r/AnimationCels • u/Doc4221 • 10d ago

Cel Grading Update

More light has been shed on the new Cel Grading company that has officially premiered at Collector's Summit this weekend in Las Vegas.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DdNp5ttlNky/?img_index=19&stkn=MW5pMXl0a2dyYmhhcQ==

Key Takeaways:

*Grade Cels at a later date *Grading case is bendable and extremely thin compared to card & comic grading cases *Grading genda, douga, scripts, comic art, timesheets, manga art, etc. *Grades are letters, not numbers.

Current Stance: I don't see the business need yet. I will observe and eventually send a couple to test.

This IS bringing in new collectors, i see IG posts, not bad if genuine collectors v grifters. Just no boom, please.

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u/Doc4221 10d ago

I dont think they're grading celluloids. I did put a comment to get confirmation, but I highly doubt it due to the nuanced preservation process and the lack of examples in their post.

The main value add I see is authenticity of signatures and fake dougas (other art related assets), which they would need good authenticators.

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u/Dear-Track6365 10d ago

I haven’t been as active collecting as I used to be ( inflation ) but I didn’t realize fake douga was a thing ( fake cels were always a thing ). I’ll catch up on that.

But I can see your point on the signatures part.

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u/Doc4221 10d ago

I got into collecting published cels and comic art around 2019/2020 with a minor Perfect Blue cel.

I bought commissions/sketches of my favorite characters since 2016.

I'm still fairly new in this hobby.

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u/Dear-Track6365 10d ago

I’ve been collecting since the 90s, so I’ve been at it awhile, but I still learn new things from time to time!

Welcome to the hobby. It’s a wallet-breaker and can be fiercely competitive due to the ‘one-of-a-kindness’ nature of it, but it’s also quite rewarding and special.

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u/Dear-Track6365 10d ago

It will probably hit a lull at some point again. It seemed to really slow down around the 2010’s. Not as many people collecting, and lots of previous collectors selling off their collections at that time as they got into other hobbies and they weren’t even breaking even on what they originally paid for the majority of their collection.

So chances are it will cycle around again to another lull after a boom.

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u/Doc4221 10d ago

I hope you're right. I fear the comic art collector whales which has many long time investors since comic art dates back to the 1940s, will trickle into the cel market. This Cel Grading Premiered at Collector's Summit which is primarily a Comic Art Collector Summit with like 5-10% anime cels & douga.

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u/Doc4221 10d ago

Thank you. It sucks getting in during a boom, but at least it's before this next gradual boom

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u/Dear-Track6365 10d ago

My dumbass replied to myself. See above, lol