what are the most beloved contemporary tiki mugs?

as i was preparing for my garage sale and this weekend's trip to the tonga hut i received these reply posts and pm. i redacted the name of the pm sender since it was for my eyes only.

On 2010-03-21 17:40, teaKEY wrote:
Any Augie Colon mugs, don't take and Send them this way

On 2010-03-22 00:44, swizzle wrote:
I'll take any Augies, thank you very much!

On 2010-03-16 07:25, xxxx xxxxxxx wrote:
Aloha,
Are you selling any of the Augie Colon mugs?
Cheers and Mahalo,
xxxx

we all know the vintage holy grail mugs: severed head, war god, bumatay, etc, but this got me thinking about what the most popular modern mugs are. obviously gecko's augie colon mug is at the top of a few lists, including my own.
please reply with your favorites. this can mean the holy grail you're still searching for, or something common or rare in your collection that hits you just right.
let's keep this to production pieces and not one offs or hand mades.

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2010-03-22 13:16 ]

Personally, my favorites are the Bosko mugs.
But yes, I love the Gecko mugs too (the bowls most of it).

great idea, bullet, i'll start!
holy grails:
bosko cook islands fisherman's god. impossible to find.
bosko ku. i almost stole a broken one from bosko's backyard. k'den brah!
bosko cannibal trio. sigh, why did i start this? i'll never score these!
tiki tony hand painted pupu. i haven't seen a hand painted version yet, but i'll be talking to tony this weekend.
squid unkle shrunkle. big and bad-ass!
you might be thinking: "hey bullet, i thought munktiki and gecko were your faves". true, but i've been fortunate enough to be able to score all my faves from those guys.
favorites in my collection:
munktiki frankenskull. i had a few vintage leilani type mugs, but this was the first modern mug i bought. it combined two of my favorite things: frankenstein and skulls.
munktiki tall moai. a brilliant design and great glaze. my favorite moai ever.
gecko augie colon. the first high end piece i bought was the red dirt artist proof. with the open mouth and red dirt glaze, this is the mug that really changed the way i view the art of the tiki mug.
tiki tony hand painted fatutu. the first painting i owned featured fatutu, so i was pumped when tony did the mug.
gecko tangaroa. i've been building an army for years.
crazy al tiki king. incredible take on an amazing tiki.
bosko pilikua moai. this gigantic mug is my other fave moai.
tiki diablo tambu. a brilliant design with great paint graphics.
'ona tiki zombie moai. the big daddy of creepy monster tiki mugs.

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2010-03-23 02:52 ]

well, i guess nicolas beat me to the start! virani, which are your favorite bosko and gecko designs?

A timely question; this is something I've been thinking about lately as I consider refocusing my small collection. Here's a list off the top of my head...

In Collection:
Bosko

• Souffle Moai
• New Guinea Iatmul
• #2

Tiki Diablo

• Tambu
• Mai Kai PNG Artist Proof (Ku Key)
• Macumba
• Skull Trader

Gecko

• Custom Waka Taua - Red Dirt and Bone Glaze
• La Mariana Artist Proof (Red Dirt Glaze) - If eBay is any indication, this seems to be a very under-appreciated piece.

Munktiki

• Wananga and Bowl
• Maka
• Tall Maoi
• Trader Mort's

Wishlist / Grails:
Bosko

• Cook Island Fisherman God
• Tahitian Cannibal Trio
• Sepik River Vase
• Ku
• #1

Gecko

• Maori Vase
• Lava Bowl

I'll chime in.
My favorites are the Munktiki brains and the Munktiki Munk-es.
I like them because they're colorful and fun. Skull Fink Nekos are cool for the same reason.

2 of my fave collectors popping in. roland, obviously our tastes are very similar. congrats cuz! and stacy, we share a huge love of our munktikis. paul and miles are amazing in the amount of designs they keep coming up with. wananga and maka are 2 great examples of how they use traditional symbols and figures in a new, exciting way. i really dig those 2 also. the brains were a smart, fun take on the vintage lidded mugs like the aku aku moai and the islander style headhunter and smiley. munk-es might not be tiki, but they've allowed miles to show his cartoon/monster/pop culture influences. i love my munke-s! mahalo guys!

Anything by Little lost tiki or Grog.

oh yeah, i haven't seen your bosko #2 and gecko custom waka. time to update your ooga-mooga, brah.

On 2010-03-22 14:58, Zeta wrote:
Anything by Little lost tiki or Grog.

alright ernie and kinny! stop bribing euros to say nice things about you! thanks zeta, any of their designs in particular?

On 2010-03-22 14:59, kingstiedye wrote:
oh yeah, i haven't seen your bosko #2 and gecko custom waka. time to update your ooga-mooga, brah.

