Tiki Finds

There are always going to people who have more money than we do.There will always be unscrupulous buyers and sellers on ebay.I won an auction for a great tiki mug shelf.I sent my check,the seller received it,and then informed me that after it was packed up,her husband dropped it and ruined it.I was told that if they could fix it,they'd let me know.Guess what? No updates.It's very probable that someone else emailed them with a more attractive price,and they sold it to them.If it isn't fatal,I'm not going to get too bothered by it.Not worth putting forth negative energy.

I was hesitant to post that link to begin with.

I certainly didn't post it to start a big hate fest.
Used to be kinda fun to poke fun at the high rollin bidders back in the early days of TC, but it doesn't really seem cool anymore.
I don't think I'd like it if someone posted a link to my great scores on ebay. (of course I'd have to actually make a great score...)
Great finds still happen on ebay, you just have to work alot harder to find them.
I applaud anyone who has the patience to do that.

I just thought that set was a rare & amazing find & truly should be seen. I sat on that link for over a month before I posted it.
Please don't hate on Kohalacharms, he doesn't know it, but he's one of us.
He deserves a break finding cool stuff as much as anyone, probably more.

I didn't mean to add to the hate, I was just voicing what I have seen happen and relayed personal experiences.

I too relish finding rare steals on eBay as much as the next person.

Like this one...:wink:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3779416064&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

Oh yeah, check this out...Amish scorpion bowl (not my auction)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2780&item=7301925473&rd=1

Hey 8ft Tiki, your pic looks a lot like my pic! Same pose! I wish I knew more about my picture, maybe this is a clue.

I'll take a better pic of it, that was just one I happened to have online from my 'before and after' tiki hallway thread...

On 2005-02-23 14:03, Cool Manchu wrote:
I didn't mean to add to the hate, I was just voicing what I have seen happen and relayed personal experiences.

I too relish finding rare steals on eBay as much as the next person.

Like this one...:wink:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3779416064&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

Cool Manchu...I hate you. :wink:

Tikifish - 8-foot Tiki's picture is actually one of a series of Frank Macintosh menu covers done for the Matson Lines cruise ships in the 1930s. These were very popular and a lot of them were framed as artwork. I found a similarly framed one at a garage sale a few years ago.

They're still popular on Ebay today:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14053&item=6513674351&rd=1

It's probable that your artist based his/her artwork on the Frank Macintosh painting, since it was a fairly iconic piece.

This is the one I own:

You can see them all at this website:
http://www.islandartcards.com/shop/VintageAP_MenuCovers.html

Sabu

On 2005-02-23 09:48, Cool Manchu wrote:
So in my opinion, the bitterness from this board comes from the fact that these people are less than scrupulous in their bidding and do not participate in the forums. They do things that are questionable to gather large collections and keep them to themselves, and I ask you, is this what Tiki collecting has become, is this what its now all about?

Now you guys are getting me worked up!

Actually, I just checked kohalacharms' last 30 days worth of wins and he had five suspicious Buy It Nows. First off, he's won 79 items in the past 30 days and to me that's a little not normal. That means you'd be getting three or four packages in the mail every day. How can you truly enjoy your stuff when you barely have time to unpack it before the next load arrives? That's a little Jacko and Neverland Ranch to me (but who am I to judge?). Of the five BINs, three were from sellers who use BIN on all their auctions, one seller has at least one other item with BIN and the fifth one had no other BINs but the item kc bought was only $20 so there really isn't much evidence that he's emailing them. Maybe he is and maybe someone knows different, I dunno. The fishiest one is that Outrigger Club auction but maybe that one is legit as well. I see no strong evidence of foul play.

I don't mind the high rollers if they're discriminating buyers, it's the hogs that I don't care for. MUST BUY ALL TIKI! I especially get irked when I know this bidder has already won this item several times (like a Mr Bali Hai mug for example) and yet continue to keeping bidding for and winning the same item again and again as if trying to corner the market. Let somebody else have it! I was a flea market last week and my friend picked up a Harvey's mug (the short brown one) and showed it to me. It was $4. I'm like "you've already got one, I've got one, let's leave it for someone else to find." I hope it made someone's day to find that mug. Probably some tiki hog scarfed it up.

