Post #33290 by boutiki on Wed, May 7, 2003 10:42 AM

Good finds- and the best part is you found them "honest". I always think it is much more satisfying to find some tiki in the wild than having to pony up big money on ebay, pay more for shipping then wait for it to be delivered to your door (hoping it does not arrive broken).

Maybe I just like the instant gratification, maybe I'm an old school thrift addict, maybe I'm just a cheapskate. Regardless, I still enjoy finding tikis in the real world since the story of how or where I found it becomes part of my enjoyment. And the prices are better, even if it is getting much harder to find.

I have a friend and fellow tiki fanatic who tries to one-up me on our challenge to see who can pay the least for a tiki mug. I had the lead at $.25 then he found one for $.10 (we don't count ones that we got for free). He even leaves the prices on the mugs to show off. The ones that drive me crazy are the two Mai Kai mugs (shrunken head and wierd owl /mask) that sit on his shelf with their $.75 prices still on them.

I know another collector who asks all the antique dealers in town to hold back all their mugs for him. In my book that's cheating. Not only is it not fair to other people who might visit a store and be looking for tiki. What's the fun of having someone else round it all up for you? Besides, he is insuring that he will pay more for something. They have to be thinking, "I know he'll pay a lot since he wants this stuff" so I'm sure they price it higher than they would otherwise. But whatever.

About your place mats, I have seen many items marked Paul Marshal that I doubted they actually made themselves. I suspect they did their share of distributing others merchandise under their name. But I could be wrong.