Yeah, I'm waaay behind.

HEY!!!! I mean it!!!! They are the best!!! Little lost tiki style is beyond original and grog's craftsmanship is uncanny!!!! They are the best, plus, they are ACTIVE members of the tiki community! And any way, I'm not European, I'm basque!!!

Edited for removal of big mouthing (first and last time)

[ Edited by: Zeta 2010-12-23 13:52 ]

rotf & lmao! i hope i got that right! mahalo zeta. as far as i know llt's only production mugs are the 3 tiki farm mugs. no doubt, kinny's style is beyond original and grog is really talented. i have llt's mug and decanter from the dva gallery tiki art shows and they are definitely 2 of my favorite one offs.
as for bosko, i'd say he's definitely been an active member of the tiki community! in fact, i credit 99% of what i know about poly pop culture to bosko, sven, and sabu the coconut boy.

Most of these I don't own..... yet but someday hopefully. :wink:

Gecko'z:
Mouth Of Pele
Augie Colon (anyone)
Legends Of Exotica Arthur Lyman
Gecko'z new La Mariana Mug (Beautiful)
Ku Ku Kachoo

Tiki Tony:
Fatutu

Crazy Al:
Tiki King

Bosko
KApu Tiki

Munktiki:
Tiki Oasis 6 mug

and many other's I just can't think of...

Under the Munktiki column, I would put Shecky near the top of the list. One of the most beloved modern mugs here at TC, at least amongst us old-timers. A TC'er will part with a lot of his more attractive, rarer mugs before he/she will part with Shecky.

That's probably a good way to look at this question. "Which of your modern mugs would you get rid of last if you had to sell them to raise money?"

ahh, some more beauties. mahalo for your input, bb. i'll be scoring red dirt versions of the la mariana and kuku kachoo as soon as gecko finishes them. :) kapu tiki is a great one. bosko's signature mug. i was lucky to finally get one last year. munktiki tiki oasis 6 is on alot of wishlists. i wonder how much of that is because of it's design or how hard it was/is to acquire one?

On 2010-03-22 18:02, kingstiedye wrote:
...munktiki tiki oasis 6 is on alot of wishlists. i wonder how much of that is because of it's design or how hard it was/is to acquire one?

For me it would be design. Same goes for the 2006, 2007 & 2008 Hukilau mugs.

AUGIE. WITHOUT A DOUBT. But you already knew that I'd say that Bullet.
This question is not quite the same, but similar to one I asked a little while ago.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=34978&forum=5&hilite=fire

Besides the ones I listed in that post, the others that I consider to be my Holy Grails and would love to have in my collection are;

Snow Monkey Brains
Robot Brains (gunmetal/purple brain colour)
Tiki Oasis V (both colours)

Obviously there are quite a lot more I could add, but if I owned the mugs above I would be happy to stop collecting and would even call my collection complete.

There is also a heap of various Gecko pieces that I think are amazing and could add to the list, although most of them are one-of-a-kinds.

I find it quite funny that the mugs I listed above, are called Tiki mugs, although they are not Tikis at all.

Munktiki's Poison has always been a favorite of mine. Also Munktiki's / Dr. Alderete's Kreepy, Gecko's Voodoo, Gecko's Bora Boiler, Gecko's Double Marquesan, Tikiyaki's Orchestra's Drum mug, Crazy Al's King Tiki & Lucky Tiki, Tiki Farm's Unlucky Tourist decanter, Ocea Otica's Tumbuna & Kapriman, and Tiki Kaimuki's Palembei & Skoai, to name a few more.

My meager collection is almost entirely old stuff, but can I still play?

I posted this over three years ago on a thread requesting info about the value of some Munktiki pieces:

*Digs? Only the greatest new tiki mug design in the world. Anyone who says differently, I'll personally fight. *

The winner, and still champion: DIGS

Put up your dukes,
midnite

winner winner chicken dinner! digs is awesome! the mid-century modern moai! mahalo midnite! mmmmm, m's! i hope i'm lucky enough to check out that "meager collection" of "old stuff" someday!
swizzle, the braddah who never, and i mean NEVER, goes anywhere without his augie colon mug. ask him about it if ya don't believe me! sorry i let your previous thread get by me. i enjoyed going back to read it.
nels my braddah, great choices. you too possess fantastic taste similar to mine. congrats to you! munktiki poison always demands a high price on ebay or in trades. i've had as many as 4 at a time just cuz i knew eventually i'd get to trade one for something i really wanted. it worked too. same thing with augie. kreepy is way cool. also, dr. alderete's supercool, much overlooked, and apparently rare mug and shot for tiki bar in mexico city.