Here here. If such artifacts are not put forth for the good of the public, then what it the use. That is the equivalent of locking the world's art museums. At minimum, someone get this KC to create a website, something. It's obvious that KC's collection far surpasses any single tiki collector in both rarity and number. For the greater good, it should be put on display.

It's bad enough that alot of the finds in this thread are lost due to old image links, but do we really have to muddy it even further with all these gripe posts?

On 2005-02-23 19:35, badmojo wrote:
It's bad enough that alot of the finds in this thread are lost due to old image links, but do we really have to muddy it even further with all these gripe posts?

Approaching 80 pages we will get a bit muddy, no doubt. I think these "gripe posts" have a legit place as they are discussing matters that pertain to collecting Tiki.

On 2005-02-23 19:49, Kono wrote:

Approaching 80 pages we will get a bit muddy, no doubt. I think these "gripe posts" have a legit place as they are discussing matters that pertain to collecting Tiki.

True enough, but why not just use the 5 page "ebay Rant" post? I thought the true nature of this thread was to show off recent tiki treasures, found "in the wild", not to complain about the Big Guns who go against eBay regulations.

On 2005-02-23 20:18, badmojo wrote:

On 2005-02-23 19:49, Kono wrote:

Approaching 80 pages we will get a bit muddy, no doubt. I think these "gripe posts" have a legit place as they are discussing matters that pertain to collecting Tiki.

True enough, but why not just use the 5 page "ebay Rant" post? I thought the true nature of this thread was to show off recent tiki treasures, found "in the wild", not to complain about the Big Guns who go against eBay regulations.

Yep, you are completely right. The problem with ranting is that it is, by nature, at least somewhat out of control and usually off on a tangent and emotional in content and we don't really know how it's going to end. But yes, the ranting thread would probably be more appropriate for our thoughts and verbal spew.

Badmojo...if you read back 30-40 pages in this thread you'll noticed Tiki Finds has veered off course on a few occasions...don't worry it always reverts back to why we come to "Tiki Finds" in the first place and that is to gawk at the tiki conquests from our latest trips to the flea market or thrift shop! Since I started the 5 page gripe about Ebay maybe I should change the title to something a little more generic that way we can have a forum to bitch! I'm changing it right now...

Thank you Sabu! Once again you are a scholar and a gentleman.

My wife's grandparent's gave me this old Alfred Apaka 45.

[ Edited by: mrtikibar on 2005-02-24 19:56 ]

I now know the answer to the question I have voiced over and over...If tiki was so cool in the 40s, 50's and 60s, then were is all that stuff our Grandparents must have had? At the places I look, there might be 1 or 2 shelves tucked in a corner. I like the really old, rare stuff. You know, they cram it between the Victorian glass ware and the Texas plastic. When you spy it, you freak out, then try to compose yourself so the sales dude won't see the sucker coming. Where are all the treasures?

By the way, my sweet find was a set of wooden carved mugs (Everyone has 'em and that got me started on tiki) at a yard sale down the street. The lady gave em to me for 50 cents! She had another yard sale and I found out she had some cool pieces. I did tell her she should put them on E Bay or take them to a collector. She said, Baby girl, if they make you smile, thens I wants you to take em. !! So I gave her $20.00 for a Kahiki mug, a ton of swizzles, some bark cloth, a little carved tiki, and a tiki valet (it has a tiki with a palm leaf behind him in the middle of a 3 compartment tray and is carved out of monkey pod wood and has a sticker that says "Enesco, Phillipines" and the sales tag on the bottom says it's from C and C. Very retro and awesome!

