Original or Reproduction Prints

Investing and buying art is in the main more affordable than ever nowadays, however with constraints on disposable income due to other family commitments it is not always possible to acquire the amount of original prints as you would like, there is always one more print that you really really need, its the same with any collection. It is always nice to have a few originals in your collection and original Shunga prints can start at a very reasonable price if you look around. To enjoy the vast majority of prints though I do not see any real issue with having them included as reproductions, they can still be enjoyed, the story behind them can still be told and the humour of the narrative or dialogue can be understood. It does not take anything away from the image in my opinion. Do not get me wrong it is always nice to appreciate the original piece of work. As for the monetary value of your collection it is never going to sell for much if its all reproductions but is that always what art is about, is art not just to enjoy?
Have a look at some of the reproduction prints in other discussions on the site.

The difference between an original print and a reproduction.

Artists original - A fine art print is a "multiple original" made by hand, one impression at a time, from a woodblock carved by the artist. With original fine art prints, the tactile quality of the ink on paper and the printing style, are inseparable parts of the artwork; something you cannot achieve with reproductions.

Reproductions - A reproduction is a copy of an already existing work. It is just a photo-mechanically reproduced image, often scanned and then mechanically printed en-mass. There is no intervention of the artist. Reproductions are in essence posters, often called iris or giclee prints, and have little or no monetary value. The inks used fade when exposed to the sun and the paper is not always 100% cotton and acid free, which means that it will easily degrade and yellow.
Despite good quality printers and up-to-date technology used to produce giclees or iris prints, the result cannot compare to fine art prints.
Additionally, reproductions are printed by the thousands, and there is no physical limit to the number of impressions, as the matrix does not wear down. However, just to support a price desired by the publisher, edition size is artificially limited in order to create scarcity and therefore increase the value of the print, which is even made to sign and number by the artist thus creating confusion as to authenticity.