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Tiki Central / Collecting Tiki

Tiki Mugs!

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M

Here's one you don't often see, (and it's listed as a vase) but watch out, "tigerlily" has spotted it too.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2161252887&category=2001

Ok Brethren,

A shameless plug for an auction of mine. I'm parting with one of my beloved children - all funds going to my newly-opened wedding fund. Hopefully some collectors out there have been looking for one of these. No Reserve.

Sabu

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29460&item=2162505228

T

MauiTiki thanks for the link as this mug has been my achilles heal for some time. I was finally able to become the winning bidder. Of course I paid more than I wanted as kholacharms and tigerlilly both presented issues. I can definitely say that my mug collection is complete (until I find something else tomorrow).

Had to share my latest score.
While visiting family in Santa Rosa, I popped into the salvation army yesterday & found two of those Trader Vic voodoo tumblers (same as Sabu's pictured above), & a short vintage Trader Dicks moai mug to boot!
Total price for the lot: $8!!!

This is the second time I dragged my mom with me into a thrift store & scored big!
Last time I scored the Sufferin Bastard/"Mai Tai Joe" bottle for even less!
I reckon my Ma is a genuine lucky charm!

M

While visiting family in Santa Rosa, I popped into the salvation army yesterday & found two of those Trader Vic voodoo tumblers...& a short vintage Trader Dicks moai mug to boot!
Total price for the lot: $8!!!
*

:lol:

Swear, we were discussing this just yesterday, the finding of Tiki deals in the Bay Area. We went to the Oakland White Elephant Sale and snooped around Alameda shops this weekend. NADA, zip. We thought, no one is finding things, and when they say they did...they never give the price. Skepticism was rapant.

So, excellent finds! And can we borrow your Mom?

midnite

Thanks for the kudos Midnite.
I love finding great stuff for that cheap, it is definitely a natural high!
You might see one of them hit ebay petty soon. I usally dont keep doubles, but these are pretty damn sexy.
I'm curious to see how Sabu's auction turns out, that might be the deciding factor.

M

I think Sabu's auction is pretty good right now. It's no $500 bowl from The Lanai, but his glass is doing well:

The Lanai Scorpion Bowl

We'd ah won this bowl (was ready to bid $800 :lol: ), but were stuck someplace in the East Bay...I think there were goats, might of been the rum making me see things.

Put your dupe Voodoo Glass up, we need to rack up some more outbids.

midnite

hmmm, did anyone notice the brief appearance of these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3211160821&category=13928
yet another set that "mysteriously" disappeared after only one day.
Possibly from Zombie Village?

M

BBTD,
Yeah, I saw those shakers go "bye bye"...into the ether of "no longer for sale". Ya think they're Zombie Village paraphenalia?

An a related note, I wish to withdraw my comment about Sabu's TV's Voodoo glass. It was entirely innappropiate for me to term it "no $500 Lanai bowl". I regret any undue harm my misplaced remark caused; it was certainly not my intention to in any way disparage the glass, its seller, or bidders. I sincerely apologize for my error.

:cry:
midnite

Midnight,

Please don't worry - no slight was taken at all. I didn't think I would give that Lanai Bowl competition either, but I was blessed by wealthy bidders. With a final price like this, maybe Bigbadtikidaddy will have an easier mind about selling one of his voodoo tumblers too. This should pay the wedding caterer for another 20 guests or so.

Sabu

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29460&item=2162505228

I am thoroughly inspired by Sabu's auction, so I put up one of my voodoo babies up on the block! Some other nuggets as well, with the promise of more to come!

check it:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=ezcheez&include=0&since=-1&sort=3&rows=25

Sabu-
I did a partial cut-n-paste & borrowed from your description.
Partly because I didnt have that info, but mostly because I hate to type!
I hope you dont mind?
Cheers!
T-Daddy

[ Edited by: bigbadtikidaddy on 2003-03-11 19:27 ]

oy!
with all the big money being paid for mugs, I would've thought this one would blow up!
Looks like it went for a fairly realistic price:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29460&item=2163448092&rd=1

Same glaze as this other EARLY Islander mug that went for even less than half a while back:

http://www.tikiroom.net/gallery/unmarked/ads

I hope to add one or both of these mugs to my collection someday.
riiiiight.

I tend to whine about how I never find tiki mugs in thrift stores, except of course a new Vic's coconut mug every darn time I visit a certain SF thrift.

