Mauna Loa Salt & Pepper Anomaly Question

I recently received a 2nd pair of Mauna Loa salt & pepper shakers with the intent on trading them. But when I took a closer look I noticed something odd: they're actually from a different mold than the other pair I already had.

the pair on the left is more defined, heavier, shorter,darker and USED. It also has the "Design By Mauna Loa Detroit" stamp in the bottom. The pair on the right seems to be of cheaper quality all around but is in MINT condition. The question that I keep coming back to is this: how could a restaurant that was only around for such a short period of time go thru 2 different molds? was the first batch completely stolen in the first month? Was the "cheaper" set sold in a gift shop?

Also adding to the mystery, is that the Ebay'er that sold me the cheaper pair has sold at least 5 sets (that I know of). Is the seller just that lucky to keep finding them? Did the seller find an unopened case of them? perhaps unused because the place went out of business before they were needed? I can't see someone bothering to create a knock-off, but it just seems odd.

Anyone have some insight or opinion?

-Z

Sounds like the seller found some 'dead stock' (stock that is still boxed up, never used, and remains in mint condition). Sometimes you're lucky.

I have a pair of the latter shakers and when I got mine about a year or so ago I remember the seller selling multiple sets.
I seem to remember someone saying that they had inquired and found out that it was dead stock.
Aloha,
:tiki:

Great finds FZ, !

[ Edited by: Unga Bunga on 2005-04-26 09:31 ]

I had a pair of each and it seemed to me the ones marked Japan were also lighter in weight. I don't know why anyone would knock them off, but they didn't seem as high quality as the ones marked Mauna Loa Detroit on the bottom. I ended up giving them to another Tiki collecter.

Matty