"Again, no one says you have to ^^; 
I agree, Nuriko is a very hard character to 
collect, and if you *want* to have a lot of cels 
of him, you have to deal with competition. 
Another person mentioned in this very thread, 
that some collectors paying high prices will 
cause a "price bubble". I think this is true in 
your scenario."

Well, no one is holding a gun to anyone's head 
here.  People buy what they want, in some cases 
they dont care what the price is.  I have a few 
friends who spend way more than I do on things, 
so I dont even consider myself that big a 
spender.  I assume you mean I am partially or 
wholey responsible for the prices for Nuriko?  I 
recall the fight cel auction recently that I 
won...for an extrememly high price.  You know...I 
had to outbid someone else for that...so it's not 
me driving the prices upward..at least it's not 
all me.  Id have been elated to win the cel for a 
lower price..but someone else out there was 
determined to win too. I also recall a cave scene 
cel on Ebay early this year that went for 1500$.  
I didnt touch that auction... 

There are others out there competing, which I can 
deal with, and have been dealing with.  You cant 
blame the price bubble on one person, or two.  
Like with Bebop, or AMG or any other show out 
there, LOTS of people want the cels, and so the 
price will go up simply due to demand.  Im not 
really complaining about the prices I pay.  I 
dont like them...but, I love the character, so 
for now I will put my heart into getting the cels 
I want.  After I feel my collection is the way I 
want it...trust me, I will bow out with a big 
happy smile.  There's plenty of Nuriko cels that 
I dont buy, or bid on...and the prices usually 
still go beyond 400$.  

As for taking losses on stuff...the only cels 
I've recently sold I bought a looong time ago, 
for high prices, because I was just starting to 
collect.  As a newbie, I was willing to pay 
anything for even so so shots.  These shots Im 
willing to sell now because I have better things. 
But since the market is much pickier (not to 
mention the economy is bad), I cannot regain my 
cost for them.  I dont mind that much, I chalk it 
up to a learning experience.  Again, most of the 
cels I've paid a huge amt for will never be 
sold.  I am very careful these days to only make 
big offers for cels I intend to keep. The losses 
I take are not only on the expensive cels 
either.  I cant sell a TNN cel for 30$ these days 
9_9.  Just depends on what people want.

Hmmm, Taro recently updated a slew of FY cels.  
All for close to 1k.  I notice they all sold, and 
I didnt buy a single one.  FY is just 
high...regardless if Im around or not ^^;. As 
long as there are people willing to pay those 
prices...the cels will stay high.  And while you 
can wait around for bargains, most people would 
rather jump.  The money will come back..but the 
cels may not.  So far I dont regret paying what I 
did for any of my best cels ^_^. Just like Im 
sure you dont regret paying what you did for your 
dream Hotohori.