But this week has been rather startling:

I owe that nice growly little Daga mug to the generosity of mrsmiley, who kindly let ME buy it. Out of pity, I'm sure 8)...many of you have seen his awe-inspiring collection.

The Trader Dick's surfer girl is the cutest one I've seen from that establishment, but of course the Islander girl made me squeak with joy.

Total cost: $14. Oh, and I forgot to include the little coconut purse.

Me hoi-hoi!!

p.s. the weird postcard was a must-buy...circa 1920's, it is a "cover all the bases" type good luck charm. You get: four leaf clovers, a wishbone, a horseshoe, and something that looks like a feather. Oh, and a PRE-Nazi swastika, ya know, from when they were SANSKRIT symbols for lovely things like joy and eternal life (sigh). Best of all though...it says "May you live long and prosper."

Well...as I AM a Trekkie-Tiki-Film Noir Nerd from way back, how could I resist?

Maybe it'll even bring me...hey...it DID bring me good luck!

Good score, Tikivixen...!

Hmmm... you sweet talk me into giving you a Hoiti Toiti badge, you sweet talk Mrsmiley into selling you a mug.... I am seeing a pattern here....

Beware of Tikivixen! This temptress knows how to use her seductive ways to satisfy her tiki craving! :)

:tiki:

Any of you want to trade a Shag decanter set for a few of the Trader Dicks mugs? (my grandfather decorated Trader Dicks)Are there any Nugget mugs too?

This project is on hold til I have some time to breath. But, maybe in the near future. Sorry for the tease.

[ Edited by: revbambooben on 2003-03-24 20:38 ]

Lisa- Great scores! The hula mug alone is coup to find anytime!
Go baby!

Ben- what mugs are you specifically looking for from trader dicks?
I can probably help you out.

DZ

OK, my turn for a shameless auction plug!

Submitted for you approval (and bidding):

Trader Vic's STARBOARD LIGHT tumbler
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29460&item=2165201783&rd=1

and a Trader Vic's PORT LIGHT tumbler
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29460&item=2165204285&rd=1

When was the last time you had a chance to bid on either one of these, eh?

Please support my financial situation - St. James rum gets expensive when you go through it like I do...

(BTW- TC'ers get free insurance!)

M

"Submitted for you approval (and bidding): "

What, no 'buy now'? I need buy now!

Oh well, I like the descriptions, good marketing. Yep, these mugs will bring in the Major dollars...maybe even some Colonel Bucks too. No pedictions, oh ok at least $130,, but I can see "TV's Voodoo Grog" glass, part deux.

Ten day auction? Blaaaahhh...

Good luck,
midnite

:lol: Edit: I think I may be off by a smidgen on that $130 prediction, maybe just switch that one and three.

[ Edited by: midnite_tiki on 2003-03-15 00:40 ]

Midnight,
Any of them.

Ben,
If you are looking for ANY Trader Dick's mug, I'm sure I can dig one out for you - no trade necessary. These are VERY common mugs and not hard to find at all. I'd hate to see you give up a Shag set to get one.

G

i missed out on these mugs on ebay. don't know where they are from but all 8 went for only $31. marked DMAINE 11/67

Wow, thanks for posting those! The date is exactly what I would've guessed.

They make me nostalgic, as the very earliest memories of the world I have are from the late 60's. So psychedelic, my GAWD--PINK tiki mugs?!?

Never did I dare to dream that my obsessions with vintage pink items and TIKI would ever intersect.

I'm really sorry I missed them. I would've had to go for it...

confirmed night owl,

Lisa

REV,
I live 10 miles from Trader Dicks, if you want I can get you a nice collection of mugs(I have some older mugs to send to you too), a menu, and anything else I can score for you. I can even send you some photos of the place if you would like. Just send me an email letting me know what you'd like to do. Later Days

DZ

Shameless auction plug (part deux)!

You've seen Sabu's...

You've seen BigBadTikiDaddy's...

Now here's MY foray into the (hopefully) exciting and lucrative world of selling:

TRADER VIC'S VOODOO TUMBLERS!!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2166551114&ssPageName=ADME:B:LC:US:1

I would like to shamelessly point out that, unlike the two above (and highly successful - congrats, guys!!) auctions, this auction is for a LIGHT BLUE tumbler. I'd also like to shamelessly point out that this tumbler is UNUSED, and still has its original Imperial Glass labels intact!

