Contrary what many believe, cel restoration DOES 
increase the value of a cel when it is done 
correctly.  Correctly being the key word here.  

To some collectors (myself included) finding 
severly damaged cels can be a dream come true.  
Because the seller can't charge a premium price 
for the cel it can (typically) be bought at a 
very cheap price.  Take for instance:  I was over 
at Van Eaten Galleries several months ago.  Mike 
had just gotten a bunch of Fantasia and Pinocchio 
cels.  The images on the cels were from some 
great moments in the animation, and each of them 
would have sold for 5K or more easily in good 
condition.  Unfortunatley, all were in poor or 
worse condition.  Missing paint, damaged 
cellulose, just about anything bad you could 
imagine had happened to these cels.  I was 
ecstatic when I saw em, hoping to god he'd sell 
em.  Mike being the smart and wise guy just 
grinned and I instantly knew he and I were 
thinking the same thing -- restore them and sell 
them for what they're really worth.

A couple months later I came in and he had a few 
finished, they looked marvelous, just as good as 
they did when the paint originally dried on em.  
And were selling for $5,000 - $7,000 each.

Real cel restoration can be complicated and 
expensive.  But it will restore the value of the 
cel, as well as the putting life back into the 
image.