Not to continue the off topic rant, but just to say that Kohalacharms is a nice guy. He does contact various people to trade mugs rather than just buy on Ebay. He does not post here because he is too well known through Ebay and all too often can't get to talk to people for them asking how much he makes, etc. That, and he just does not have the time. You'll notice he does not snipe. He does not have the time to watch the auctions end and snipe. He is a lucky individual who has more time than money. If you or I were busy and had money, we'd likely do the same thing.

What's the difference in his collection and many others here? I never see most of the folks on this board's stuff.

He searches out the good stuff and bids. Then other people see his name and bid the price up. That's not fair. And when I get two great mugs and put one on Ebay, I am glad for guys like him who pay for the good stuff.

Rants like that are not going to get these big Ebay spenders on this board.

Only two of these are my recent finds. The Las Vegas card book with Don the Beachcomber in it and the black moai mug with no marks I found. The rest were found by a friend of mine and brought to me.


The bottom of the funky mug to the right.

The Swank Pad Broadcast - If it's Swank...

[ Edited by: Swanky 2006-03-07 16:22 ]

Not to make a big issue of it Swanky, but he does snipe,I've seem it several times.Here's one(last night).

[ Edited by: freaky*tiki on 2005-02-25 15:52 ]

Sorry to be ignorant, but how do you know it's kohalacharms? I know shelterislandwhatever used to be "ficticious," but how did you know that ficticious used to be kohalacharms?

(Just trying to learn the tricks, not start a fight. In fact, my dealings with kohalacharms have been very pleasant. He's a gentleman in my book. Of course, I give up when I see he wants something too, which is exactly why, for the seller's sake, he has to change his name periodically!)

You need to look at the bids...you'll see that kohalacharms tried to snipe that auction.Don't get me wrong..I'm not saying it's good/bad right/wrong, just pointing out a fact to Swanky, who said that he doesn't snipe.I have nothing against kohalacharms at all (or anyone else for that matter).

In my opinion...If you don't snipe, then you don't do eBay right. :wink:

However, I usually bid first on something or put an item up to a maximum that I would pay and pray to the volcano gods that I win. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't...

For those high-dollar ones however, I will snipe, I try and watch my pennies, so sometimes I cannot afford an all out several day war with someone...

Here is a $1.00 puchase I made a few months ago, I decided I did'nt really like it all that much, so I sold it on ebay and that paid for a Pele mug.....

[ Edited by: freaky*tiki on 2005-02-25 10:50 ]

I don't want to do E Bay no more.

On 2005-02-25 09:15, freakytiki wrote:*
You need to look at the bids...you'll see that kohalacharms tried to snipe that auction.Don't get me wrong..I'm not saying it's good/bad right/wrong, just pointing out a fact to Swanky, who said that he doesn't snipe.I have nothing against kohalacharms at all (or anyone else for that matter).
Ah, he UNSUCCESSFULLY sniped! I thought you meant he was the winner.

So see, folks, not even kohalacharms wins/buys every dang thing for top dolla!

And yes, I do snipe. Not via eSnipe or whatever. I just wait til the very end and then put in my maximum, so as not to drive up the price. In the vintage dress circuit, the girls are viciousviciousvicious (like putting in $300 or $400 via eSnipe....for ONE FREAKIN' SHAHEEN DRESS!). One simply has to wait 'til the end so as not to give away one's interest.....Not to mention the need to give up on ever scoring a medium/large sized killer '50's Shaheen via eBay.

sigh
a dream deferred.........

If you look at my Ebay wins you'll see I always bid in the last minute. It's the only thing we have to our advantage in an auction with many bidders. Otherwise, it's always in favor of the seller.

But you'll likely see Kohalacharms bids early on many occasions. At least he used to. He is getting screwed over so much by people purposefully bidding up his items, he has to use other IDs as well. If he's able, he'll bid last minute like anyone else to save money.

But you'll likely see Kohalacharms bids early on many occasions. At least he used to. He is getting screwed over so much by people purposefully bidding up his items, he has to use other IDs as well. If he's able, he'll bid last minute like anyone else to save money.

