Post #52612 by Jax Tiki on Thu, Sep 25, 2003 10:18 AM

Looks like I have stirred up something devisive.

Here goes...

-Since when has being a Tiki Fanatic and an entrepreneur been mutually exclusive items?

Let's look at some hard facts:
Disney commissioned a hip artist Shag to paint four originals of a great Tiki icon.
I was very surprised that they were then marked up and placed for sale by Disney at all. I feel they should have been on permanent display somewhere in the park, but they marked the price up and placed them for sale. Profit first. But this is OK with most of you...nothing immoral/improper here.

Next they make everyone who has in interest in the event pay the $49 for entry instead of an off-site convention room at one of the hotels for free. We all wait in line for hours for the opportunity to purchase "limited edition" products at high prices. $35 for a mug that probably cost $1.35 to produce (no offense to Holden) and limited edition serigraphs.

How many of you would have shown up at 4:00AM and waited for hours if they had only offered a cool open edition poster for $5 and that $10 coffee mug? Limited Supply of some very cool merchandise creates demand. Simple economics. Remember the images of the old Soviet Union grocery stores with the lines of people fighting over the four heads of cabbage brought out each day?

Despite all that I loved every bit of memorabilia available.

If someone is going to be outraged that an object is bought with the intention of resale...you should also indict everyone who has ever bought or sold anything on Ebay. The supply and demand feed upon each other to fuel the prices. No different that the relationship between a drug seller and drug buyer. One cannot exist without the other. To condemn only one party is rediculous.

Don't forget about anyone who waited in line
to have Shag sign their objects. We all know this increases their value. Should these people be thrown under the bus also? What wrong with just waiting to say hello to him only?

Let's have a look at the how fair the system set up for that day really was. You had to be in Anaheim on a specific day...be the first in line at the gates...then be the first in line at the Disneyana store when it opens at 8:00. Shame on me! For the record..we arrived at 5:15 and there were already about 10-12 people there. We quietly sat in front of one of the empty gates and read the paper. There were over 30 turnstiles! You do the math...this does not mean we had to push and shove people out of the way to get up front. I ran when it opened...no pushing or shoving...that is my crime.

Now I place an original up for sale on EBay and everyone in the country who is a Tiki fan has the opportunity to own the same object. Whether you live in New Jersey or Paris...you now have a fair chance to own this. Not be at a specific place at a certain time and hope you get lucky. Seems a lot fairer to me...but I'm the bad guy.

Perhaps if I owned an art gallery and sold it that way...things would be less explosive.

Sorry for my ranting and raving, but I must give my side of the story. Everybody is making a profit on our passions for Tiki. I'm not some coldhearted person. I spend many a Sundays eating at the Kahiki during college...have driven three hours each way to just walk around the Disney Polynesian for a few hours...and scour the thrift store during lunch for tiki finds.

I have no intentions of selling the "Enchanted Tikiroom" original. This is the "holy grail" of Tiki-Shag for myself. (unless an extrememly obscene number is offered.) What the harm in selling Jose to pay for a great weekend and another original?

In regards to the differences in the Original Jose and the online image...the online images are slightly altered for security/tracking of illegal copies.

Peace