For me, the competitive nature of collecting is 
one of the things that turns me OFF more than 
anything.  I don't only collect cels - I collect 
many, MANY things.  I don't collect things for 
the thrill of "beating" another person.  I 
collect because the things that I collect make me 
happy.  They give me good feelings and remind me 
of happy memories.  I can't judge the other 
reasons why other people choose to collect 
things, but for me if I find myself getting 
caught up in the stress of "competing" for cels 
or other items, I actually feel very unhappy, and 
even find myself getting depressed.  It's not a 
race or a game to me.  It's something much more 
important than that.  I know that other people 
can't always understand - I know that other 
friends of mine can only understand a collectible 
hobby if there's some kind of an investment with 
an eventual payoff (ie. a cel you buy for $50 and 
later can sell for $100).  But I'm not planning 
to ever get any of my money back.  This isn't a 
phase I'm going through, and it's not something I 
chose to do because it's popular or because other 
people think it's cool.  Whether it's rocks, 
comic books, trading cards, or animation cels, 
collecting things is my life - it's been my life 
for as long as I can remember, and I hope it will 
be part of my life for as long as I live.


Jennifer