Fortress_Maximus

@ Global, nice hanken mono! Glad a Macross fan acquired it and not our good friend urbantreasurehunter. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you jvmacross and tepidarium for sharing your thoughts. Hopefully BaronV, Mokman and other cel collectors will chime in too. I concur in the future more cel collectors will continue to liquidate. Much like tepidarium, I believe we have already been experiencing collectors liquidating in cycles for over the last decade. When you examine the sales of 70s-90s anime production cels and particularly original Macross TV, movie, and OVAs cels/art, the sales were steady. I am tracking sales back pre-90s until present and Macross cel prices have gone in cycles; high-end cels commanded a premium and prices for B to C grade cels remain in flux. Naturally there are some non-Macross cel series that just are not in demand, or the sellers overprice causing the inventory to sit (think our good scalper/gouger friend urbantreasurehunter). But as a whole cel collectors are selling now. In the future will the demand for anime production cels hold compared to currently levels? Personally I feel the demand of anime cels as a whole will decrease with the exception of certain key films/series (e.g. Ghibli, Macross, Gundam, etc). Historically former 'kings' of anime such as: Z Gundam, Urusei Yatsura, Ah Megami-sama, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma, Sailor Moon, Ghost In the Shell, and Fist of North Star, have cooled considerably. Also, if you examine the demographics of active cel collectors, it tends to fall within the Baby Boomers, Gen X to Gen Y groups. These are the very same group of collectors that are now selling mainly because they are preparing for the life experiences such as starting to build a family, buy a house (or two), and basically moved on... living life. More often than not, younger (potentially new) collectors are not interested in cel collecting as a hobby, they prefer buying the newest tech devices and entertain themselves with social media and games. Try visiting the cel forums, ask cel dealers and you will find very few teenagers in are the hobby, it is mainly mid-late 20s up to mid 30s. Additionally within the online cel community activity is quite stagnant; point in fact, 2015 was the first time the face-to-face cel gathering at AX was cancelled due to the lack of attendees. In my experience most cel collectors sell their collections to solve increasing financial responsibilities. As I previously shared, almost all of the original cel collectors I knew (during the last 35 years) sold off their collections, quit entirely, and just stopped engaging with the community. I discovered the most common reasons why cel collectors quit were: marriage, buying a home, paying the mortgage, starting a family funding college, aging parents, saving for early retirement, and traveling, etc. I envision in the future I will entertain offers to sell and trade. Fortunately I never viewed cel collecting as an investment, so I do not feel the need to sell to recoup initial costs. I am open if the offer prices are right. The longer I collect (30+ years) I find I am happiest with more freedom and shared experiences instead of things. In the future when I look back on my life, I know I will not wish I spent more time buying more things. If there is any sense of regret, it will be associated with not spending more time sharing life experiences connecting with people during my limited lifetime. Perhaps most importantly, I would not want to rob my future self; I might wish for a Mustachian face punch earlier and learn frugality so I could save more and gain financial independence sooner. Lastly, I find the more things I own just creates more stress and worry; I prefer to be live a happier, healthier and balanced life. Just my ten cents; your mileage may vary. Questions to cel collectors: What are some tips and/or lessons that helped you? A couple cel collecting lessons that helped me include: budgeting purchases, networking, and to always save more for your own retirement. The last lesson is key and has helped some of my friends to achieve early retirement (which may or may not be your goal). Looking forward to hearing your ideas and other thoughts on cel collecting too. Thanks!

Got some questions to actual cel collectors: What do you see as the future for your cel collection? Do you feel you might be compelled to stop? Perhaps due to family financial responsibilities, saving for retirement, caring for elder parents, children, or job loss? Partly asking because most collectors I've known over the post 30+ years, quit. Thanks for sharing.

Agreed. The thing is in many states Sellers are required to charge sales tax. So while it is an extra expense, it's no different IMO than buying from a dealer who also charges tax. Perhaps it's just the cost of collecting luxury items?

Really can't take it with you. Will probably sell and/or donate to worthy causes.

Great catch! Are there other episodes containing hidden tributes created by the animators? It'd be great to see more screenshots! Thanks in advance everyone.

Wish the Itano circus exhibition would come to the USA.

Wondering, how have fans reacted once they see this added comments? Has the response been favorable?

Ouch looks like something to skip.

Nice Dangaioh cel DarrinG! Thanks for sharing!

Yes this gouger is banking on the fact Macross cel collectors will pay to obtain cels. The key problems for him is his business is unsustainable and can't scale. He doesn't have industry connections or any network to suppliers. He is merely buying from sources most Macross cel collectors already access.

Already did. He completely ignores communicating. Perhaps others have different experiences.

How much time do you spend each day searching for Macross items to buy? Does shopping ever pose challenges with your other responsibilities? Kindly share your experiences. Thanks!

HA! It will be amazing if people buy his cels anymore; at the rate he is pricing he will drive away his limited base of buyers. He is truly gouging the secondary Macross cel market.

