Great post!

As I have spoken with many other collectors 
throughout this hobby, I've found a lot of people 
have their own reasons for collecting.  Some 
collect because they love the art, some for the 
anime itself, others collect cels because they 
need that feeling of belonging to a community or 
club.  I've noticed collecting tends to breed 
a 'stature' quota.  There are those here who are 
very revered as cel veterans. Some people who 
have lots of money or connections and have nice 
things are also looked up to.  Those people feed 
off of the compliments they are given from their 
cel collection.  There's a plethora of reason why 
we all do this. It makes for very interesting 
observations. 

I started out to own pieces of my favorite show.  
But, the community also has that way of making 
you feel like you belong (or not) to a special 
club.  Whether you like it or not, you get close 
to the people on here.  You start to look forward 
to talking to other collectors, you make 
friends.  It's the topsy turviness that keeps me 
coming back and what keeps me collecting period.  
I still love my favorite show, and the root of my 
collecting stems from that.  But..I also like the 
antics, the hunts, the auctions...the whole 
enthusiasm and uncertainty that comes with it 
^_~. You never know what's going to happen from 
one day to the next..