Why Your Tiki Finds Deserve Their Own Threads

In my eyes, Tiki Finds is a potential goldmine of information and knowledge -- but it's all buried, limiting its usefulness. You guys have found an amazing array of fascinating items, and it breaks my heart to see them glossed over. Here's my treatise on what's amiss, and how it can be improved.

The Problem
In Tiki Finds, discussion of interesting items is difficult. Found items are buried quickly with new finds. Occasionally questions do get posed and answered, but one has to sift through unrelated posts to find the response. Along the same lines, the potential exists for the same questions to get asked over and over again.

Sometimes folks think "My finds aren't worthy of their own thread." Here's why I don't think that's true: even common items are worth some discussion. Heck, the more common the item, the more likely it is that it will strike a chord with a wide audience, and the more likely it is that there will be plenty to talk about on the topic.

Some great recent examples: badmojo's excellent thread on coconut monkeys, the drunkenhat and tikicleen's thread on ashtrays, and Sweet Daddy Tiki's thread on souvenir glasses. In each of these threads, folks anted up with items from their own finds, and people were able to learn a bit more about the background and history of the items.

When unusual items get posted to Tiki Finds, any commentary on them becomes very limited. For instance, the posting recently of a bizarre Don Ho bubble blower garnered only a "love it" comment -- but there was no discussion about what the story with the item was.

By contrast, when Virani recently posted an unusual mug in its own thread, a few folks were able to chime in with what they knew about it, and uncover some related items.

The Solution
Consider taking an extra moment when photographing your tiki finds to photograph them separately, and post them separately in threads that will enhance discussion.

The improvements that were made to Search a few months ago should make it much easier to look for an existing thread; if there isn't one, feel free to start one.

If you also wish to post the items together in Tiki Finds, go for it, and provide links to the item-specific posts you made.

If we all took this very wee bit of extra effort, we could have much more useful discussions about these really fantastic finds, which would be great, what with this being a discussion board and all.

Critiki - Ooga-Mooga - Humu Kon Tiki

[ Edited by: Humuhumu 2005-11-04 18:46 ]

I agree.

There are many items that people find that everyone else has seen (Mr. Bali Hai, Lelani, Disney Polynesian Village goblets, etc.) but the unique items, such as the Don Ho bubble bottle for example, are items that is rarely seen and does deserve a thread of it's own.

EDIT: I forgot about the Lelani thread, yes that deserved it's own thread b/c of the situation for the buyer and such a huge score.

Not to say if you find a regular mug that everyone has seen doesn't deserve to be posted in the tiki finds thread, it (the TF thread) is about you and what you scored in your hunt, it's your time to shine.

Hopefully someone who has posted a rare and/or unique item in the 100+ pages ago will repost their item in a thread so it can be discussed and enjoyed for what it is, a unique item.

Sadly for me, I haven't come across anything rare or too interesting to warrant it's own thread. But I sure as heck love to show off what I find after each hunt.

http://www.unklejohn.com

My Tiki Lounge http://unklejohn.suddenlaunch.com/index.cgi

[ Edited by: Unkle John 2005-11-04 21:56 ]

Actually, I had posted my mug finds in its own thread by mistake; I was hoping that the admins would put it in the tiki finds thread where it belonged, but they deleted it instead. I'd get all pouty about it, except for the fact that bOINGbOING picked up on it...:wink:

And although 4/5ths of my finds were nothing super-rare, I doubt that many people had seen that Shriner-head mug before; even though it's not technically tiki, I think it has the tiki-nature.

[ Edited by: MrBaliHai 2005-11-05 06:48 ]

MrBaliHai - we did merge it! Your post is right here:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=1099&forum=5&vpost=195583

Unkle John, on the topic of common items, they deserve just as much, perhaps even more, to be in their own threads. I don't mean that each individual find should mean a new thread, but rather I mean that these items deserve a thread for discussion of that type of item, which can't take place effectively in Tiki Finds. I'll quote what I said above:

Sometimes folks think "My finds aren't worthy of their own thread." Here's why I don't think that's true: even common items are worth some discussion. Heck, the more common the item, the more likely it is that it will strike a chord with a wide audience, and the more likely it is that there will be plenty to talk about on the topic.

Some great recent examples: badmojo's excellent thread on coconut monkeys, the drunkenhat and tikicleen's thread on ashtrays, and Sweet Daddy Tiki's thread on souvenir glasses. In each of these threads, folks anted up with items from their own finds, and people were able to learn a bit more about the background and history of the items.

