Your first / favorite tikis

So, in the spirit of the "First Exotica" thread ....

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=26783&forum=11&14

What is your first and/or favorite tiki from your collection. Is there a tiki you got way back that was basically a "floodgate opener" for your tiki obsession ? For me it was finding this set of tiki twins at the thrift store next to Sharkeez in Redondo beach (or was it Hermosa?) near the pier. I remember wandering in there and finding these two guys...sometime back in 97', 98', 99' ? ...not sure exactly when.

They're about 6 or 7" tall, and appear to be made of koa. no "made in Hawaii" label in the back or anything, but they definitely appear to be vintage. Unfortunately, one guy lost part of his foot. These guys are special to me, cos they were the first tikis I got, and that made me get all tiki obsessed.
Anyway...these guys are my favorites out of my collection. One day, I plan to mount them on some nice tapa backed bamboo frames....one day.

Post your fave tikis here !

[ Edited by: tikiyaki 2007-12-29 13:19 ]

Jim, that is a good idea for a thread, but kind of schizophrenic. Just like there is a (sometimes huge) difference between the FIRST sex one ever had, and the FAVORITE sex one ever had. I vote that this shall be about the FIRST Tiki, it is bound to be more interesting. (And NO, nothing about first sex, ...Ben!)

On 2007-12-29 16:58, bigbrotiki wrote:
Jim, that is a good idea for a thread, but kind of schizophrenic. Just like there is a (sometimes huge) difference between the FIRST sex one ever had, and the FAVORITE sex one ever had. I vote that this shall be about the FIRST Tiki, it is bound to be more interesting. (And NO, nothing about first sex, ...Ben!)

How bout first sex with a Tiki?

Or, did you mean the other Ben's here??!?

On 2007-12-29 16:58, bigbrotiki wrote:
Jim, that is a good idea for a thread, but kind of schizophrenic. Just like there is a (sometimes huge) difference between the FIRST sex one ever had, and the FAVORITE sex one ever had. I vote that this shall be about the FIRST Tiki, it is bound to be more interesting. (And NO, nothing about first sex, ...Ben!)

Well....for me, these are amongst my first tikis, but also my favorites,,,,So list both.

But, maybe a TIKI or TIKI item that made you really pushed you out on the slippery slope to tiki geekdom.

BTW.... I think favorite MUGS should have their own thread,

My first tiki as a kid with my parent's tiki torches. Later, it was a tiki mug a buddy of mine in my college fraternity had - that and going to Tiki Ti without knowing it was Tiki, but just digging the exotic cocktails and the vibe.

More recently, my first real Tiki was a Christmas gift from my parents - purchased by my sisters - from the House of Tiki.

My first tiki was a necklace made of sandstone with ruby red plastic eyes, and a black nylon lanyard. I was about twelve.

I had appreciation of, but no awareness of "tiki" until I came to this board. The first thing I purposely bought after joining was the Tiki Farm Drei Moai Scorpian Bowl. Yours truly...the modern-day collector, basically tiki naive, Internet shopper, supporter of current artists, attracted to shiny kitchy items.

My parents honeymooned in Hawaii in the early 70s and brought back the tiki shown below. They kept in the basement next to the bar when I was a kid, and on porches and in the backyard as we moved to different houses. I always thought it was so cool and mysterious, but didn't really understand what it was. Their other souvenir was a set of Leilani mugs that we would use for parties and other special occasions. Mom kept them on the top shelf in a kitchen cabinet that I couldn't reach, and I would watch her in the kitchen hoping that she would open that particular cabinet so that I could catch a glimpse of those mugs. So even though it is amongst the most common of the tiki mugs, the tiki Leilani mug will always have a special place in my collection and my memory. Those were my earliest impressions and experiences with tiki. It wasn't until many many years later when I was in grad school and found a Fireside Moai mug for a buck that my interest in tiki was rekindled and the obsession really began. I brought it home (rather timidly because I buy all kinds of weird junk which usually causes my fiancee to roll his eyes). This time though he took one look at the mug and said "that's cool, why didn't you buy more?" That was pretty much the green light to start collecting.

Wow, cool story FUGU. That's the kind of stuff that I was referring to when I made this thread, Thanx for the photo too.

My parents brought me back a small monkeypod Ku from Hawai'i when I was 7.
Also they brought me a blue aloha shirt that the whole of the school laughed at whenever I wore it.

Didn't care then - don't now. I love those things.

I still have that tiki hanging up over the Napali Bar at The Rusty Key.
The shirt? I gave it to one of my nephews. They hated it.

My favorite Tiki is the approx 4 1/2 ft Ku I purchased from the Purple Orchid after a mini-TC night. Good Mana - Dave sold it to me. I then saw the same version for sale on the Big Island.

Happy New year !

side note: ok, I got those tikis at the Treasure Chest in Hermosa Beach on Pier Ave. That Sharkeez next door burned down. They used to sell drinks in a TIKI mug there, which I got too.

I really loved the food there but the sports bar "bro-tard" crowd on the weekends was always a huge bummer. So, I would go during the week. On the menu they call the food "Mexinesian"...and it's a nice mix of Mexican and Tiki style food. Good stuff.

Anyone ever go there and get the drinnk in the tiki mug ? They had a drink that came in a ceramic pineapple, and a parrot mug too.

The Treasure Chest used to be a cool, kinda run down thrift store, but has since become a little more "upscale" to accomodate the hi-pro glo crowd than hangs on Pier ave now. (ugh !)

I think Sharkeez is due to reopen again in Spring this year.

Sharkeez update :

Took a bike ride down there today for lunch. The term "Mexinesian" (that's how they used to describe their food) has been removed from the menu, and any traces of tiki style / hawaiiana have pretty much been removed in favor of Mayan and Baja style. Not that this place was a real tiki joint, but it did have a laid back beach hut vibe, and they used to have drinks in a tiki mug. I guess once it burned down, they wanted to go in a new direction...

Now you can buy a "Mayan Mai Tai". The awesome Maui Tacos are still on the menu, but it's so nuveau hermosa beach upscale now....too swanky.

Still the tacos were awesome but a weekday is the only time I'll go....At night it's sportsbar brotard hell.

Oh well.

On 2007-12-29 19:20, RevBambooBen wrote:

How bout first sex with a Tiki?

Aren't Tikis generally male? Sorry, but i don't swing that way. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Jim,

Seeing your "Tiki Twins" made me think of these guys that we found not too long ago...

Those guys are cool...nice that they stand up...mine are more for wall hanging.

My first tiki was a hand-carved tiki cane I picked up in the International Marketplace in 2004. I love it, it's like the island equivalent of a pimp cane.

Among our very first tiki-like items, and also one of our favorites, is this carved wood "spirit boat" that we acquired many years ago from an import store in Lahaina, Maui:

It was a bit worn when we got it, and was missing one of its four carved feet.

Others on this forum are far better qualified than I as to whether this really constitutes "tiki", but it sure adds primitive atmospherics that fit right in with the rest of our collection.

First was the one around Capt Adam Troy's neck in "Adventures In Paradise." Definitley a "WOW!" moment for a pre-teen.

I am bummed that I can't remember my first tiki :(