Sea World Fire King....Really?

So, whats the deal with this auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300372683669&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I have always thought this to be a really common mug....$80+ really??? If the seller is here on tikicentral....congrats!

No surprise at all. This mug falls into the crossover area of collecting. Tiki and Fire King. Fire King in it's own right is highly collectible especially the Jade-ite pieces. A Fire King logo mug is an added bonus to collectors.

Wow - really?? I've seen those at goodwill - I guess I'll have to pick-up the next one! :wink:

Whaaa..that cheap-ass thing, 80 bucks!? I am digging mine out and putting it on e-bay when I get back! (..and so will half a dozen of other sellers, bringing the price down to 3.50 again) "Fire King", huh? The stuff people collect...

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2009-12-09 06:11 ]

Remember this is true for the Fire King mugs not the standard old ceramic mugs. Look on the bottom to make sure.

I dunno....I have seen so many of these Sea World mugs (all being Fire King) both in person and on ebay and they have all been around .99-5.00 and nothing more. Plus a quick ebay search and you can find tons of Fire King stuff..and yes, some going for higher prices. Whatever...I just thought this was $$$$ for such a common cup.

I guess I should not have said anything...and put the two that I have up on ebay...oh well! :)

Mine has a capital "F" in a sheild.
So the collectable has a rounder/beveled bottom

Compliments of Ooga-Mooga

This was my very first Tiki mug form Sea World at the Hawaiian Punch village (1967-68 ?). Then they switched to the present one, and I hated it.
The only picture I could find of the original is with the picture of Otto's mug (plural :)) .

Shhhhhh...I collect Jadite Fire-King. Life's a Diner!!! :wink:

On 2009-12-09 10:26, Unga Bunga wrote:
This was my very first Tiki mug form Sea World at the Hawaiian Punch village (1967-68 ?). Then they switched to the present one, and I hated it.
The only picture I could find of the original is with the picture of Otto's mug (plural :)) .

That looks very much like my first Tiki mug - I got at Marine World Africa USA which at the time was located in Redwood Shores, CA.

Once before, about 4 years ago, I saw this very same mug go for something like $50.00 on eBay (and this was shortly after I found one in the wild). I thought that it was rare then, but had since seen it go for a few bucks in auctions. I guess you just gotta get lucky as a seller.

On 2009-12-09 15:32, Slacks Ferret wrote:
... I guess you just gotta get lucky as a seller.

That's exactly what's happening here. An overly exuberant bidder who doesn't know the value of the item he wants. Either that or someone is purposely messing with this auction, with no intention of paying.

That said, about a year ago I saw an Islander Pineapple mug go for over $100. This past year I've seen Macumba mugs go for over $200 (more than once) and once over $400. And Miehana mugs for $30, $40 and $70 (while still available from TF for $14.95).

On 2009-12-09 16:03, LOL Tiki wrote:
....This past year I've seen Macumba mugs go for over $200 (more than once) and once over $400.

Wehellll.. that one is easy to explain: Many collectors did not know about that mug --UNTIL it was published in TIKI MODERN. :D

Definately looks like a pissing match auction...The guy with the most testicular fortitude wins the auction!(and loses any and all respect) :lol:

Sorry folks,

This is definitely due to the fact that it's a Fire King mug of some rarity and not the Federal Glass version. Fire King collectors are as meticulous and crazy as we Tiki Mug collectors. The jadeite and milk glass coffee mugs are some of the more collectible pieces because a lot of restaurants and other locations got their logos put on these mugs and some of them are really obscure and rare.

As an eBay seller, I've learned to pick up Fire King mugs on sight because they're usually cheap at garage sales and you may find one of the uncommon ones that sells for $100 or more. The collectors know which ones are valuable by the transferware pattern, shape of the handle, the style of Fire King logo, and stock number on the underside.

I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous, so don't quote me, but I've noticed that the "D"-shaped handle seems to make some difference. Note the handle on the mug in question:

As opposed to the square handles on these mugs which were made by Federal Glass:

The Federal Glass ones are the ones I see all the time on eBay and I think they're pretty common. The Fire King one is clearly marked Fire King on the bottom:

It could be that these Fire King mugs are more common than the people think, but aren't hitting the collector's radar because they don't get listed as "Fire King". If that's the case, and you have one of these mugs, by all means list it on eBay and take advantage of this fact. But I have a feeling the Fire King mugs are less common than the Federal Glass ones, and that's what caused the high price.

Sabu as always great information (and right on the money!). I deal in vintage glassware as a hobby and for extra money....I sell a lot of fire king and you can make a great profit if you just know what to look for.

This is very interesting. I thought all of these Sea World mugs were manufactured by Fire King. I'll have to watch these items with a sharper eye now!

If it's got the "F" in the Shield marking - that's Federal Glass. The Fire King brand should be marked as such and have the anchor logo, which indicates it was made by Anchor-Hocking.

I have to say, once again, you can learn so much here on TC. Thanks to everyone who put in their 2 cents and the pictures really helped. I guess now, the real question is this cup tiki or not :) Just kidding!