Ask John: How Much is Anime Worth?

Question:
When collecting anime, which has higher value, a box set, or a collection?

Answer:
Anime fandom is a hobby unlike most others because of its distinct background and nature. Unlike virtually all other collecting fields, anime collecting has relatively little invested speculation or investment value. In simple terms, most anime merchandise simply does not significantly increase in value with age or scarcity. In fact, a lot of anime merchandise actually becomes less valuable with age because it’s no longer current or timely. American comic books increase in value because they are individual, limited publications. Japanese comics are manga magazines, which become out of date and thus less valuable as soon as they’re released. And unlike American comic books which exist for only one month and increase in value based on supply versus demand, manga are thought of as literature and kept in print, thereby maintaining a supply that meets demand. And unlike baseball cards, for example, which exist to capitalize on the popularity of baseball and serve as an independent collectable and hobby in and of themselves, anime merchandise exists solely to supplement anime, not serve as an independent collecting field. The difference is subtle, but undeniable. While baseball cards and Star Trek collectables and Star Wars toys are memorabilia, anime illustration books, CDs, model kits and toys are merchandise, consumer goods much like cars and refrigerators that do not increase in value.

A tremendous factor in the establishment and success of the manga art form in Japan has to do with manga being cheap, disposable entertainment. Manga magazines are printed on poor quality newsprint and appear on news stands and bookstore shelves every week. They are designed to be read then discarded, not archived and collected. And unlike American comic books, which are saved and collected because the stories they contain cannot be easily replaced, in Japan, where manga stay in print, manga magazines actually are routinely discarded or left on trains after they’re read. In America during the 1970s and 1980s, anime itself was shared via bootleg VHS tapes, but imported anime merchandise was extremely expensive and extremely rare. Because anime was such a novelty, early fans focused their attention entirely on the animation itself, not on collecting merchandise supplemental to the animation. And that original focus still holds true today, although more and more American companies are increasingly trying their hardest to manufacture a cottage industry around anime and anime merchandise by producing limited editions and variants.

But what attracts fans to anime is anime itself. Anime fans prioritize appreciation of anime art, thus there’s little speculation in anime. Unlike comic book fandom, in which one may buy multiple copies of a book to keep in hopes of selling them for a profit later on, anime fans typically do not engage in speculation investment in anime. Anime is art to be enjoyed, appreciated and shared, not horded and later sold for profit. If the spirit of sharing had not originally characterized anime, anime would never have gained the distribution and popularity that it did in America 20 years ago that helped it exist in its current form.

Some anime goods may be expensive, but they are expensive based on their original retail cost, not collector value. Production cels have collector value, but their value is rooted in part in the fact that they are not memorabilia but actually works of one of a kind, hand painted art. Some anime illustration books increase in value with age, but their collector value is always in proportion to their original retail cost. While an American comic book may increase to a collector value 100 times that of the comic’s original sale price, anime books rarely dramatically increase in collector value more than 2-3 times their original retail price, and even highly prized shitajiki, which may increase in value 4-5 times their original retail price still sell for under $20.

In summation, the value of a “box set” versus the value of a “collection” is heavily influenced by their original retail price, and even then somewhat of a moot point. As an anime fan, you are by definition a fan of Japanese animation. Your priority should not be on how much you can resell a given Japanese creator’s artwork for, but on how much you personally enjoy it. If you’re getting into anime hoping to make money, I advise you to look at a different hobby. When it comes to anime and manga especially, don’t buy what you think will become valuable. Buy what you like.