Strange Tiki Merchandise

That's a terrible reinterpretation of Disneyland's Pele.

Here's another reason for us all to let out a collective scream - a plastic tiki, with light up eyes and mouth. There is a solar panel on top of his head to charge batteries and run the LEDs at night.

Saw only ONE of these guys at my local Lowe's store over the weekend. Not sure if they only received one, or if there were many more like this which were already bought up by people in my city.

Nuff said...

They actually came in two sizes. I bought the larger of the two, myself. I hate the garish colors and plan to paint it all brown, but I dig the light-up eyes and mouth.

Biotron - good to hear, and you reminded me that I bought one of the concrete tiki statues (still in stock today at Lowe's) but the color was too light. I put it out in front of my house to see if anyone would try to steal it - it weighs about 80lbs - and will eventually stain it a darker brown color.

With the light-up tiki you bought, I hope the solar panel lasts. They usually crap out after a couple years as moisture gets in. Some good sealer and you should be fine for many years.

It has been a while but I've saved these pics for this thread.
First just bought this yesterday, the Home Deposit version of a lighted garden tiki. Walk by the kitchen last night where I put it on the table and it freaked me out with the lighted eyes. Haha. Well at least this version I don't have to paint it like the one from Lowes.

Recently bought this "Finding Nemo" tikis for my future aquarium, although painted I like them. Something about those Disney guys and gals that can get away with things.

Another Disney product, a Mickey Tee shirt

Just came back from Vegas baby!

Classic Hawaiian Host Mac nut package

Recyclable bags found in local Hawaii Safeways

Couple Tiki Calendars found in local Walmarts in the tourist section. The following beverage holders can also be found there as well as tiki luggage tags which I use.

Finally, another classic, the plastic moai pepper grinder

My nephew will like this.
Available for purchase on the Disney Store website. http://www.disneystore.com/tow-mater-die-cast-car-143-artist-series/mp/1386179/1011302/#longDesc

"Mater picks up a new look as he takes a vacation from his tow truck job to open up Tiki Mater Surf Shop. Created in collaboration with John Lasseter, this Artist Series Die Cast is inspired by Southern California's 1960s beach culture."

bump

I found this on Amazon, wild colors, and they're "Polynesian." Only 4 left, so hurry!

This product is tiki because it says so right in the name.

In the "clearance" aisle of my local WalMart.

You know these markers are tiki because the package has a tiki on the front, right?

Edit: Added the URL for the photo. Doh!

[ Edited by: AceExplorer 2016-09-12 14:12 ]

Have cellphone camera will travel. More strange tiki merchandise in the last few months as I traveled.

First non tiki but tiki related multi flavored Hawaiian punch in New Mexico

Ripoff Hawaiian Punch brands found in Michigan

In Hawaii strange tiki stuff, key chains, bobbers, more garden lights, and even candy bars.

Finally note tiki mango/passion fruit lotion in the middle of the Hawaiian collect last summer.

On 2017-01-09 19:37, creativenative wrote:
Have cellphone camera will travel. More strange tiki merchandise in the last few months as I traveled.

Very nice post, creativenative! I like those dashboard tiki bobbleheads.

Thanks Ace. That second to the last picture is a version of a tiki bar that doesn't serve drinks - haha!

[ Edited by: creativenative 2017-01-10 12:55 ]

Ha! Those two multi-colored tiki statues are ceramic and solar powered. Their eyes and mouths light up at night. Garish, but kinda neat in their own way. Certainly overpriced for what they are. These exact types (and another, smaller version) are also available at Lowes Home Improvement stores in Texas (and presumably the rest of the U.S.).

As seen at a Canadian Tire (chain store) in Calgary a few years back. In the dead of winter.

Found this in a web search today. I think it's for when you host a party and just don't want to break out the fine tiki dinnerware.....

Here we have rocks glasses with matching coasters. But...

I had second thoughts about posting these images, but then decided that because this was being sold on the web site of an otherwise reputable barware supply company, and because I found these designs to be way too much "in-your-face-tiki," that I'd go ahead and let it fly.

1. You know it's questionable when the designer has to write "tiki bar" or "tiki" and state the obvious on the face of the item.

2. The designer did an ok job - I'd give half credit. But ultimately I'm afraid the designer just had to dip a toe (and then an entire leg or more) a bit too deep into the Jimmy Buffett crapfest pool of tropical/tiki. Overall not bad, but I think you can see why I struggled. The too-pitifully-obvious "HEY I'M TIKI STUFF!" declaration puts these items onto the dark Party City side of the tiki fence. If they were made to be a little more classic, and a little more subtle, without the unnecessary wording for example, I doubt I would have even thought of posting these here.

