I guess I'm just lucky that 1) Everyone in my 
real immediate family has always liked animation 
and can appreciate the value in cels. My dad 
might not understand why I like anime in 
particular, but he can appreciate cels as being 
art. .... and 2) I go to a college with a lot of 
art students, most of whom also love animation. 
They might not know what a cel is until I explain 
it to them, but then they think its pretty cool.

However - just random people? I never have random 
people come over and look at my collection (or 
even any family beyond my sister and my dad)... 
but when it somehow comes up in conversation I 
try to say that I collect 'animation production 
art'. Makes it sound a bit better then: Uhh, I 
collect sheets of plastic with plastic paint on 
them. .... I also generally leave off the price 
unless specifically asked. ;)

I might actually be giving an hour long 
presentation on my animation cels and the general 
process of it in one of my classes. So we'll see 
how they react when the time comes.