Swanky,

WTF are you talking about? purposefully bidding up HIS items? because he bids on the most desirable items that means the rest of us can't? we must just sit back and let him bid alone? he bids on what all of us want.That does not mean we are screwing him over...... get real. Do you really think people bid on what he does to drive up the price for him out of spite? do you think someone would actually risk getting stuck with paying for an item they couldn't afford just to "screw him over"?......you are making no sense at all my friend.

[ Edited by: freaky*tiki on 2005-02-25 15:36 ]

On 2005-02-25 15:32, freakytiki wrote:*
But you'll likely see Kohalacharms bids early on many occasions. At least he used to. He is getting screwed over so much by people purposefully bidding up his items, he has to use other IDs as well. If he's able, he'll bid last minute like anyone else to save money.

---

Swanky,

WTF are you talking about? purposefully bidding up HIS items? because he bids on the most desirable items that means the rest of us can't? we must just sit back and let him bid alone? he bids on what all of us want.That does not mean we are screwing him over...... get real. Do you really think people bid on what he does to drive up the price for him out of spite? do you think someone would actually risk getting stuck with paying for an item they couldn't afford just to "screw him over"?......you are making no sense at all my friend.

---

[ Edited by: freaky*tiki on 2005-02-25 15:36 ]

Yes, that is what I am saying. At least 2 people on this very board have admitted to purposefully driving up the price on an item he was high bidder on just for spite. I am not making it up.

freaky,
At first I thought you missed what Swanky was saying completely, but you got it in the last couple sentences. It definitely happens - I've heard people talk about doing just that. And it's pretty common knowledge that many bidders resort to sniping tools because of other bidders searching out the items they bid on.

-Randy

I've said all that I'm going to say about this Ebay high roller discussion but in all seriousness, let's move it elsewhere.
I'd hate to think about "tiki finds" straying so far off topic that Hanford or one of his posse decided it's time to lock it!

Tiki Finds is the one topic I'm always hoping has been updated and not being able to keep track of the cool tiki finds in one convenient topic would really suck!

I guess I'm naive then.My apologies.....if that is what some "collectors" have resorted to then that's a pretty sad commentary......sigh......maitai anyone?

E-bay is great, but you have to expect there to be people you don't like, be they buyers or sellers.

For me, there are some things that are just not available here in Canada, so I just have to face the nasties sometimes.

Get out and go to a thrift shop, a garage sale, an estate sale, a flea market, and you'll feel much better! I find things at Value Village maybe once or twice a month, but go almost every day during the week. And I always find something I didn't know I needed. Or maybe I found something I knew someone else needed! Or maybe I found something to sell on e-bay, so I can buy an elusive Bob one day!

E-bay is an online thing, therefore people are less likely to be courteous when there is something they want. Meh, it comes with the territory.

Don't get too bent out of shape, just mix yourself a drink and chat on shout for a while. I bet it makes ya feel happy! I know it makes me happy :)

Here's a recent shot of the top two levels of my shelf. Lots of finds on there!

I just want to add that everybody, kohalacharms, EVERYBODY, should snipe. I suspect that if everyone did snipe that the going prices for rare items would be a little lower than they are today. Just a hunch. Sniping takes a lot of the emotion out of bidding (except for the emotion you get after you lose). I just started using esnipe and it's even less angst-ridden. You set your bid hours in advance and just go do something else and forget about it. You check on it later. I've overpaid for items plenty of times from getting all worked up in the last minute or so. Not anymore. I ask myself what is the item worth, subtract S/H and place the bid. My win rate is no higher than before, maybe even a little lower, but at least I'm not tied to the computer.

Aw, come on, there's nothing like a manual 1 or 2 second snipe....thats the mark of a pro.BUT you do run the risk of having your computer freeze up and blow it! That mainlander mug lot the other day of 6 mint mugs....someone snipped that with 2 seconds left.....cooool.

