evangelion cels on ebay... seller silvrdrago

[v3g4n]

http://stores.ebay.com/Silvrdragos-Anime-Cels/Evangelion-Cels-/_i.html?_fsub=1140956012

has anyone else seen these?
they can't be production cels, the cost seems way too low to me...
the seller does list some of the reproduction cels from cellu club but the descriptions for the "production" cels pretty much only say "...Production Cel with douga..."

i sent the seller a message asking if they can provide authenticity. if they respond i'll let everyone know

[AR-99]

Silvrdrago is the largest seller of Eva cels (and other production artwork) AFAIK on ebay. Actually from what I've seen, although I find his prices high, they are lower than other cel sites and he has a wider selection although as you pointed out his descriptions are very basic. Besides his spotless feedback record he has an extensive cel collection. Not a bad way to sustain funding for cels and genga/douga because it's not a cheap hobby. Still I'd like to see what he says. If you'd like I can post the other sites that I'm aware of for comparison and there is also Yahoo Japan Auctions.

[The Eva Monkey]

Relevant: Want to buy an Evangelion animation cel?

I am skeptical, personally. His feedback may be spotless, but that doesn't necessarily prove that some or all of his cels are legit. My research has led me to understand that there are more fakes than legitimate Evangelion cels in circulation. I'm of the mind that it may be too good to be true.

Out of curiosity, I did a quick comparison of one of the cels for sale.

SPOILER: Show

I'm not an expert on animation cels, but comparing the cel to the same frame from the show, I don't think they're the same. Background is different, color is different, line work looks too light, and the eyes and hairline look sloppy compared to the show.

So, yeah, I am skeptical.

[AR-99]

It could also be that people who don't know better are buying and those who do are staying away. The genga and douga I think are a different story but are largely Naruto and Bleach and IMO are overpriced.

For the Misato cel it does say "comes with non matching background".

A good resource is the Anime-Beta forum as there are veteran collectors on there and it helps to have multiple eyeballs on something like this if you're uncertain as they will help out with identification and authenticity questions.

[The Eva Monkey]

For the Misato cel it does say "comes with non matching background".

Fair enough.

I also noticed something that struck me as peculiar, I noticed a fairly high number of people buying multiple items. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't expect people to typically buy 3-4 items from the same person at the same time. It almost seems like shill selling. Having spent some time in the game collecting, I've been told that it is EXTREMELY difficult to maintain 1000% satisfaction, to the point where some sellers that do have a perpetual fear of someone coming along and deliberately ruining it in order to extort something from you.

[AR-99]

And some of them have deep pockets. There's probably some repeat customers in there. I've done the multiple item thing from 1 seller maybe only a couple times myself. I have heard what you mentioned about sellers maintaining feedback and the sense I've gotten is that over time ebay has become less friendly towards sellers and things have gotten more difficult for them.

Did not mention this earlier, but Rubberslug is another resource that can be used for doing cel research, although the search engine is not the best.

I would really like to see what kind of response v3g4n gets and hopefully it's not being blown off.

[v3g4n]

the seller replied with this message:

"there are no COA's for any jaoanese animation items none of the studios issue them, its a real cel i've sold hundreds of eva cels, inculding seguence mates to this one its fine"

[The Eva Monkey]

there are no COA's for any jaoanese animation items none of the studios issue them

Of course, but that really doesn't address the issue at hand.

its a real cel

Well of course, it's a real thing, it's not imaginary.

i've sold hundreds of eva cels

Hundreds of cels from a show that never released the cels to the public and are considered rare, prized collectors items, and he's selling them for prices that many fans could reasonably afford.

My bullshit radar is going off like nobody's business.

[AR-99]

Thanks for sharing the response. I leave it up to folks to draw their own conclusions.

[steve_stevenson]

SPOILER: Show

I'm not an expert on animation cels, but comparing the cel to the same frame from the show, I don't think they're the same. Background is different, color is different, line work looks too light, and the eyes and hairline look sloppy compared to the show.

its normal for the lines to fade on old cels. colors will be different depending on how the photograph was taken, lighting etc.

[TMBounty_Hunter]

Lines fading is sadly very common. Even the small stock of original Eva cels at the Exhibit that's traveling around Japan now have faded lines and it's guaranteed those are originals.

[AR-99]

From what I've learned, once you become a cel collector you in effect become a conservator, as preserving and maintaining your cels is one of the biggest aspects. This is the factor that held me back from getting into it for so long and even I could be doing more than what I'm doing now, which is adequate, but not as far as I've seen other people go. Storage conditions can also vary from collector/repository to another. E.g. the Ritsuko hand painted that silvrdrago has has some obvious damage to it, which is why it's priced low.