hula lamps

I saw a cool hula lamp (the kind that actually hula) yesterday at Whaler's Village in Lahaina. Unfortunately they wanted $1,600+ clams for it - that's a little too steep for me, even after a good week at the craps tables (how do you think I ended up in Maui?).

Anyone know of a good, cheap(er) online source for these?

Aloha,

Vic

vic,

Maui is full of those lamps. New, old, moving and not. Generally they are overpriced trying to make a buck from an uneducated tourist. Also stores like to keep them on their shelves just for the looks. if they sold them for what you can buy them for on e-bay, they would wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand.

Note: you can get the hula mechanism fixed on non working lamps by most watch repair shops. So buy the broken ones and get them fixed, you'll save hundreds!

Here's the best source for those lamps... http://www.aloha-dreams.com . Although still pricey at $600 (still $1k less) - this is about as inexpensive as you'll find these lamps anywhere.
Holden

Waikiki.com sells motion hula lamps for $74.99. Don't know about the quality though.

Try these guys for good deals

https://www.konadigital.com/HawaiianExpress/index.htm

You can get what I think are the best reproductions of the vintage lamps at:
http://hulalamps.com/
Again, not cheap, but the quality can't be beat... Or keep scouring the antique shops and flea markets. I have actually come across a couple in the past few years.

I love those old lamps but am not too fond of the newer painted ones. The originals fetch a very high price. I was told by a dealer once that there are three styles of the vintage one, arms down, one arm down one on head and the most rare is the one with both arms raised.

I have one of the ones from the late 40's and was one of the harder ones to redo electrically, since the cord had to be carefully passed through the motor that sways the hips, but was well worth the sweat. I have rewired an all brass~raised arm one and the motor worked STILL on that one too. I'll take a picture and will post soon.