Hello,

I've been hired to write a story about cel collecting for a new arts magazine that's being launched in Toronto this Fall. I'm a total newbie in this area. I study film theory, write a weekly film and video column for The Globe and Mail (here in TO) and used to write a fine arts column for another paper in Kingston, Ont., but I have never broached the subject of anime in a serious way. So I'm looking to you guys for the kind of help and expertise that only fans and collectors seem to have. I've visited a bunch of sites and read a lot of the forum messages, but am hoping to interview one or two collectors on the phone. Preferrably someone a.) with good knowledge of the cel collecting world (I suspect that's most of you), b.) in North America (Canada would be great but is not necessary), and c.) with well formed opinions about which sites/cels/anime shows are worth checking out. This article will be geared to general readers who may want to learn more about cels and collecting. If anyone would prefer to skip the phone interview and e-mail me privately with leads or ideas, that would be great too. Here are some of the questions I have:

When did cel collecting start to take off?
Are cel collectors still a relatively small group, or has it become more mainstream?
What are the hot cels, and which ones are emerging as the next big thing?
I gather from some of the posts that few people on this list like the way ebay handles cels -- are they just too expensive?
How do you explain the popularity of certain cels? Does it start with the quality of the shows themselves, or are some collectors just in it for the images?
Can anyone get into cel collecting or is it for people with a lot of money to burn? (What's the most expensive cel sale you've heard of?) 
What's the appeal of certain cels -- to you. What is it you're drawn to and (if you can put it into words) why?
Some of you have mentioned needing to go on cel diets -- is cel collecting pretty addicting??

Thanks in advance for any help with this, and I hope you'll let me know if there are other questions I've left out that would be worth asking. I hope this is not considered an intrusion by a non-fan -- I'm interested in getting the story right and want to gather a wide range of thoughts and opinions.

Cheers,
Lee Parpart

P.S. the mag is being backed by Multi-Vision Publishing and does not yet have a name. first ish is due out in Sept. or Oct.