So while not entirely bad, I think they belong here. Like 'em enough so you feel you must get some? Luminarc is the manufacturer, and these are featured and sold at http://www.behindthebar.com.

Now I'll get to wait for someone here on TC to post a response --- "Hey, you idiot, those are MY designs!" If that's you, well, let's just leave it at that.

On 2017-04-04 12:04, AceExplorer wrote:
If they were made to be a little more classic, and a little more subtle, without the unnecessary wording for example, I doubt I would have even thought of posting these here.

Yeah, what a difference some text makes. On their own I quite like a couple of the designs but cannae stand any of them with that text.

Kind of like when Humuhumu says, if you have to say it's a tiki bar, it's not a tiki bar!

If they just invented fake bars with real Tiki bar sounding names, that would have worked out so much better >_<

Spotted these at Sur la Table during a Christmas shopping trip!

I bought those "tiki bar" rocks glasses awhile back...i think like at a Ross for like 3 bucks...obviously not authentic but marginally tiki for the average enthusiast

Not a great shot but saw these in Target. Tiki superheroes?

On 2018-01-19 13:48, drgoat456 wrote:
Not a great shot but saw these in Target. Tiki superheroes?

OMG, cartoonish toothy grins taken to a new low. Nice find, thanks for posting!

Found over the weekend at my local Ace Hardware. Not a tiki anywhere in sight.

What happens in the tiki bar --- we never forget and laugh mercilessly for the rest of the week.

Uwhaaat? This is got to be the strangest. Good post AE.

Ace, Our local pool supply carries that brand of pool toys/games. Nuthin Tiki about em either.
Cheers

Just about every seaside bar here in southern Florida has this hook and ring game. I'm kinda curious (apparently not THAT curious....I do have the internets if I wanted to look it up) where the manufacturer (probably distributor, nobody makes anything in the US anymore...)is located. Just about every bar in a chickee hut (originally built by Seminole native-americans) is known as a "Tiki bar". If the company is based in Florida, that is probably where the "Tiki" in "Tiki Toss" came from

howlinowl

On 2018-02-06 05:10, howlinowl wrote:
Just about every bar in a chickee hut (originally built by Seminole native-americans) is known as a "Tiki bar".

Agreed. Chickee huts, palapas... pretty much anything that involves palm thatch is now automatically associated with tiki in the general public consciousness. I was guilty of the same before I discovered the wider universe of tiki culture. And it's easy to see why that'd be the case, but those ring toss games are beyond the pale.

I've done some thinking on this regarding the Lagoon of Mystery. It was something of an eye-opener when I realized I could remove every Hawaiian/Polynesian reference, all the tikis and mugs and whatnot, and everyone would still view it as, and refer to it as a tiki bar. I could swap out all the rum for vodka (gak!) and remake it with a pre-Castro Cuban theme, or Brazilian, or Jamaican, and it wouldn't make any difference. In the cultural zeitgeist, any type of tropical bar (particularly those outdoors) is a tiki bar. At this point, I don't think that's ever going to change.

I agree with all the comments. I'm interested in laughing at these items, but also want to continue to document these as they are found, photographed, and posted here. As time passes, it will be interesting to see if the seemingly endless non-tiki "tiki" stuff continues, or if it gets better. I'm also interested in seeing what, if anything, will come to help correct this in the public eye.

Uh, ok... Has the word "tiki" really become this generic? I guess it could be used as a shelf to hold one or two tiki mugs. In that case, "Nice rack!"

On 2018-02-22 15:53, AceExplorer wrote:

Uh, ok... Has the word "tiki" really become this generic?

You obviously don't use Instagram Ace.

What is "tiki?" In this example it's not merchandise but huts and thatching. Not very tiki by themselves, but definitely very Jimmy Buffett.

http://palmhuts.com/

While their work does look great, they also perpetuate the false stereotype of what constitutes tiki. Sure, I'd hire these guys. The quality of their work is superb and looks great. But I'd definitely have to see some real tiki somewhere before calling anything they make truly "tiki."

Found at my local Lowe's.

I kind of like those lights from Lowe's. And they don't have purple painted on them either, which always kinda bugs me.

As you might know, Mad magazine's corporate office was recently relocated from New York to California.

Since most of the NY staff decided not to make the move, the magazine got a new editor, plus a bunch of new production personnel.

Because the magazine got a new office and a new production team, they also decided to reboot things and start over with #1. (Mad's new logo is based on the one it had in the 1950s, when it was a comic book.)

My copy of #1 arrived the other day, and in it was an offer for an Alfred E. Neuman mini tiki mug – free if you buy a 2 or 3 year subscription. (The offer is only good for US residents, which stinks for us expatriates.)