After a while, it becomes easy to overlook items as being "common"... but what's common in California isn't common in Texas; what's common to an old salty tikiphile isn't common to a newcomer here to learn. Your Leilani thread example is perfect. Furthermore, how much do we actually know about some "common" items? Who designed the very, very common two-face glass? What company manufactured it initially? What company manufactures it today? Where & when it was first used? How many colors and sizes it comes in? (On that last one, from what I can tell so far, it comes in clear short & tall, frosted short & tall, white tall, black short, green tall and amber tall.)

I agree, but in the same time, I feel that lots of people are going more easyli to the tiki finds than the individual posts. Like with my vintage tahitian book covers, I didn't have lots of reply, even if that's not typical finds in the states (as those are french books), or my tahitian LPs finds...I think posting those in the tiki finds might be more viewed, even by mistake.
But I think the individual posts are more interesting to look at, and to talk about, like the tahitian TAI mug, I was really happy to see how in a few hours, we solved a mystery (especially thanks to you Humu2).

Humu, that's weird...I must've looked at that thread a dozen times and didn't see that you'd moved my post. Thanks!

Exactly! Stuff gets buried! That thread is the Bermuda Triangle of tiki treasures -- things go in, and they never come out again!

virani, I don't think it has to be one or the other, it can be both. Plus, consider this -- by posting your book covers in their own thread, it got up on Cool & Current for a while, I put it up on Humu Kon Tiki, and the Cynical-C blog posted about it, too. It may seem that your thread didn't get much attention, but it actually did -- and I don't think your books would have gotten much more attention in the Tiki Finds thread. Double plus, a year down the road if someone finds a cool Tahitian book, it might get posted to your thread, introducing your books to a whole new audience. I can almost guarantee that wouldn't happen to an old post in Tiki Finds.

I've often thought that a catch-all topic like "Is this anything?" could be used for stuff people found but have no information on. Or call it, "What is this?" or "Anybody seen this before?" You get the drift.

I like the idea, but wasnt the idea of the single collecting thread to keep all this stuff together in a relatively ordered way, without a bazillion topics? If I want to search for something, I can select the "collecting" topic in the search function. If its in the general collecting topic, and its been displayed and spelt properly, I should find it okay, "common" or not.

I kinda like the main collecting thread to sea what people have been up to, but I wont as often go into singular threads on one item. Having said that, I did find the coconut thread very interesting (but I ignored it for weeks until curiosity got the better of me)

We could try locking the Finding Tiki topic for a while and see how members handle it .....

On 2005-11-06 15:16, hanford_lemoore wrote:
We could try locking the Finding Tiki topic for a while and see how members handle it .....

How will you know that people are not posting?

If we start new threads for each find are we then obligated to search and see if anyone else has started a thread on the same item and post in that thread? Will the threads be merged if we don't? I don't feel that most of my finds warrant a dedicated thread. Just my two cents.

"Tiki Finds" is supposed to be a fun discussion.

I don't think there's any need, or desire, to lock Tiki Finds. I'm not interesting in seeing people stop posting their finds in Tiki Finds -- it can be fun to see what people are able to find in clusters and hear about their trips to the thrift store -- but rather, to also get these items posted in threads for discussion and conversation.

On 2005-11-05 20:19, hewey wrote:
I like the idea, but wasnt the idea of the single collecting thread to keep all this stuff together in a relatively ordered way, without a bazillion topics?

Nope. The "Tiki Finds keeps everything in one place" argument doesn't hold water. The items getting posted are extraordinarily varied, the only thing they have in common is that they've been "found." By that argument, the entire Collecting Tiki section would be "relatively ordered" if everything went into one great big thread. Sure, you could do a search and find a post within that monster thread, but discussion would be a cacophany of unrelated jabbering.

Discussion about the generics of looking for and finding tiki items make sense in Tiki Finds, but discussion about specific tiki items do not.

Sure, you might be able to find an item in Tiki Finds (though that requires that whoever found the item knew what it was, and typed the name of the item next to the picture), but how common is it for someone to find an old post in Tiki Finds, have a question about it, or more information about it, and post it to the thread? It occasionally happens for the day or 2 after the find has been posted, but it doesn't happen for old finds.

