Wow, now those are questions I must at least 
attempt to answer. Let me preface by saying I've 
been collecting cels now for around 2 years, but 
it seems so much longer!

1. I sell cels to 'trade up' so-to-speak.  I 
always try to buy higher quality cels rather than 
buy a lot of 'lower-grade' cels.  So, every so 
often I find a new cel that's a nicer image than 
one I have & I'll sell the one I have to fund the 
purchase of the nicer one. 

2. The socio-economic state of the world has no 
effect on my cel collecting/selling/trading 
habits.  Cel collecting is my hobby and often 
times, my pseudo-emotional support, especially 
when life is tough.  I love my cels -- I get 
attached to most of them, and those that do not 
form an emotional attachment with me, get sold 
for that very reason!

3. Although I understand the reasons for 
switching to CG animation, I hate the idea, I 
must confess.  I hope that cel collectors may 
form an even tighter group in the years to come 
as cels become rarer and rarer.  I certainly have 
no plans to bail out on this wonderful hobby any 
time soon & certainly not because CG is taking 
over!

4. As for friends in the collecting world -- the 
only ones I know or have are those that read and 
post on this board or those who have taken the 
time to talk with me about my cels galleries or 
cels i've sold on eBay.  Most of them still seem 
to be in the hobby.  My fiance is the only other 
collector that I share the hobby with -- and I 
got him into it, so I guess he doesn't count!

If anyone has read this whole thing, thanks for 
caring!