what is THE rarest, most sought after tiki mug?

this question has been bugging me for a while, is there any specific mug that is the "holy grail" of tiki mugs? and i dont mean, what is the most sought after mug to you, i mean like what is THE rarest mug

I really don't know...but maybe these folks can answer this already asked question:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=2095&forum=5&hilite=holy grail

Let me know when you figure it out!

PTD

buzzy has them.......they come in 4packs

The thread that PTD provided discusses what individual's most coveted mug is. And for that, it really depends on your preference.

But if you are asking what is the most valuable regular production mug from a monetary standpoint, that may very well be the Ren Clark Severed Head mug.

This mug has fetched over a thousand dollars in Ebay auctions. It is the most expensive I've seen.

On 2008-02-06 21:24, tikipedia wrote:
...But if you are asking what is the most valuable regular production mug from a monetary standpoint, that may very well be the Ren Clark Severed Head mug.

By weight, the Severed Head mug is more valuable than diamonds.

Are you asking because you have some mugs you want to put a price on? Or just asking?

That's not a question you can answer this way. A Kahiki bowl went for $1200 once on Ebay, but a far far rarer Mai Kai Mystery Bowl went under the radar for $600. Price isn't a good wa to judge.

There are a handful of serious collectors who can answer this. They know whats really really rare. They know what they don't have. They know what only one person owns that is not a one-off.

To me, the most valuable mug is the one that is currently holding my drink.

not that i'm excatly thrilled to promote him, but tiki centrals boutiki (author of the book "tiki quest") has been collecting for years and has an extensive knowledge of mugs...he may be able to help you....tell him tipsy set ya!!

I agree with Swanky. You can't really judge mugs by price.
Sure some go steadily at very high prices but we are talking rarity right?
Not price, just straight up very hard to find! Price is way too hard to judge the rarity as some people are just willing to pay more for something that they do not have. This has been talked about so many times on here.

If you think of some rare mugs, they come from specific establishment's where there was usually only one location that had a mug for one of their drinks. I would say I see alot more of the 'Rare' mugs then I do some of the most sought after and hardest to find.
A couple examples would be the Steve Crane's Ku (Multi-colored) and the Tounge Tiki, the Kahiki Moai's by Hoffman and what about the commonly known Holy Grail...the Frank Oma War God from the Trade Winds? I see these more on ebay than a few other mugs I can think of. Oh, and I don't even have some of these mugs and I still don't think they are the rarest. Ren Clarks Severed Head? Sure it is a hard to find mug but do you see it.....Yes you do. And lately, quite a bit. I would even go on a limb here and say lately it seems that the othe mugs from Ren Clark's Polynesian Village are harder to find then the severed head. (I hope I am not asking for trouble here!)

I would say there are mugs that were simply produced less, in less numbers, because either the Restaurant wasn't around too long, cost involved to produce the mugs and perhaps the quantities actually ordered. This is where the missing information from some of these mug manufacture's would come in handy!

Some Restuarants had specific mug designs which you could not get anywhere else. This mug was only available at this location. OMC, for example, would probably have a small supply of stock but then would probably make more mugs as they were ordered. Not ordered....not made. The counts of mugs made would have to be much much lower on some of these mugs.

I guess a quick example of this would be (which I think is a underrated mug and no I am not trying to sell one) the mug from St.Louis MO, The Mainlander. These mugs were based on the Witco Carved Fountains. You do see these out there, and they are not the rarest by any means, but that's an example of a very specific mug produced for a specific restaurant only. We do know that there were two sizes of mugs created one being larger then the other. This restaurant also burned down in 1978 so how many of these mugs were actually produced? We'll probably never know.

I gotta say, some of the rarest of mugs would have to be the ones that would have cost alot more to produce even back then. Like Swanky said of the Mai Kai bowl, that is a vey hard to find bowl and because of it's size, just how many would have been produced? Granted, the Mai Kai are still around today but how long were those original bowls produced for? Speaking of Mai Kai, how many of those hand made grey colored mugs and jugs were produced? Gotta be small numbers. Personally they are kind of ugly to me but maybe that's one reason they dont fetrch huge amounts. Personal taste plays alot in determining the prices we see.

