Post #363852 by tiki1963 on Wed, Feb 27, 2008 3:13 PM

On 2008-02-27 13:24, bigbrotiki wrote:
I think the Trader was just a very small guy :D .
But seriously, most of those "super egos" in history had a Napoleon complex that made them so successful. I wonder where that last photo was taken, anyway, it's not Cosmo Place...maybe Oakland, and there WERE two different pairs of these guys? WHERE in Hawaii did they come form, WHO made them?

hey sven...

yes, i am the lucky bastard. he's in exceptional shape and is definitely vintage. we're fairly certain its from the main entrance interior of either the Oakland or Seattle TV's. (it's aged but not weathered) according to Kier and Eve B, It was from the Oakland location.

after the old Don the Beachcomber sale in LA many years ago, i expected this sale to be a dud as well. i have to say, in the 20 or so years i've been collecting tiki, i've never come across such abundance. reminds me of the first time i saw Oceanic Arts in the 1980s.

overall, i was a bit stunned and dazed at the plethora of great, vintage pieces upon my arrival. i have to admit it was funny to see everyone else so dazed and bumping into each other as the tiki-high was intoxicating! thanks to tiki-Ray who helped convince me that i needed to add this incredible tiki to my collection. i was too crazed to be rational with the sheer amount of neat stuff and good ol' Ray set me straight. i did go a bit crazy and was spending way too much, but i truly believe this was a once-in-a-lifetime event. the gods were smiling on me that day in that i was also able to commendeer THE last U-Haul truck in Oakland, fill that sucker and high-tail it back to LA like a bandito.