Post #145716 by fatuhiva on Wed, Mar 9, 2005 6:19 PM

hey- just found out about this fight/thread!

I'm actually suprised to see myself on the list, as I figured nobody would remember me on here, as I havent been on much lately.

re: the issue, I don't see why some people can't make a private forum if they wanted to. Its not like these people "owe" it to others on TC to have everything they say, do and buy be 100% public, including private photos of their own collections.

For the record, I never actually got the email above.. but its clear from reading it that the "list" was a starting point, not a "who's who of collections" and the intention was just to get back to the core subject of tiki-collecting w/o having such a big unrelated crowd involved and making posts on the threads. TC has gotten pretty big, and can get off the specific subject of mug collecting that some people are soley interested in.

TC is its own thing, and these guys were simply trying to start their own thing. The reason feathers have been ruffled is because Tikihula apparently thought it was a good idea to backstab the guys who offered him a part in it. A pretty tacky move, apparently purely motivated by wanting to start a fight, but oh well. I mean, why not just reply and say "not interested" or "I think its a little exclusive"?

Like it or not, there ARE varying levels of people's collections. There are those that were around in the early days and amassed a big one then, and there are those that paid through the nose for it later, and there are many who have a smaller collection of nice pieces, as well as those who collect mostly new stuff or don't really collect seriously at all. (and there's nothing inherently better or wrong about any of them.)

..and there are those that somehow feel they are entitled to see every mug in everyone's collection, simply because they are owed some kind of "Tiki Aloha" free entertainment/mug education because they have a Jimmy Buffet record and a Tommy Bahama shirt, and that makes them part of a brotherhood.

There is simply nothing wrong with people with same-level collections getting together and swapping info/photos. In fact, i wish i had gotten the email, because it seems like a good idea to me- SIGN ME UP! Perhaps TikiHula was just irked these collectors were going to swap photos in private rather than lining up to fill his site's gallery with pictures of their VERY hard-earned trophies just so the next time one came up on Ebay they could get sniped by said Tommy Bahama guy who didn't even know that piece existed a week ago.

"Tiki" has taken on many forms of the years. To some it is "polynesian style" drinking and partying, to others its exotica music and a dimly lit bar, to yet others its Jimmy Buffet, a parrot shirt and a plastic cup full of rum.

..and to some, it is, at least in part, the serious collecton of tiki artifacts.

Everyone's got their own trip, and that's fine. But there's no reason to flip out because a few likeminded individuals wanted a private forum. Heck, if a group of TC drinking buddies made a private page to post to each other which local bar's toilet they'd all be ralphing in that weekend nobody would care, so why is mug collecting as the forum's subject any different?

I'll tell you why: because there are people who want to see these mugs, and be handfed all the known information about them, although they played no part in their acquisition, funding for said acquisition, or research leading to their discovery. They paid no book cover price for the experience, no trades were made, no palms were greased. They just want it forked over, in full color, high resolution, and neatly categorized, simply because they are a TC forum member, and they've got the Aloha coming, buddy.

That's all well and good. People are aware of that situation and most post their pictures and information publicly anyway and have a good time with it. But they don't owe it to anybody, and if/when they come up with the idea of having their own collecting and information circle, that's their right too- and they certainly don't need to be vibed from the people who were enjoying their prior public postings for doing so.

How you feel about a private forum is one's own opinion, there's gonna be a million shades of grey there. But posting the information that you were requested to keep private, and thus trying to single out people and publicly make them look bad for something they have every right to do is simply lame. I mean, where's the Aloooha in that brooo?

They have every right to start their own group if they so desire. You sir, had no right to betray a man's trust.

[ Edited by: fatuhiva on 2005-03-09 18:24 ]