A few quick examples of high cost to produce that are very specific to me would be the mugs from Detroit's Mauna Loa (TQ p.46) made by HF Pottery. The tall bamboo mug with the bird on the side as a handle. Now that is a very cool mug and is very hard to find. It must have cost a little more to produce because of this feature and detail.
Another of these with the same styled design is the very rare mug from the Kalua Room in Seattle Wa. Tall mug with what looks like a praying mantus on the side. Now that's a rare mug! How many of these have you seen lately??

Ku Mugs, War Gods, Severed Heads, they are all available or someone knows someone who has one. Perfect mug flying under the radar here is the very unique Tiki mug with the Hula Girl in it's mouth (BOT p.181) from the Hawaii Kai in New York. A great mug made by Jard Products but a fragile one as well. Not a very common manufacturer. How many made for how long? Who knows?

Trader Vics, for example, had hand made mugs made by Polynesian Pottery to serve some of their drinks that were ONLY available at their Honolulu Hawaii location. Hand made mugs would have to be very low numbers and the details make each one a little different. A tall brown one with seriographs on it sold yesterday for about $86 which I had never seen before. Rare, yep. Expensive, nope.

Sorry for rambling on here but I hope that mugs will be looked at one day for their ACTUAL rarity as opposed to what people say is rare or their selling price. Some people just have more money and are willing to spend it to get it. Nothing really wrong with that.

Okay and after all this...the Holy Grail....maybe there isn't one.
You gotta come up with your own. I guess if there was a rarest of Holy Grail's, it would be so rare that we wouldn't even know it existed.
Kind of like that old joke, "My job is so secret even I don't know what I'm doing".

My own Holy Grail has gotta be Skipper Kent's Zombie Village Zombie/Gene face mug! The blue color fading to the lighter color and that face peering out at yah! Great design and one you'll only see every once in a blue moon. Oh, I also just noticed that this mug isn't in BOT or TQ, is that a sign?

I guess it really comes down to what you want and what you like.
Enjoy the hunt. TabooDan

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2008-02-07 12:44 ]

Well, back to my example. I collect Mai Kai pretty exclusively. I have a pretty good idea of what was made mug wise. The very oldest Mystery Bowl is rare enough that I only know of one. But, there are about 4 other mugs out there that I have seen once as well. And they are freakin rum barrels that say Mai Kai on them. They have never come up on Ebay. The Mystery Bowl was a small order. The Rum Barrels were made in quantity. But they don't show up. There is a Mai Kai "Clown" mug like from the Hawaiian Village and only Mrs. Thornton has one of those as far as I know. So, go figure.

Then there are a variety of mugs and bowls that are seen in menus that no one has. First to come to mind is the original Kahiki Mystery bowl that is in the first menu and seen in pictures. I know of none in existence. Did it say Kahiki on it? I bet it did.

"what is THE rarest, most sought after tiki mug?""And i dont mean, what is the most sought after mug to you, i mean like what is THE rarest mug"-

That is two questions. Rare means few. And sought after means wanted (could be based on price, rarity, design preference)

What's in your mug? -teaKEY

[ Edited by: teaKEY 2008-02-07 13:47 ]

On 2008-02-06 19:06, tikithomas08 wrote:
this question has been bugging me for a while, is there any specific mug that is the "holy grail" of tiki mugs? and i dont mean, what is the most sought after mug to you, i mean like what is THE rarest mug

Two words: eye tits.

On 2008-02-07 16:21, tekoteko wrote:

Two words: eye tits.

Eye Tits- as rare as it gets

thanks for the info all. im asking because im working on a new painting and i want to put the "rarest" mug being reached at by a tonf of hands. sort of like a ton of people reaching up to the ehavens to grab it. thanks for the info!

