My observations lead me to believe that this cel
and its seller are legitimate, although I will
caution that it's just a gut feeling on my part.
[1] The seller has a good feedback rating, with
no negatives. Even the one neutral comment
stated that the seller was very nice (although
that might not have anything to do with the
authenticity of the cel).
[2] The seller also auctions off non-cel items
(and they seem to be authentic Japanese
collectibles to me, although I'm no expert). I
tend to be believe rip-off artists would
concentrate only on selling one type of item (in
this case, cels).
[3] The fact that the seller has Buy-It-Now
prices on all his/her auctions (and many equaling
the starting bids) might indicate a desperate
need for money quick. I don't think a rip-off
seller would settle for low Buy-It-Now prices
(shouldn't they try to maximize their profit)?
ALTHOUGH, it might just mean that the seller
could want to sell "hot" goods quickly before
they get caught.
[4] One of the seller's current auctions has a
cel with the character's eyes closed; rip-off
artists tend to sell the too-good-to-be-true
items.
HOWEVER, I am concerned that the cel images do
not display sequence numbers, nor did the seller
provide any in any of his/her cel auction
descriptions. There is also the possibility that
the seller honestly does not know whether or not
your Belldandy cel was an original production cel
or official reproduction cel.
So my final answer is NO, I don't think the
seller is trying to rip you off, but I DON'T KNOW
if the cel is an original production cel or an
official reproduction cel.
Let's see if the cel experts here can shed more
light.
*
PS - There was also a previous thread about this
seller that you can read up on:
"Maybe I am being a little suspicious ...But!!" -
youaretheone |