Truth be told, it's not very "tiki" at all, but I probably would have liked one anyway.

https://www.madmagazine.com

Michelle66, thanks for the update on Mad Magazine, I had no idea all that had transpired. I let my subscription lapse late last year because I had a number of magazines I wasn't taking the time to read. (Cocktail books for some reason have had highest priority, lol...) Hang on to that Issue #1!

The mug? Tongue-in-cheek tiki, and another reminder of the impression the tiki revival has made in today's culture. We have enough tiki around us now that I think it will last many more decades and may even cause another "tiki revival" in 50 or so years from now.

Too bad the Alfred E. Neuman mug isn't available in a full-size version. That's the kind of thing I would love to use among certain circles of friends. (Along with my Monty Python "Holy Grail" mug/chalice, see pic below.)

Cheers!

[Edited to add grail pic]

[ Edited by: AceExplorer 2018-04-27 06:07 ]

This picture of the Alfred E. Neuman mini tiki mug was posted over at madmagazine.com:

I like how they got Alfie's crooked eyes right (his right eye is a bit higher than his left).

I really think this is the coolest perk for buying a new subscription they've ever offered.

[ Edited by: Michelle66 2018-05-26 01:16 ]

While antiquing in Point Pleasant, NJ today, I had the opportunity to see some truly horrible tiki merch, and the equally horrible Martell's Tiki Bar (owners of tikibar DOT com).

Let's start with Martell's Tiki Bar, located on the Martell's Boardwark:

A doorway to a sobering experience:

We couldn't bring ourselves to order the Mai Tai, so we got the Captain Teddy and the Pina Colada. One-note and generic, not particularly flavorful. It was a very hot day, so these actually cooled us down a bit. Ridiculously overpriced.

Nary a tiki to be found in this "tiki bar". We knew this going in. It's a Jimmy Buffet-style vaguely tropical area with lots of tables (some with thatch umbrellas), and lots of bars. The bartenders were all friendly. The place wouldn't irritate so much if they didn't call themselves a tiki bar and operate "tikibar DOT com". It just perpetuates incorrect ideas and conceptions of tiki.

Which brings me to one of the gift shops at Martell's Boardwalk:

Magnets that look like a cross between tiki and the Electric Light Parade:

This was labelled as "Coconut Tiki Head", but I think they meant "Coconut Luchador":

I will admit this lamp was kinda neat:

Ugh... inflatable tiki.

Ugggh! They didn't even understand how to utilize the four main posts as Tikis, pasting those too-small bright colored masks on them. And what;s that on top? Alien pods sticking out of this mutated creation? They can't be palm trees, for certain!

Oh, The Wife would taunt me with that bouncy-castle tiki bar. She'd threaten to order it from here to eternity if she every got annoyed with me. She punches below the belt that way! :lol:

If it actually was a bounce house, I might cut them some slack. :wink:

Ah, the joys of random Craigslist browsing!

Remember that Alfred E. Neuman mini tiki mug? Well, here's mine in action!

(It's my homage to Kelly Freas' classic cover art for Mad #63.)

(FWIW, it was done entirely in Photoshop. [So, no frowny-face Tiki Bob mugs are out there, nor cocktail umbrellas with a shower feature...])

[ Edited by: Michelle66 2019-01-03 03:12 ]

[ Edited by: Michelle66 2019-01-03 03:13 ]

Hawaiian Rainbow Bees. Tiki Honey I found in a store in West Covina, outside of L.A. Tokyo Central is the store or the old name Marukai, which is a Japanese chain market in So Cal and in Hawaii. Not sure where else. Anyway, it's cool. I almost missed it cause I thought it was a bear from a distance. My son noticed it with his sharp tiki finding eyes.

[ Edited by: creativenative 2019-03-30 22:51 ]

I recently bought a couple of T-shirts at Zara that might be good for this thread.

Up first: a shirt that features palm trees, tropical flowers, Bugs Bunny, sandy beaches, Lola Bunny, and calm blue water.

I wore it to Trader Vic’s in Tokyo last week and it was a hit. Both the manager and hostess told me they liked it, but I’m not sure they even noticed Bugs and Lola. (A co-worker told me she didn’t notice the cartoon characters right off, and was all excited once she did.)

The second one is designed to look like a vintage travel poster – complete with a hula dancer and a cocktail mug!

The text, mug, umbrella, and lemon wedge are all embroidered, and really enhance the shirt.

Both designs might still be in some stores, but act quickly if you want them because things don’t stick around for long at Zara.

Found on safari at JC Penney's

Hmmmm... Ages 3+.... I can fix that. Fill with your fave rum punch, freeze, voila! :wink: