Not to start on the negative, but I do not think
that anyone has the right to state that the cels
we have on our site are probably stolen, or to 
make references to "unscrupulous business 
tactics".  NONE of our cels are stolen cels, but 
I don't think we should have to state that. 
I do not think people should make such 
assumptions just becuase the cels are on an 
American site.  If we were a Japanese site, I 
doubt anyone would be questioning it.  And I think
we have very good business practices.

There was a lot of anticipation for AnC cels and 
this is why the prices are high.  It has nothing 
to do with the timing, but with that fact that 
everyone knew how popular these cels would be.  
Will the prices drop when more are available?  
It's certainly possible, but it's not a guarantee.

A good example is Kenshin tv.  While there are 
many rumors about where all the cels are, the most
reliable source has told me that staff took home
the majority of the cels, and that is where they
will stay.  Taking into account that there are 95 
episodes of Kenshin, all the cels of a show being 
released does not mean low prices.

Also, saying that dealers "would like you to 
believe" that a show with only 26 episodes means 
that the cels will be rare so they can hike up 
prices is another unfair claim.  Nobody knows for 
sure how popular, and thus how expensive cels 
from any show will be.  I know of some shows 
that have hardly any episodes and the cels are 
very inexpensive, and then there is the 95 
episode Kenshin case.  FY is even a good 
example.  The 52 epsiode TV series cels ususally 
cost a lot more than the 6 episode ova II cels.  
Still 26 episodes means half as many cels as 52 
episodes.  At least by my math it is...

And I believe there were 24 epsiodes of AnC, not 
26, but I could be wrong.

In the end, it does nobody any good contemplate 
the future of cel prices.  If a cel price seems 
too high for what you value it to be, then don't 
buy it.  There will always be cels from a show 
that are cheaper and more expensive than what you 
paid.  The question is do you love the cel and 
how much is it worth to you.

I passed on some Gundam Wing cels on one trip to 
Japan because I thought the prices were too high,
and I thought I should wait for some better priced
ones.  I won't even go into how often I kick
myself for that one...

Alyssa Lebner
Concept Anime