Again -- we wouldn't have a new thread every time someone finds an item. Rather, we would have a new post every time someone finds a new item, sometimes in existing threads about that type of item, and sometimes in a new thread if there isn't already one. For instance, if someone finds a new coconut monkey, they would probably choose to put it in the coconut monkey thread that badmojo started. That lets us see the variety across all of them, and keeps relevant information about where they were made, how far back they date, etc. all together in one place. Much more organized, actually.

If you're not interested in coconut monkeys, then you can just skip the thread -- hell, that's how message boards work. But if you are interested in coconut monkeys, that thread is a whole lot more useful than searching within Tiki Finds for coconut monkeys. And, I'd be willing to wager that more than a few people found coconut monkeys a lot more interesting as that thread grew.

How will you know that people are not posting?
Well, in theory, they'd tell me. Seriously.

If we start new threads for each find are we then obligated to search and see if anyone else has started a thread on the same item and post in that thread?
Of course! It's no different than any other New Topic. Are you posting to Tiki Finds just so you can avoid doing a search?

I don't feel that most of my finds warrant a dedicated thread. Just my two cents.
I appreciate your two cents. But, if you don't think it warrants its own thread, then why are you posting it at all? And remember, it only gets it's own thread if you did a search and there was not a topic already.

"Tiki Finds" is supposed to be a fun discussion.
Tiki Central is supposed to be a fun forum, in general. This change would make it much easier for people to discuss they stuff they love. How is that less fun?

[ Edited by: hanford_lemoore 2005-11-06 16:08 ]

On 2005-11-06 16:03, hanford_lemoore wrote:
But, if you don't think it warrants its own thread, then why are you posting it at all?

Well, ya got me there. I guess because I thought it at least somewhat fun. I don't have to though. I just like sharing the pics and the stories.

On 2005-11-06 16:03, hanford_lemoore wrote:
Are you posting to Tiki Finds just so you can avoid doing a search?

Sure. If I go to a flea market and find ten or twelve things (which I do on occasion) I don't want to do a search for each one and add to or start new threads as decorum dictates. Then there's the fact that you have to photo and upload each item separately etc. I'm not trying to argue here. I'm just saying that if there were not a Tiki Finds thread then I wouldn't post pics of most of what I find. Not that that's a big loss or anything.

I know that what already gets posted here represents only a fraction of what TCers collect. Most of the old timers rarely post in Collecting and I know you guys are out looking and finding things (including you and Humu and Sven and Duke and etc you know who all the big collections are). So many already don't post their finds, why make it harder and less gratifying for those of us who do?

I think it's a great idea to encourage people to start threads regarding certain topics (the Coco Joes vs HIP thread is a classic that I still use) but I don't think you can force them.

What I would rather see is an effort to get the folks with the massive collections to share and post and talk about what they have.******

And, oh yeah, a forum for home tiki bars. :wink:

On 2002-09-16 21:24, TikiGuy wrote:
Hey let's start a bit of a brag board where you can show what great finds you got on the weekend from yard sales, parents attics, junk shops, deals with the devil, etc....

****** I was disappointed to see the lack of response of those with the big collections to the Tiki Renewal threads. I KNOW there are way more tiki lamps out there than were shared!

On 2005-11-06 17:18, Kono wrote:
Most of the old timers rarely post in Collecting and I know you guys are out looking and finding things (including you and Humu and Sven and Duke and etc you know who all the big collections are). So many already don't post their finds, why make it harder and less gratifying for those of us who do?

Actually, I do. When I've found stuff, I've posted it. I haven't posted some of my more recent finds, because I've literally been living out of a suitcase for the past few months. I do find aloha wear all the time, and I should get that posted.

I didn't start this thread to discourage people from posting their finds, I just want to point out how folks can make a small change in how their posting and really improve the quality of the information around here. It's just advice, you can take it or leave it.

I understand what "Tiki Finds" is really for; posting pics of cool stuff you just found, but that's really all the farther it can be carried. If I, or other new collectors like me, find something that I'm clueless about and seek information on, "Tiki Finds" isn't really the place to post. It'll be buried in a day or two and you may never get an answer. OTOH, I'm reluctant to start a new thread for something that may turn out to be . . well, nothing. You can't very well "search" for something when you don't know what it is, so you're kinda stuck. This is where a "What is this?" thread might be more helpful than "Tiki Finds."

There. $.02

I found this buried in the forum (ironically), and it encapsulated something that has been bugging me, so I thought I'd revive it.