Garage Sales, Thrift Stores, Antique Malls. THEY NOW KNOW WHAT THEY HAVE! - Collecting Tiki

T tikipedia Member San Diego Joined: Aug 25, 2004 Posts: 491	T tikipedia Posted posted on Sun, Jul 30, 2006 8:27 PM Hey, it's not like they're hoarding food from starving people, or buying up all the water during a drought! We're talking about cheaply-made mass-produced items that people took home as souvenirs, and then discarded many years later. But I also know that people have to make a living, and buying stuff to re-sell on e-bay is lot of work without a guaranteed return. And they're not all driving $60,000 SUV's. Well said Ookoo Lady. It is important to keep in mind that tiki mugs and such are not Caravaggios. And the apparent mania of some collectors to shell out huge bucks for a mug (we know who these people are) boggles the mind. Hell, there are people dying in the world from a lack of food and medicine, yet handing over $400 for a ceramic Kahiki bowl doesn't seem to faze some collectors. It is important to keep in mind that this is just a hobby, and the artifacts we collect are by no means priceless. TIKI IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN. But that being said, I can understand the frustration that Condor is expressing. Since most of us have jobs, it is frustrating to go to a productive thrift a couple of times a week, only to see guys who spend the entire day there, picking over all of the good stuff. But the pressure is not on just Tiki. Mid-century items are now around 50 years old, so it is inevitable that the trend to snatch these things up will continue to grow. Anything deemed as vintage is prime for these dealers. So what can we do? If we start paying a lot of money for mugs, that only contributes to the skyrocketing prices. But if we insist on looking only at thrifts stores, our collections will grow at a glacial pace, if at all. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I love Tiki, but I find it hard to justify spending so much money on such innocuous objects. Let me see... buy a Ren Clark Headhunter mug or put that $1,000 in the bank to help pay for my kid's tuition to CalTech. So I will continue to enjoy the hunt, even if that means being skunked 90% of the time and have my mug collection filled with Tiki Leilanis. To paraphrase an old saying: "Don't let the bastards take wear down the fun of Tiki." :)

Hey, it's not like they're hoarding food from starving people, or buying up all the water during a drought! We're talking about cheaply-made mass-produced items that people took home as souvenirs, and then discarded many years later.

But I also know that people have to make a living, and buying stuff to re-sell on e-bay is lot of work without a guaranteed return. And they're not all driving $60,000 SUV's.

Well said Ookoo Lady. It is important to keep in mind that tiki mugs and such are not Caravaggios. And the apparent mania of some collectors to shell out huge bucks for a mug (we know who these people are) boggles the mind. Hell, there are people dying in the world from a lack of food and medicine, yet handing over $400 for a ceramic Kahiki bowl doesn't seem to faze some collectors. It is important to keep in mind that this is just a hobby, and the artifacts we collect are by no means priceless. TIKI IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN.

But that being said, I can understand the frustration that Condor is expressing. Since most of us have jobs, it is frustrating to go to a productive thrift a couple of times a week, only to see guys who spend the entire day there, picking over all of the good stuff. But the pressure is not on just Tiki. Mid-century items are now around 50 years old, so it is inevitable that the trend to snatch these things up will continue to grow. Anything deemed as vintage is prime for these dealers.

So what can we do? If we start paying a lot of money for mugs, that only contributes to the skyrocketing prices. But if we insist on looking only at thrifts stores, our collections will grow at a glacial pace, if at all. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I love Tiki, but I find it hard to justify spending so much money on such innocuous objects. Let me see... buy a Ren Clark Headhunter mug or put that $1,000 in the bank to help pay for my kid's tuition to CalTech.

So I will continue to enjoy the hunt, even if that means being skunked 90% of the time and have my mug collection filled with Tiki Leilanis. To paraphrase an old saying: "Don't let the bastards take wear down the fun of Tiki." :)

Post #245819 by tikipedia on Sun, Jul 30, 2006 8:27 PM