Welcome to the first edition of the Collectors Point of View series here on the Animation Production Guidebook. Recently I have reached out to Buster Scher because I found that he collects the same show as me (SpongeBob) and he has some of the most beautiful pieces. Along with the interview I also included the pieces Buster shared to the world. You can find links to the original post & his socials. Learn how Buster was educated on Production Art, and what it means to be a collector.

• Q: How did you find out about animation art?

A: I found out about production art because my dad is an animator. He does his stuff by hand. He's an experimental film maker, his name is Jeff Scher. He's done a lot of amazing work for the New York Times. He's an emmy award winning animator whose done documentaries. Done lot's of music videos for very famous artists including Ghramm Nash & others. I learned it through him, and I was always interested in the backgrounds, because he never worked with Cels, he was doing backgrounds. So I learned to appreciate how he did it, and then when I found out SpongeBob, which was obviously the show we grew up watching, was only painted by hand and was painted by hand in the first season of the production of the show, I was just blown away. And then my collectable spidey senses and all that started to kick in, I was like other than the Simpsons even Pokémon and some other stuff where there was significantly more supply, particularly something like the Simpsons, there just really isn't a lot for this, that is very very interesting from a scaredy standpoint. From a demand and interest stand point this show, the kids that grew up watching being 5-10 to 20 years away from financial maturity, an investment stand point. That's also very interesting.
• Q: What does having a piece of SpongeBob history mean to you?

A: It means it's a responsibility, you know. No one really owns anything forever, look at all the art in major museums right. You're just a custodian for your lifetime or however long you keep it, and then maybe you sell it, give it away you decide what to do with that but I feel like a custodian. It's a very important, very big responsibility that I've effectively blessed myself with.
• Q: What does having a piece of SpongeBob history mean to you?

A: It means it's a responsibility, you know. No one really owns anything forever, look at all the art in major museums right. You're just a custodian for your lifetime or however long you keep it, and then maybe you sell it, give it away you decide what to do with that but I feel like a custodian. It's a very important, very big responsibility that I've effectively blessed myself with.
• Q: Do you have any plans on framing?

A: Not particularly. I a big on preservation. If I was to frame something I would want to do it the right way and make sure these pieces are safe. Sorta back to the custodian point.
• Q: What are your favorite pieces?

A: SB-129, I've got a bunch from that episode I love. Sleepy Time, I love that episode. There's a few very special backgrounds that have been used in memes and that I've seen celebrities and people that people I also admire share which has been cool.
• Q: Are there any other shows production art that you collect?

A: I collect a lot of different stuff, but no other animation art. SpongeBob was my childhood like SpongeBob was always on. I think the idea of collecting other shows is really cool but nothing else sorta hits all of the key points that I am looking for from an investment standpoint from a collectability standpoint and obviously most importantly my passion for the items.
• Q: What makes a production art setup an investment? I seen collectors from the anime side try to gatekeep this hobby.

A: I don't love to give investment advice to anybody so I won't say it's a great investment but I will say it's an investment I made. It doesn't mean it's good or bad. It means I personally believe in it for myself in the context of my own portfolio. It all just depends on the person and the timeline and their expectations and how much they enjoy it as well because that's a form of value some people get out of these pieces it's definitely a factor. I don't think anyone should gatekeep it either. I think the more people the merrier from a preservation standpoint you want these pieces in as many collections as possible because it diversifies the risk of damage.
• Q: What's your best advice for other collectors of this niche hobby?

A: Like any collection right, it's collect what you love and have a passion for and share with everybody else. I would love to one day do some sort of a SpongeBob museum with my collection because I collect a lot of other SpongeBob stuff too not just the animation art. Sealed video games, type 1 photos, promotional materials, cards, all sorts of fun stuff.

You can find the original post on x.com/Buster