Stolen Tiki stuff! - Dealers & collectors please keep an eye open!

Sometime between 10:30 a.m. July 8 and 10:30 a.m. July 9, 2016, someone broke into my storage unit in Costa Mesa, Calif., and stole much of the Tiki and Oceanic material I've been collecting over the years. I'm posting the few photos I have of the material (taken in happier days). Much more was stolen, but this is what I happened to have photos of. I know tiki mugs, PNG bilum bags, a PNG lime pot, a movie projector, Halloween decorations, and more also disappeared.

PNG spirit hook (or skull hook), over three feet tall

Two "tiki babies" by Danny "Tiki Diablo" Gallardo. Note unique paint jobs.

PNG gope board

Disneyland tiki salt and pepper shakers, 1950s (perfect condition)

These are just a few samples from a larger record collection that contained more than just Exotica. This was just the only photo I had. Note the local Tiare Productions LP from Orange County.

Tapa swag lamp by Bamboo Ben.

Carved wood crocodile bowl from PNG, and an early 1900s California-made fishing float (smallish).

Early Hawaiian Punch can (large), from when it was still made in Fullerton, CA.

Plastic masks from Benson's Tropical Imports (not so classy, perhaps, but I figured they'd be good for outside decor if we ever start getting rain again.)

Thanks for keeping an eye out. If you have any clues or if you see any of the one-of-a-kind items like the PNG carvings appear on the market, please call the Costa Mesa Police Dept.

I can't tell you how upsetting this is. I don't make big money. I don't take vacations. But every so often I splurge on my hobby. And now this.

I'm so sorry to hear of this. Collections like this have great sentimental value way beyond monetary value. Best of luck in the recovery and I will keep an eye out on the online auctions for your stuff.

SpaceAgeCity, I too am saddened by your (hopefully temporary) loss. I'm in Thousand Oaks but will keep
an eye open in Craigslist for any sign of these pieces. I hope they turn up soon!

Aloha,
20 Cent

Thanks both of you, and to others who have written saying they'll keep an eye out for my stuff. I moved what was left out of the storage unit today and discovered even more missing stuff. No additional one-of-a-kind stuff, however, which was sort of a relief. Anyway, I expect to keep having "Hey! Where did THAT go?!? Oh, yeah,... now I remember" moments for a long, long time.

Hey SpaceAgeCity, so sorry for your lost. I don't know what I do in your shoes. I have a spare copy of Ritual of the Savage LP that I can send you. Just PM you address. I also have some spare mugs I could send your way if you're interested. Let me know and I hope you get your items back

Thank you so much. You'd be surprised how much this means to me, VinylGeek.

Chris,

Sorry to hear about your loss, this is so not cool. Will keep and eye out for the stuff you posted. If you put a list of items together that are not shown in the photos I can help track that too. It sounds like your storage unit was specifically targeted, so the perps know what they were looking for. The market for this stuff is a tight knit group, so something should show up.

DC

Thanks to all of you. In fact, the response of the Tiki community has been the one bright light in this otherwise discouraging episode. I knew there were a lot of cool people out there in Tikiland, but I had no idea!

Sometime soon, I'll write up a summary of what's happened so far. (No, nothing's been found, but there's still plenty of story to tell.)

[ Edited by: SpaceAgeCity 2016-07-25 00:31 ]

So sorry this happened. I hope you get it all back.

Left you a inbox message here on TC.Don't have your email to send you scanned copy of Public Storage article we talked about .

whats the latest with this? just curious