, only used one user name which allowed for easy identification of the bidding service and could possibly have served to motivate shill bidders.

Which is worse - missing out on a cel when a dealer updates a site or getting shill bid on YJ or sniped on an eBay auction? I'm tired of both. Is there no peaceful way to acquire art? Yeah, I know the answer: demand creates the crazy market.

Back in the day, Animanga had a great community forum for cel collectors. And Cels.org cel dealer tracker, too! Now, the cel tracking merchant websites are gone

On second thought: Misa needs her trademark hair rolls emphasized...

This looks better than the Legend of the Galactic Heroes character redesigns. Those are terrible.

It only takes one person to prove the seller right... Macross was guilty of poor illustration at times. Seeing this image reminds me of that. There are some really great shots of Milia. This isn't one of them. The scene is significant, though. And there's the conundrum, collect well illustrated images or important images. Sometimes the important ones are poor visual examples of the character.

They were on Yahoo Japan at the beginning of the year. The auction contained six cels - these were the two best. The lot went for roughly 1000 USD. The ebay treasure hunter is looking to turn a nice profit...

These are great! Congratulations on adding them to your collection

At this point, we're looking for the Loch Ness Monster unless some silent collectors release their treasures

Finding quality examples is a needle in a haystack operation nowadays. But the promise of finding that one great shot (or forgery!) can still be realized...yes, this is when you know you've gone off the edge with cel collecting. Is the hunt worth it?