If you enjoy 80s OVAs then you might like to read these articles about Obari. https://vanishingtrooper.wordpress.com/2014/06/15/interview-with-masami-obari-robot-soul-edition/ https://vanishingtrooper.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/masami-obari-part-3b-obari-style-animators-and-legacy/ https://imgur.com/a/ww3RF?gallery http://shrine.lowyat.net/2013/12/01/afa2013-a-brief-conversation-with-masami-obari/

Cool! Thanks for confirming. :-D

Dangaioh has nothing to so with Iczer-1; absolutely not the same universe or even an alternative universe. The only connection is the shared character designer was Toshihiro Hirano. The Iczer-1 OVAs are fantastic definitely worth watching. Toshihiro was interviewed decades ago and revealed there is no intention to resume the original OVA storyline; he considered the story complete. As much as many of us would like the original creative team to create a new OVA series, it will not happen. They actually already tried to restart the series with the horrible G-Dangaioh. This series loosely connected the original OVA series by showing Mia sending a ESPer message warning of the Bunker invasion. But beyond that the follow-up series utterly fails on all fronts. IMO the Dangaioh OVA qualities we appreciate from the original were not showcased, namely the character designs, mecha, action and music.

Do you remember... RIKI-OH! There were two OVAs. The first was RIKI-OH: The Wall of Hell (1989). The second one was titled RIKI-OH: Child of Destruction (1990). Both were based on the great manga by Masahiko Takajo and Tetsuya Saruwatari serialized in 1988 to 1990. Anyone else watch these OVAs and manga series?

Right you are DarrinG! To us the music is timeless but, I was referring to newer viewers might consider Iczer-1 dated. Personally love Iczer-1, Iczer3 and Dangaioh! @ Chas: Consider picking up this Iczer-1 artbook. It is in lush full color and also has gorgeous close ups of the high detailed cels showcasing Toshihiro Hirano badass character designs and Masami Obari mecha designs too!!

Still enjoy the original FIght! Iczer-1 OVAs! Those are classic created by Toshihiro Hirano and use his incredible character designs too! The music is dated but the OVAs successfully weave elements of horror, sci-fi, and mecha too. There's a great interview with him and he states he achieved everything he set out to do with this series. There is a strong emphasis on style, character designs, mecha, explosions, horror, and fighting. These were some of the popular quallities that were popular in 80s and 90s OVAs. If you like Hirano's character designs check out the Dangaioh OVAs! Oh and the Iczer-1 translated artbook published by NipponPress(?) is awesome too. Definitely one of my favorites considering the considerable detailed cel images and close ups.

Great 80s OVA covers! Thanks for sharing. Does anyone have the OVA covers for: Ultimate Teacher, Natsuki Crisis, Baoh, Dangaioh, Iczer-1, Call Me Tonight, Orchid Emblem, Guyver? Thanks.

There's nothing wrong with deputy services per se if your goal is to maximize profits. This is the business model practiced by some 'popular' online cel dealers. However some YJP cel sellers simply prefer selling within Japan. Over the years I've interviewed many dealers and sellers and their perspectives vary greatly. Some YJP sellers seek maximium profits; these sellers are open to international buyers. While other YJP sellers simply refuse to sell internationally. Some cite keeping prized cels within JP. And others still feel dealing with international buyers remains too complex factoring in the payment and language as primary concerns. These varying concerns have been analyzed to death by cel communities and three facts become clear. First, even if cels are sold strictly to JP buyers, the cels disappear into blackhole collections. This is unfortunate and online cel collecting communities seek to prevent this by promoting displaying collections. Even one cel is enough to create an online gallery; so if you have a cel, you can easily create your free gallery on rubberslug.com. Unfortunately, displaying collections online is most widely practiced by English language collectors and not Japanese collectors. Secondly, during the last 30 years the cel collecting landscape has changed dramatically. Primarily because the actual creation of production cels has completely ceased. And, the available secondary market inventory continues to decrease with each passing year, replenished mainly by individual collectors finally selling. It is important to remember, there is no new inventory for 30-40 year old production cels. This is why the inventory for most cel dealers does not change. Third, the buyer demand on the secondary market also continues to decrease. This is evident when examining the demand trends for 'popular' series during the last 30 years. With the exception of a few classic series, general cel value and demand has actually, decreased. Lastly it is important to remember, cels are not affordable for the average anime fan or collector especially when compared to mass produced items.

There's actually many YJP sellers who cancel deputy service placed bids. As for the price gouger 'urbantreasurehunterjapan', he has successfully sold some cels. The sold cels had significant mark ups so he isn't exactly suffering, yet. But his 'business' practice was fairly common during the YJP cel boom of the 90s. And it's not unlike how the majority of defunct cel dealers operated. Also he might be a private collector (or not) seeking to gouge the international cel buyers. Regardless if he is a collector or not, it is clear he does not understand the extremely niche cel collectors market and he lacks actual industry connections. His 'business' is unsustainable.

@ JetJockey: Japanese sellers in Japan generally avoid selling cels to foreigners. They do not like to use ebay. Ebay has not been able to successfully penetrate the JP auction market. The most popular auction site in Japan remains YJP (aka Yahoo Japan). Some sellers will specifically state they do not sell to foreigners and others will even go as far as cancelling bids by deputy services (which bid on behalf of foreigners).

Ok. thanks jvmacross. If you ever get a chance to get to it please let me know the measurements. Also, what company printed this promotional poster? Thanks!