I wasn't asking for names- just "Hey, the studio 
picked us as the sole distributor dealer, and we 
bought all the cels, and will be selling them 
ourselves at the site."
I would count that as having been "released" by 
the studio.
Or- "The studio auctioned off some cels at a con, 
and we bought em."
Technically that's not a release I guess, but 
it's not really that far off as I see it.
Basically, in my mind, released means that the 
studio sells the cels to dealers with the 
assumption that they will be sold on the open 
market.  And I guess I would add to that, a large 
number of cels, so the auction wouldn't really 
qualify.
The reason it seems odd that an American site 
would carry the cels first/only is because 
typically Americans -don't- have the connections 
the Japanese dealers do, because Americans live 
in a different country, speak a different 
language, have a different culture, etc.  
Considering how many dealers in the past have not 
wanted to sell to Americans, does it seem so 
illogical that a studio would act likewise?

I'm not going to get into another argument 
about 'high prices' and why dealers charge them, 
why they have to, etc.  I posted my thoughts on 
this a while back.
Myself and several other collectors believe the 
prices will come down, because we think more cels 
will become available, and the law of supply and 
demand will kick in.  If we are wrong, well, then 
I suppose the cels will go to the poeple who are 
willing to pay what the cels are at now.
I'm not willing to pay $200 for a closed eye 
headshot of any character, nor $400 for one with 
them open.  I'm especially not for AnC cels, 
because I haven't seen the series, and also 
because I didn't much like the way things turened 
out in the manga from the translations I read.  
I have very much enjoyed Yuu Watase's work, I 
like her style.  
Of course there will be some people willing and 
able to spend so much on the cels.  If there are 
a large number of those folks, this venture will 
be successful for you, congratulations. 
If not, well, you may not be able to sell the 
cels at the prices they are at now.  So, if they 
are worth that to you, as you said, then it 
doesn't matter either, you win either way.