Lack of cash doesn't stop me from watching cels pass by though. Several auctions have popped up over the last few months on eBay and have subsequently been sold. Fortunately no "Have-To-Have" cels sold at ridiculously low prices but outside my grasp; none that I'm aware of anyway. Shots like Sebastian jumping and singing and his face is contorted, as such:
Keep in mind here that the clam wasn't included in the shot, so the setup was rather empty.
Another one that went was one of Ariel and Sebastian:
I don't think the cel setup was a key-setup (all cels belong to the same frame in the movie).
So as you can see, not much being missed out on in the bargain bin.
On the higher end (around the US$5000 mark) however, someone has been buying up some choice cels. A cel of Ariel and Eric waving from their wedding ship, which had been on eBay on-and-off for over a year finally sold. At the same time a cel of Ariel and Eric's first kiss sold to the same buyer. And also at the same time, several cels in this price range sold at CelMates. I'm suspecting that it's the same guy <Insert Shifty Eye Glance Here>. These were really good cel setups, even if they cost twice as much as any of those in my collection. Maybe it is getting harder to get these cels. Every time a cel changes hands, there is the chance that the new owner (like me) has no intention of letting it go again. So eventually, cels are going to become scarcer and more expensive.
Another interesting lot of sales that dangle around the bargain bin (to clarify, <US$1000) were actually "Buy-It-Now or Best-Offer" items on eBay. Taking a look at the Buy-It-Now price alone puts them in the lower-mid-range price bracket (US$1500 - US$3500). However, a seller (representing animationandfineart.com) who had several pieces up in this range caved in for lower offers. A really nice cel of Sebastian poking out his lips, which had been listed for US$2250 sold for only US$750. I wish I had made an offer!
Another shot of Ariel, Eric and Grimsby (made not-so-desirable as Eric was heavily obscured by Grimsby) was originally listed for US$3300 (I'm guessing the seller was placing a lot of value in the presence of each character) but sold for only (if I remember correctly) US$1300. Probably still not quite worth it, if you're into perfection (if you're just in it for Ariel alone, or even Grimsby, then by all means). Nevertheless, a huge reduction in asking price across the board.
They've all been sold, according to the Animation and Fine Art website. At the time of writing this post, you can see the prices they were originally asking for in their listings http://www.animationandfineart.com/Animation/Disney.html. I think the one of Ariel and Eric at sunset sold for it's asking price, but the rest went waaaay down (according to eBay).
Leslie from ArtInsights has recently told me about a vertiable fire sale at the ACME Archives: they recently sold a number of pieces at the bargain price of US$800 each. I haven't seen what these pieces were, but they sold fast. I was told there were a couple of Ursula, a couple of Folsom and Jetsam and one of Ariel at the puppet show. Maybe they'll turn up some more. I have a little funding stored up for just the right bargain, so here's hoping!
