I think that most people would not deny their
child the basic necessities of life. There is
always someone that might get a little
disillusioned ^-^. Shawna, JP, have all hit on it.
But, I have seen worse Otaku then cel collectors.
Cel collectors have their "periods", peaks, "mood
swings", that come and go. Boom and bust periods
seem to describe it. Once you can get over the
fact that you can`t eat all of the candy in the
candy store...well, maybe you can get my drift..
Especially, the first couple of years or so...I
think that gradually, if the person has not quit,
gone broke, or both..and has still stuck it out
some common sense of "what the hell am I doing?"
begins to at least creep in past the craving from
time to time.
And the BIG collaspe happens..the stack of cards
comes tumbling down, the row of dominoes gets
nudged over..and just like that....another
wonderful collection of cels gathered returns to
the fold, to be groped over, loved, and stuffed
into someone elses binder. Maybe that is a little
too clear cut, but something like that. 

 But, I have seen Otaku that collect figures,
doujinshi, tele-cards, and manga that "live and
dream-the dream dude" and I mean live it! They
make cel collectors look like rookie collectors. I
have seen these guys live out of the candy boxes
that they buy looking for the next figure that
would complete their 130 figure set collection.
There are people here that not only spend hundreds
or thousands of dollars on "toys", but hundreds of
thousands of dollars! There are people here that
buy warehouse space, rent rooms, just to store
their collections from floor to ceiling! I am not
joking or exaggerating. And you know what? It is
seen as weird, and extreme, but not completely
crazy. Imagine that in the USA. There person would
be turned-in to an insane asylum.