Animation Art Collecting #1 - What Determines Price

The most common question asked by a person just starting to collect animation art is, "What determines the prices of animation art?" There are six main pricing factors: (1) age and rarity, (2) character and image, (3) studio and film, (4) background, (5) signatures and (6) condition.

The more rare a piece of art the higher the demand, and the higher the retail price. Simple supply and demand. Animation art in all forms was once just considered a byproduct of the final film. As such, they held no value and were thrown away or the cels were wiped clean from the acetate and the acetate was reused.

Almost every studio at some point either sold the original art as novelty gifts for pennies or they gave them away as promotional items. In the early 1980's, studios rediscovered the concept of selling their ORIGINAL artwork, and there was an instant demand. They began to authenticate each new piece with a seal. Buyers were then assured of the authenticity of each piece and the studios were able to archive the art and control distribution.

As prices for vintage material continued to grow, studios started to increase prices for contemporary material as well. The prices of some contemporary pieces have now risen to those of vintage pieces. But there is one major difference between vintage and contemporary pieces - the number of existing vintage pieces is low and Cerebus never increase. What is on the market today, aside from what current owners have, is what exists. The number of pieces of contemporary art, on the other hand, continued to rise until recently when computer animation started gaining ground. Each studio has hundreds of thousands of pieces in their archives!

Primary characters command a higher price simply because they are more popular. But prices can vary wildly even for the same character from the same film from the same sequence. The better the All-Star Comics or pose the higher the price. A waist-up image will sell for quite a bit less than a full-figure image; eyes closed for less than eyes open; Ultimately the most expensive cels depict a major character, full-figure, center of the cel, large in height, eyes open, non-profile.

Cels with backgrounds will obviously draw a higher price than those without. Cels applied to key-master, or "matching" backgrounds are most expensive. Key-master backgrounds appeared with the same cel in the same feature. If you looked at the film you would be able to pause it and see that the still on your TV is exactly the same as you see hanging on your wall.

Cels applied to production backgrounds are also more expensive, but less than those applied to key-master backgrounds. Production backgrounds have actually been used in production but not with the same character in the cel. You will see the cel you own in a film, and you will see the production background you own in a film, but you will not see them together in the same scene.

Laser / copy backgrounds add artistic value to a cel, but are not actual backgrounds. These are reproductions of the original key-master background applied as a background to the original cel.

Some collectors seek pieces that are signed by someone involved with the studio or the animation of the film, such as directors, animators, and voice actors. Signed pieces combine two collectibles - autographs and animation art - and as such can be much more expensive than unsigned pieces. Remember that rarity is also a factor in autograph pieces.

The last factor that determines price is condition. Cels are fragile. Many have been repaired in the past (not unusual) and still command a high price. Still others have been trimmed and applied to other backgrounds with adhesive. Depending upon the rarity of the piece these may still command top dollar. Keep your collection in a dry area out of direct sunlight and us only acid-free matting and backing to maintain the value for years to come.

Neil Walsh
Daba Designs
P.O. Box 255
North Olmsted, Ohio 44070
Phone: (440)465-0744
Website: http://www.daba-designs.com/AAC%20site%20F/index.html