I don't know if I agree completely with Swanky, about not being able to determine rarity based on price. True, you cannot exclusively determine the rarity of a mug based solely on how much it costs. However, price does help quantify to an extent, the desirability of a mug. You can always find somebody paying an excessive amount for a single piece, but if a particular type of mug is selling consistently at a high price, that is likely a good indicator that the mug is collectible, if not rare.

On the other hand, you can always find a home-made mug that is one of a kind. Rare? Sure. But rare and coveted by collectors? Probably not. And I certainly don't think only 'serious collectors' are the ones to answer this question. That sounds rather elitist. You don't need to own a mug to know if it is rare or not.

As you say, desirability is a price factor. The Frankoma is collected by two groups and drives up its price. The Elvis Tiki Bob is coveted and goes high. But, there are rarer mugs. There are a few Kahiki collectors out there that make those items always go at a premium, rare or not.

I've seen a few huge collections. Stuff I never knew existed. Get a couple of those people together and they know the super rare piece in the others collection they don't have. Might not stand out at all to you or I though.

It is true that power collectors can, through collaboration with other power collectors, amass a sizable collection of rare mugs. And as such acquire a good knowledge of which mugs are coveted.

But I think astute collectors can know just as much as to what is rare as wealthy or power collectors. I have a couple of pieces that are pretty rare (and I've had offers for them from some power collectors), that I picked up at a thrift because I recognized them as unfamiliar but definitely Tiki designs. And I'm sure many collectors who have been at it long enough, probably have had a similar experience.

That is what makes the hobby so fun, but knowledge of the subject is key. But Tikithomas' original question was what is the most sought after mug. If only a few people know about the existence of a particular type of mug, can it really be considered 'sought after'?

I'd have to vote the Severed Head as the most sought after.

How about Coco Joe's volcano mug. I have never seen this one on ebay. Looks great! this is a rare one for me.

"If only a few people know about the existence of a particular type of mug, can it really be considered 'sought after'?"-

If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it..

I think that over the years, if you watch tiki central people will show a rare mug and in the minds of mugs enthusiast, these mugs will be sougth after. I think that the Ren Clark is highly sought after. Really any of the mugs in the Book of Tiki are sought after. The photos of the mugs didn't hurt them either. My dad has been says for years that a great photo can actually be better than its subject. Being that it was taken from an artistic eye and the best lighting was captured. Ooga-Mooga, the largest tiki mug site has listed the ((it was the Ren Clark I believe)now)Most wished-for mug in Ooga-Mooga Islander Bumatay Tiki Mug: on 18 Wish Lists. There are other mugs out there with the Ren Clark bagde and to me they are exciting cause I would think less people are looking for them so I could have a better chance. I haven't heard anyone say a thing about the mug in Tiki Mondern. The one with a "Eve" picking the forbidden fruit. I have never seen that one before as I can remember.

What about the Schoontiki Mug. I remember TikiFish having one and that made me as well as others instantly want one and nobody knew the first place to look. Only 50 made of these. 50, that is a golden number. I believe for a mug to do well there has to be enough out there that some top collectors can get one and boost the fame by talking and showing it off and then limited so that its out of the reach off the average man unless he can find it in a garage sale with the five dollar price tag.

I like this thread.... Lots of different opinions...

I personally collect Tiki mugs and have over 200. I don't collect coconuts, hula girls or severed heads, so all this talk of Ren Clark's severed head does nothing for me. Each person has his/her own most sought after mug.

If a mug is too rare maybe it becomes uncollectable, because no one knows what it is. If it didn't make Dukes book or get a mention in Book of Tiki it may get overlooked by collectors. The Schoon Tiki Mug came out right at the beginning of my Mug collecting as did Munk Tikis Goatiki. I could have had either mug for under $40 at the time. Now I wish I had, but I didn't know where my collection was taking me and what their eventual value would be. If the Schoon Tiki had come out before the internet, would it still be as desirable? Maybe because it's a good design, but maybe we wouldn't know enough about it for it to be worth anything. It would be classified as Homemade Tiki, and only be valuable if someone liked the design or color.

