New Orchids of Hawaii mugs???

Aloha everyone!

I was just picking up some items at a local oriental market/grocery and happened to walk down the kitchenwares/restaurant supply isle and found this:

On the bottom it clearly says Orchids of Hawaii, R-99, Japan. There were several of these, plus about 4 or 5 other designs with more oriental themes. Could these be new? Or just new old stock that was never sold?

http://www.tikihappy.net

[ Edited by: jawa 2005-09-11 17:17 ]

I picked up one just like this at a thrift store, a few months ago. The mug was unmarked, with only those oval 'Made in China' stickers on it.

So, it appears that Orchids is not the only one making mugs to this design (and the same color too!).

I suppose this begs the question of whether any of these designs were ever copyrighted.

Any unmarked but stickered "made in china" Orchid of Hawwaii mugs are likely to be from Dynasty Wholesale Distributors there is a couple of threads discussing them here..

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=5994&forum=5&hilite=Dynasty%20Wholesale

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=8004&forum=1&hilite=Dynasty%20Wholesale

and this link to a link where PolynesianPop explains the whole copyright thing on Orchids products..

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=6128&forum=1&vpost=58643&hilite=Dynasty%20Wholesale

Oh and here's the link for dynasty themselves..

http://www.dynastywholesale.com/

Thanks for this info tikipedia and atomictonytiki!

But, if they were from Dynasty...they should not say Orchids of Hawaii on the bottom? And they would have a sticker with Made in China?

But they say, Orchids of Hawaii, Japan, with the R number designations...

BTW, I have seen the Dynasty white buddha, geisha, and ninja before...and it is quite obvious that they have Made in China stamped across the bottom...

http://www.tikihappy.net

[ Edited by: Jawa 2005-09-12 06:38 ]

Ooohhhh, am I a dope. I've bought three or four of these things at the flea market thinking they were vintage. I THOUGHT they looked kinda crappy. I did pass up a Fu Manchu mug that had a Made in China sticker on it. That should have been the tip off.

Are they just making the ones in the Dynasty catalog new?

I saw a glossy dark brown Orchids of Hawaii R-3 mug today at a flea market. It was stamped in ink on the bottom in block letters: ORCHIDS OF HAWAII JAPAN. It looked new. Is this a fake? Thanks for any comments you may have.