Post #11113 by fatuhiva on Tue, Oct 15, 2002 11:26 PM

I'm probably going to be getting another wave of hate messages comin at me for this, but I just don't see anything all that unusual about that mug going for $294.

What I mean is, I've been out in the field hunting mugs for almost ten years solid now.. I've never come across one of those. No one i know has ever come across one of those- I'm sure somebody somewhere has, but odds are, its not going to be you.. ever.

That being said, and it being a cool mug- what is getting one worth to a serious tikimug collector?

Consider this: I've seen 3 on Ebay since it began.. ever. Two I own, and then this one. And that's over, what, six YEARS of EBAY -the world's largest market of vintage goods? That spells R A R E to me. They aren't going to get any less rare, or cheaper, unless someone unearths a crate of them somewhere.. or everybody decides Tikimugs are stupid and don't care anymore. So... whats the verdict? As a serious tikmug collector, what would YOU do? Yes, you could tell yourself all kinds of things about why you don't need to pay that money, or it's not as magical as finding one for a quarter, blah blah, but that still doesnt change the fact that your collection is lacking a serious piece, now does it?

That's just my logic.. I remember people thinking I was mentally unstable buying mine for $80 apiece. About 2 years later, its tripled.. will it come back down? maybe.. will it become less rare? doubtful..
Is it the money I'm concerned about? no. It's that I have two sitting on my shelf. I ponied up the money a few years ago and never looked back.. maybe one day I'll superscore and find one somewhere, but then I'll be worried about getting hit by lightning on my way out of the store and getting bit by a shark next time I'm at the beach.

Am I trying to be a jerk? No. I'm just stating the reality as I see it- the rare mugs are becoming valueable, because they are RARE, and thus, there is an inherent value that goes along with it. Yes, you can lament the days of $2 mugs and 'gift mugs' and whatnot- but remember, those mugs werent the Maori Tiki Bob- if it was, you're lucky. But what if you want one and you're not one of the special people that luckout and find rare mugs lying around or have people give them to you?- how else would you get one other than to fight/pay for it?

Screw the S&P 500- Buy Tiki.

Thoughts anyone?

PS- where are my meds?

[ Edited by: fatuhiva on 2002-10-16 00:10 ]