But I agree, snipping does cut down on the ridiculous bidding wars.I know if I didn't wait on some auctions the bid would go up and up......back and forth.....

[ Edited by: freaky*tiki on 2005-02-25 18:01 ]

On 2005-02-25 16:49, freakytiki wrote:*
I guess I'm naive then.My apologies.....if that is what some "collectors" have resorted to then that's a pretty sad commentary......sigh......maitai anyone?

Ah, don't be too quick to judge, things get emotional. I've never done that out of spite but I can see how it would happen. I've never had a problem with kohalacharms and in a few threads I've asked him to please come out and play (he's been a member for over a year with just two posts) and talk to us. I've not crossed swords with him often because I've got a sword and he's got a blunderbuss. Seriously, you can smell when an auction is going to go ballistic and I don't bother even watching those. I always thought that he bid on only a few rare items and went straight for the kill. A couple days ago (as I wrote above) I wanted to see how many Buy It Nows he won in the past month (only five). I was surprised to see that he's won about eighty auctions. Now if you're winning eighty auctions a month then that's quite a few people that you are pissing off or at least perturbing monthly, month after month after month. If someone repeatedly gets beat by the same person again and again I can see them getting pissed and jacking up the bid. Who's got the bad karma? They guy who buys everything in sight or the guy who lashes out in frustration? I don't know the answer to that. All I know is I'm spending too much time even thinking about this crap and then typing it up when I could be doing something else. :lol:

I doubt this jacking up the bid thing happens with him all that much simply because, in my experience, he doesn't always bid through the roof. I've beaten kohalacharms before and you saw that he was beaten on the auction you just posted on the previous page. I just checked and in the past month he's won about 77%, so if you try and jack up his bid then you stand a pretty good chance of paying for that auction.

Here's a cool/funny thread about a TC member who actually met the mysterious kohalacharms and told him that he had on occasion jacked up his bids out of spite: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=12500&forum=5

EDIT: I just looked at that thread again and that was the last time Kreaky Tiki posted on TC. Kohalacharms probably had one of his minions kill him after letting him see The Holy of Holies. :lol:

[ Edited by: Kono on 2005-02-25 18:40 ]

Back on track:

My recent finds. Well, my wonderful fiances finds. A pack of Mai Kai cards, including one I just bought on Ebay! and two Kahiki match books off Ebay, plus vintage Hawaii cards. All 50 cents to $1.

4 PMP mugs a friend found for me and a Hawaii ashtray for $15. 2 Kon Tiki S&P shakers.

The Swank Pad Broadcast - If it's Swank...

[ Edited by: Swanky 2006-03-07 16:20 ]

OK, let's get back on track:

I went out today spur of the moment and got lucky!

Up top is a fish bowl from the Trobriand Islands. The picture doesn't do it justice. The face and the fins have fairly intricate carving. The Fish Hook of Maui from Moana Wood Carvings of Rotorua NZ. A small maori mask that also is done an injustice by my crappy camera. The carving is much more intricate than you can tell in the pic. Has an "R" on the back. A simpler and larger Maori carving that says "CARVED IN ROTORUA NEW ZEALAND" on the back. A sort of generic tiki wall hanging.

Three little Westwood or westwood-esque mugs and a small kava bowl from Samoa. Training kava bowl for the kiddies?

Two good Saturdays in a row!

[ Edited by: Kono on 2005-02-26 12:37 ]

Ok, my wahine and I took a little trip and got these goodies: The two records in tha back are "Hugo Winterhalter: Wish you where here" (left) & "Harry Kaapuni: Blue Hawaiian Waters". The mask carving is unknown, but pretty cool looking. The next row (from L to R)is one of the 5 tiki water bottles I found (unused), A tea light candle holder from Guam (it looks like rock, resin, and has a hibiscus on it with the word "Guam" under it), A painted tiki goblet (needs to be stripped), a Benihana style good luck cat, and a Red Lobster port/starbord light glass (I'm going to grind off the RL text). And finnaly a HUGE Hawaiian plate, with a tiki on it. Not much of a big haul, but satisfying to me.