(and, as always, free insurance for TC'ers!)

Midnight - sorry, no 'buy it now', but if its any consolation (and I know it's not), it is a 'no reserve' auction...

M

What is going on, did some truck full of "TV's Voodoo Grog" glasses lose a box or two on the freeway? And the bids they attract...aye yea yea, to the moon, Alice!

Well, these Hoity Toity types may have those glasses, but wait until you see the next midnite Tiki Mug charity auction. We got some stellar crap, er, items. Why I just finished the pics on a very VERY Rare lot to be offered:

2 Trader Dick's peanut guy mugs, the hard to find Chinese versions! :o

Please note, I WILL NOT be entertaining any "end it now for $XXX" type offers on this particular lot either. Pre-sale estimates value this lot at a minimum of eight, perhaps NINE, dollars. American.

Take that...
midnite

and we're off and running. Doubt I'll end up winning it in my price range, but it's worth a shot.

S

I've got some #1 Kahiki mugs to trade . Seems to be all I can get around here for obvious reasons.

I may have some Kahiki Skull mugs also if I can score a few more.

DZ

Ah, my dear Midnight - it seems your estimates for the final value of my Starboard and Port light glasses were (unfortunately for me) a tad on the high side... But, for my first attempt at selling tiki items (as opposed to trading), it didn't come out too bad!

However, as they say in the e-biz: "If at first you don't succeed, re-list, re-list again..."

Here's another pair!

STARBOARD
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2166965091

PORT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2166969139

M

*it seems your estimates for the final value of my Starboard and Port light glasses were (unfortunately for me) a tad on the high side... *

Ahh, but my initial prognostication put the ending value at $130. Pretty close I say. I amended my thoughts to the too-high level because the glasses took off so quickly. Perhaps that stalled things...the vagaries of auctions.

I still think they should have gone for more. Your listing alone is worth a few dollars. Marketing counts and the listing for the glasses is top-notch. People just don't appreciate genius until it's too late.

Good luck with the new ones,
midnite

C

Maybe it's that they aren't as tikiesque as the voodoo mug? I love them, I grew up by a lake so the boating theme gives them extra value to me. I just can't afford them. Sniff...

Maybe that's it, you need to bait the naval and sea-faring collectors like the sellers who put SHAG in the auction title even though the item has nothing to do with him. My Shag search has about twenty words to exclude now.

M

*Maybe it's that they aren't as tikiesque as the voodoo mug? *

Yes, that is a good point. I have several Tiki pals that collect only "Tiki" mugs, nothing hula or the like. As with any collection, one has to decide what is their aim, 'cause it is impossible to get everything. Although, I have several customers that certainly try to get it all...and several copies at that.

midnite

The gentleman I sold my Voodoo Tumbler to is a comprehensive Trader Vic's collector. He told me that there are three versions of the Port/Starboard Light Tumblers - A nice ceramic version, an ugly ceramic version, and the glass versions. I think he told me he owns over 5,000 tiki mugs, yet he had never heard of Tiki Central. I'm going to try to get him to join us - he'd have a lot of input on this Collecting board I'm sure.

Sabu

DZ

I actually have 2 different versions of the glass Port Light, both made by Imperial: a deep, ruby red, with very sharply defined features (ribs, bands, etc.), and a brighter, cherry red with more rounded, smooth features. My Starboard Lights are all the same, however. Go figure...

I also noticed that the Voodoo Tumblers Sabu and I have (they came from the same estate) have very deep and crisp raised relief masks, while the one pictured in the BOT (p. 93) looks 'melted' and almost flat by comparison. Do glass molds lose their definition over time as ceramic mug molds do?

(BTW - the winner of my first auction? Not a TikiCentralite...)


Doctor Z
Mix-maestro of the Castaway Lounge,
Redondo Beach, CA

[ Edited by: Doctor Z on 2003-03-25 17:02 ]

M

Sabu,

Re: "I think he told me he owns over 5,000 tiki mugs..."

Five...THOUSAND!?!

:o :o :o

midnite

M

Tiki Post Office in San Franciso?

We were at our local, Lombard St, Post Office on Saturday. While in the typical lengthy line I spied something on top of the counters between each postal worker space. Took a second to register and recognize what they were, Hawaiian Village Good Luck Tiki mugs. The one with the face sort of "inside" the mug's front and Chinese characters.