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2010-03-23 00:28 ]

it's odd, bullet. i've come to think of my mugs differently over the years. i've been selling off quite a bit of my collection.

most of the ones i sell have very little emotional connection or an emotional connection that i'm willing to let go. weird how inanimate objects carry emotional connections.

some of the ones i've held on to that i know are quite valuable i don't keep specifically because they're valuable monetarily, i just want them because i know how rare they are. most are vintage.

i know that not many people have them and don't even know about them.

one mug i have is probably not known except for two others on this board. i like it because it's rare, makes me happy and is pretty darn cool based on it's history. i know there's at least one other person that would buy it directly.

i've pretty much stopped collecting mugs. i'm going to concentrate on art when i can. there's just so much talent here that it's hard to not recognize the fact that it will be a good investment.

there's enough mug collectors out there to keep the munktiki/gecko/holden et al in business.

yeah perry, i have an emotional connection to many of my mugs regarding a time, place or person. you're right about all the art right on these forums. i'm getting my tiki room done and i can't believe how many pieces i have from tc artists like you.
check this moke out! he talked his fiancee into putting augie on their wedding invitation!


i wish the wedding souvenir was an augie instead of mouth of pele.

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2010-03-23 10:44 ]

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2010-03-23 10:46 ]

On 2010-03-22 17:58, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
Under the Munktiki column, I would put Shecky near the top of the list. One of the most beloved modern mugs here at TC, at least amongst us old-timers. A TC'er will part with a lot of his more attractive, rarer mugs before he/she will part with Shecky.

That's probably a good way to look at this question. "Which of your modern mugs would you get rid of last if you had to sell them to raise money?"

i meant to comment on this earlier. shecky! talk about an emotional connection. i know shecky and the ohana huts mean a lot to me. they would be a couple of my last to go.
and i need to add squid's unkle shrunkle to my holy grail list. it's big and bad-ass!

I'll have to go with my Bosko mugs here, and the 17 Into The Volcano mugs, only because I really love them all..

Of course, my favorites will never compare to all of the fab mugs Bullet has... :D

[ Edited by: tikipaka 2010-03-23 14:15 ]

On 2010-03-23 14:11, tikipaka wrote:
I'll have to go with my Bosko mugs here, and

http://www.ooga-mooga.com/cgi-bin/all/collection.cgi?mode=gallery&user_id=462&tag=Bosko

The 17 Into The Volcano mugs, only because I really love them all..

http://www.ooga-mooga.com/cgi-bin/all/collection.cgi?mode=gallery&user_id=462&tag=Into%20The%20Volcano

Of course, my favorites will never compare to all of the fab mugs Bullet has... :D

---

[ Edited by: tikipaka 2010-03-23 14:15 ]

Fixed the links...

What are...tiki mugs?

On 2010-03-24 17:14, TravelingJones wrote:
What are...tiki mugs?

I think this "Tiki mug" might qualify...:lol:

Got photos of the sculpt for the new Munktiki Hukilau 2010 mug today... It's patterned on a Barney West tiki that used to be at The Mai Kai... another Kevin Kidney design

looks like another munktiki/hukilau/kidney winner. thanks for the post!

freddie and jonesEy crawling out in the light with me? wow! shakas braddahs!

On 2010-03-24 22:56, kingstiedye wrote:
freddie and jonesEy crawling out in the light with me? wow! shakas braddahs!

It would be interesting to hear about their favorites... :)

LOL...

Chongo is the best! Ok, maybe second best. I mean if Shag ever designed a tiki mug it would look like this one.

I know, I already voted. Still, I waited eight years, eight years!!, to get this one. Plus, I paid more for this than any other mug, ever. One dollar more to be precise. In the pantheon of Munktiki's best, and they gots a lot of bests, this mug sits just to the left of Digs.

I miss that other Chongo,
midnite

I'm a huge fan of Crazy Al, Gecko and Tiki Diablo. I'm also an admirer of VanTiki and Derek Yaniger.

Being that I collect Witco and Tiki mugs, I'm kinda partial to this great crossover tribute mug, "Big Joe" by Munktiki and Ken Pleasant...


I also really like the Oceanic Arts 50th Anniversary mug that Tiki Farm did, great stuff!

I just got a TikiFarm delivery and have to say the Makalani Siren is my favorite TikiFarm Bowl. The color is awesome...a soft baby blue with a hint of green and light beige & white relief highlights. The mermaid is so serene and beautiful wrapped around the bowl. I LOVE IT!!!!

The last one I would sell would be the Velvet Glass/Squid Kon Tiki "Relight the Night" mug that has the torch platform.

I haven't collected many of the high end/grail mugs most of mine a thrift store finds.

On 2010-03-22 17:58, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
That's probably a good way to look at this question. "Which of your modern mugs would you get rid of last if you had to sell them to raise money?"

My personal choice:

'Nuff said.