Soooo a mug like the Schoon Tiki is collectable because most of us remember the chance we had to get one and know some of the history behind it. I have a Very desirable Hala Kahiki Bumatay Mug. I didn't pay that much for it, and didn't know at the time what I had. I guess my timing was right. I'm still the only one on Ooga-Mooga to have one.

When I went through Tiki Quest for the first time I found several mugs I had never seen before and put them at the top of my "most wanted" list. One was the Blue Hawaii mug that looks similar to Leilani and the other was the Otagiri Vertical Woodgrain Tiki Mug. Both I was able to pick up on eBay for under $10. I guess they weren't as sought after as I thought.

Back to the original question...

What is the most sought after mug??? One that got recognition in the Book of Tiki and Tiki Quest, one that looks very cool, one that is associated with a restaurant, one that you don't see on eBay very often and many big-time collectors don't have.

These factors will drive the price up and make it sought after for the rest of us.

Well I didn't give a mug as my answer, but I would put the "Hawaii Kai - Wahine In the Tiki Mouth" as the most sought after mug out there. And maybe Steve Crane's "Clown" mug as second because it's on the cover of BOT.

woah i didnt realise my post would spawn such an in depth view on tiki mugs. but i agree, i think its pretty interesting to read everyones point of view, and rationale

Hey there, just wanted to back up a second. IMHO the rarest and most sought after tiki mug is the one you will probably never see. It is the Frankoma T6 tiki god scorpion bowl made for Club Trade Winds in Tulsa, OK. According to my resources only about 25 original ones(marked Club Trade Winds on the bottom) were ever made. They never come up for sale in the marketplace...EVER. They do exist and most of the owners will probably keep them until they die. If one were to come up for auction, my estimate would be between $1800 and $3000. Hope this info helps and happy hunting!

Great thread - I've been trying to find mugs from the South Pacific Restaurant in Hallandale, FL for years now and haven't had any luck. I recently scored a cocktail glass but beyond that, nothing. The restaurant was reopened at one point and called Sun Wah but again, no mugs. I've seen a large volcano bowl and a Tiki mug from SPH - I would say these are pretty rare....

On 2015-07-23 21:12, KatspurrTiki wrote:
Hey there, just wanted to back up a second. IMHO the rarest and most sought after tiki mug is the one you will probably never see. It is the Frankoma T6 tiki god scorpion bowl made for Club Trade Winds in Tulsa, OK. According to my resources only about 25 original ones(marked Club Trade Winds on the bottom) were ever made. They never come up for sale in the marketplace...EVER. They do exist and most of the owners will probably keep them until they die. If one were to come up for auction, my estimate would be between $1800 and $3000. Hope this info helps and happy hunting!

I have been searching for a Frankoma T6 for awhile, I'm even holding onto a very rare original first test piece of the Frank Potteries (early name of Frankoma) if a Frankoma collector wants to trade. All I can find are people who used to own one and pics online. I agree it's one of the rarest but I'm not sure if it's the most sought after. As far as the Frankoma tiki goes I imagine the big T3 War God is most sought after, many mug collectors do prefer mugs over bowls.

[ Edited by: TraderJames 2015-07-24 11:29 ]

[ Edited by: TraderJames 2015-07-24 11:33 ]

That is one I have never seen. Way cool. Full on Tiki

I don't know but at this point in time it must be one of those damn Disney mugs.

On 2017-01-17 14:24, tikiskip wrote:
I don't know but at this point in time it must be one of those damn Disney mugs.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

On 2017-01-17 14:24, tikiskip wrote:
I don't know but at this point in time it must be one of those damn Disney mugs.

Skip, You have an uncanny knack of saying what I'm thinking. :)

On 2017-01-18 06:58, Or Got Rum? wrote:

On 2017-01-17 14:24, tikiskip wrote:
I don't know but at this point in time it must be one of those damn Disney mugs.

Skip, You have an uncanny knack of saying what I'm thinking. :)

It may take years of therapy to fix that.
Good luck, and gods speed.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2017-01-19 03:45 ]