Funny thing these. Why? Well not just because Hawaiian Village Tiki mugs at your local Post Office is a bit peculiar, but because they were previously mine. I bought several on Ebay once and the seller could not package things too well. I took the cracked and broken mugs to the PO and filed for insurance. Following a rather contentious "discussion" with the employee in charge of these claims we were given money for the claim. They kept the mugs.

So, a little Tiki in the Post Office. They got a deal too!

midnite

At the peak of the sugar-water business in 1950 there were over 11,000 independent soda pop brands in the U.S., so it stands to reason that there could have been 5000 Polynesian joints in the world. I'd love to have that many mugs, if just for a lovely retirement fund!

The guy with the 5,000 mugs said he started collecting them seriously in the 1980s, when no one else cared about them. He also specializes in Trader Vic's drinkware and has multiples (sometimes up to 6 or 8 ) of each. He didn't have that Voodoo Grog Tumbler yet though!

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2003-04-01 12:43 ]

On 2003-04-01 12:40, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
The guy with the 5,000 mugs said he started collecting them seriously in the 1980s, when no one else cared about them.

Time to start collecting pottery owls then, eh?

Trader Woody

Time to start collecting pottery owls then, eh?

Ah, Trader Woodsy, (corny American owl reference - don't ask), my friend, the window for owl collectibles is rapidly closing. Personally, I'm stockpiling Nagel prints and those little Serendipity books from the Eighties.

Sabu
(Owl Central)

Don't know if you guys already know this, but there's an OWL themed bar somewhere in Northern California (SF Area?). The SF Hoity Toity's told me about it.

No, I'm not joking - I'm serious.

On 2003-04-01 15:21, PolynesianPop wrote:
Don't know if you guys already know this, but there's an OWL themed bar somewhere in Northern California (SF Area?).

You are probably thinking of the Owl Tree, on the corner of Post and Taylor in San Francisco. It's across the street from Tiki Bob's!

DZ

What gives?? Some guy drops almost $600 on Sabu's Voodoo Tumbler and another collector shells out almost $400 for BigBadTikiDaddy's, but an eBay newbie walks off with one of mine for only $150? Harumph!

(pouting) Fine! I think I'll just KEEP the rest of 'em...

M

They said it couldn't be done, but it has! It's here, the much anticipated, ok...me and that guy over there were waiting, April Fool Tiki Exravaganza.

Otherwise known as the "Laurence Tureaud Tribute Sale".

"I pity the fool...that doesn't buy this stuff!"

Midnite's Tiki Fool Sale

I'm a fool, he's a fool, wouldn't want to be a...

midnite

M

Ayyyy!

Who is "articcoastguard", and why are you selling Shecky? Come on, selling Shecky?

Shecky, prostituted on Ebay

Coast Guard, it figures.

midnite

M

Just had a little eBay deja vu...one of these two auctions does not seem to contain an original description. Is it considered plagiarism even if it's only eBay? All that trouble to write a witty, informed description and not even a credit. Midnite, you might want to take a look...

Midnite's auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29460&item=3221992525

Other auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3222786989&category=29460

ModMana :drink:

[ Edited by: ModMana on 2003-05-07 02:20 ]

T

I don't know about pottery owl's but I'll bet donuts to dollars that Nagel prints will make a big comeback in the collector market.
Saw one the other day and want 'hmm, you know, that actually looks kinda good'.

M

ModMana wrote:
Just had a little eBay deja vu...one of these two auctions does not seem to contain an original description. Is it considered plagiarism even if it's only eBay? All that trouble to write a witty, informed description and not even a credit. Midnite, you might want to take a look...

ModMana,
I appreciate you bringng this to my attention. At first I thought I would let it slide. Then I remembered I went to law school, and that I take a lot of time, and pride, in my listings. So, measures have been taken to correct this Ebay violation. That is not cool, use some of my info..but just copy/paste? What a tool.

Funny thing, last auction cycle I actually got "fan mail" about my listings. People do seem to enjoy them, alhtough I wish more would bid. Still, it's nice to know others find them entertaining. But steal my words, I go medieval on your ass.

Thanks again, midnite

Real 100% Authentic midnite Tiki Sale

He didn't even bother to change the part listing the mug as "Ku"!

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