I must have some good Maori mana. Found three pieces Sunday and today I found these two wall masks. They've got abalone eyes.

EDIT: I was just farting around on ebay and found this hei tiki that appears to be mounted on the exact same backing piece as my two masks. Says it is carved by Ruihana.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4172&item=7303929089&rd=1

Found some records:

Tiny and His Hawaiian Bubbles - Recorded Live at a Hawaiian Luau Party. 101 Strings - Hawaiian Paradise. (Not pictured): Hawaii Calls Album No 1. 101 Strings - The Romance of Hawaii. Unknown - Hawaiian Wedding Song on Diplomat Records.

[ Edited by: Kono on 2005-03-03 17:53 ]

[ Edited by: Kono on 2005-03-03 18:01 ]

Doctor Z and I had some fairly good luck at the garage sales this weekend.

As if in honor of Martin Denny's passing this week, I found a mint copy of Quiet Village.

I also found an exotica album I've never heard before called "Shangri La", yet another copy of Arthur Lyman's "Taboo", and a "Let's Hula" album by the Maile Serenaders. Doctor Z found a nice copy of "Trader Vic's book of Food and Drink":

Sabu

I picked up this cool barkcloth coat for 40 bucks at the Vintage Clothing Show this morning!

[ Edited by: tikifish on 2005-03-05 18:44 ]

A few finds from recent weeks ...

A glass from the Castaways /Wreck Bar, with what I first thought were a pair of maritime flags on them. The clerk at the flea market charged me only a quarter, and gave me a dirty look. My friend told me she was probably disgusted with the Confederate flag on the glass - so I took a closer look afterwards, and found out he was right!

A liquor decanter (Jack Daniels - half full) from the 1972 Hawaiian Pro-Am golf tournament, with a plug for United Airlines. $20

An old, miniature bottle of Hula Girl brand Okolehao. I also found a few other old miniatures of various rums. $2.50

A book promoting the film 'South Pacific' Lots of promotional pictures inside, and drawings of sets, etc. $2

From the inside of above book, a full page picture of Rodgers and Hammerstein in front of a huge tiki ....

and a couple of pages of costume designs ...

Vern

I know I haven't posted in a while...sorry. Anyway, putting life aside, here are my latest finds (from the last few months)from my usual swap meet, thrift store, garage sale scrounging: some neat Coco Joe's Figures, especially the early one on the far right, neat unmarked coconut mug, and ashtrays from the Hawaiian Village Hotel and The Kon Tiki (Steve Crane Designs...thanks Steve), the Hula Girl Glasses were a gift a while back, very cool for a new item and the Vintage RED Moai Mug from The Tikis. A small Westwood "mug" and unused matchboxes from the Kono Hawaii in Santa Ana, CA & Sam's Seafood in Huntington Beach, CA. Also, several "sets" of great Hula Girl & Uke Player Cake Toppers from the 60's. As usual, everything was reasonable...the Kon Tiki Ashtray set me back $1.00 at SA.

I had to post this one by itself. I picked this up a while back also, set me back a paltry $8.00 but the guy who sold it to me, obviously, thought he had gotten the best of me...Vintage Orchids R-14 Bowl MINT WITH THE ORIGINAL BOX!!!

some recent find:

2 records: "Savage!" from Tihati's South Seas Spectatcular and Hawaiian Swing
Also found another generic wood mug..but wait..this one has "Dennis" etched in it's mouth!, a larger Daga mug from the "Twin Dragons Chinese Restaurant & Lounge" in Orlando & Kissimmee Florida". I already found this design in the smaller size, but I had to buy it anyway, a blue low-relief mug from the Princess Kaiulani Hotel Waikiki. Text on it says "Return to Ainahau Home of the Princess" Hmmm, no mention of this piece anywhere. Anyone know anything about it?
Alos found a little ceramic Moai, and oh yeah, a Bali Hai at the thrift store for $2.