tiki mug book

Yes you herd me a book on about and specifically about tiki mug, Not on about tiki tiki architecture clothing or the hot date the writer had last Saturday. A book specifically on tiki mugs with excerpts about designers of old and new advances in tiki mugs. They could even have an appendix with tiki mugs and their

Hey a guy can dream

Talkie,
I believe Otto's got a book in the works. He's working with House Industries if I'm not mistaken.

Talkie-Tiki,

I've heard it said 'find a need and fulfill it'.

I think if you can't find such a book, you should write one. You're quite a wordsmith yourself you know!

If Tiki Road Trip does well, I plan to do my follow-up book on mug collecting, featuring color photos of as many Tiki Mugs as I can, details on all the makers, catalogs, etc etc etc... I didn't know Otto had a project in the works; if he does I probably won't do mine. Either way - one of is is working on it!

If Tiki Road Trip does well, I plan to do my follow-up book on mug collecting, featuring color photos of as many Tiki Mugs as I can, details on all the makers, catalogs, etc etc etc... I didn't know Otto had a project in the works; if he does I probably won't do mine. Either way - one of is is working on it!

You should definately do a book, even if Otto does. More pretty pictures and information on tiki mugs the better! it doesn't matter if there's overlap. It's a great project! keep it up.

Anybody who does a Tiki mug book first has to solve the enigma of Otagiri (OMC)!

I have a really neat piece by Otagiri but there are no recors of it

What is the enigma of Otagiri?

A tiki mug book is a Catch-22. Although I'd love to have a reference book that gave the history of our collection and gave us an idea of the rarity of each mug and ones we come across here and there, having such a book creates an instant collectable market. Every antique store in the country will have to have the book and begin pricing accordingly. It will ruin the market for us! I would much rather have a web site with the same info, even if I had to subscribe to it. That keeps it out of the hands of "collectors" and in the hands of enthusiasts.

STOP THE PRESSES!!!!!

ebay has already ruined it.

We would need to make it a tiki central member exclusive where only members of Tiki Central may possess them kind of like a top-secret document. If people want them then they have to become members and cannot be used "for profit" enterprises i.e. selling tiki mugs for profit
You could sell mugs just can't use the book as a guide to sell mugs

With great power comes great responsibility

Have you guys considered that mugs becoming more high-priced collectibles means your swap meet finds become just that much more valuable? Even if you have no intention of ever selling any of them, it's not a bad thing to know...

Sadly, those of us who live out here in Tiki-dry regions can't ever find swap meet or garage sale Tikis. We're dependant on sources like Ebay.

On 2002-12-20 05:41, tikifish wrote:
What is the enigma of Otagiri?

OMC was the company that supplied most of the quality mugs for the major Tiki temples in the U.S. The mugs were manufactured in Japan. OMC was pre- Orchids of Hawaii, and superior in quality and design.
But so far no one has found any records on the company in the U.S., no catalogues, no employees, nothin. They possibly had just a small distribution office here.

After that, the next step would be to find the headquarters and their kiln in Japan. That's were the designers must have been.

On 2002-12-20 12:25, Swanky wrote:
A tiki mug book is a Catch-22. Although I'd love to have a reference book that gave the history of our collection and gave us an idea of the rarity of each mug and ones we come across here and there, having such a book creates an instant collectable market. Every antique store in the country will have to have the book and begin pricing accordingly. It will ruin the market for us! I would much rather have a web site with the same info, even if I had to subscribe to it. That keeps it out of the hands of "collectors" and in the hands of enthusiasts.

This is one reason why I started the Tiki Gallery website- I wanted people to be able to post pics, info, and prices of the mugs that they see. Making it a team effort makes it that much more complete and fun- and it's always free! Add anything you like... I'm thinking of starting to add selling prices from ebay to the info of as many of the mugs as I can.

http://www.tikiroom.net/database.html

mahalo and 135 to you all!
Mike
http://www.tradervic.com
http://www.tikiroom.net

[ Edited by: TikiHula on 2002-12-29 11:49 ]

On 2002-12-29 01:38, TikiHula wrote:

I'm thinking of starting to add selling prices from ebay to the info of as many of the mugs as I can.

Mike, I personally think posting prices of what the mugs sell for on eBay is a bad idea. Here's why:

First, mug prices vary over time. Whenever a newcomer enters the hobby of mug collecting, they have a tendency to pay high for something they don't have, not knowing that the item is not worth the amount they are dishing out. From a reference standpoint, this tends to skew the value of a mug thus, making the price to availablity ratio somewhat inaccurate.

Second, since prices fluctuate quite frequently on collectible mugs, your website's Tiki Mug website database will have to be updated rather frequently. If it isn't, then it will be effectively distributing inaccurate information to us collectors.

Third, dealers who have no interest in collecting mugs will use the information to price their wares. This could majorly impact the price we pay for mugs. For example, lets say a "newbie" purchased a Harvey's Sneaky Tiki mug on eBay for $35.00 and the Tiki Mug database records this information. An antique dealer sees this and prices his/her Sneaky Tiki mugs accordingly (of course marking it up since they are an antiques dealer). Now the mug becomes "rare and expensive" when in reality, they are a dime a dozen.

Fourth, the value of a mug on eBay is not exactly true to the value on the street per se. Someone selling a mug on eBay is making it available to millions of people worldwide. A Paul Marshall Products mug on eBay is fairly common however, not as common when regularly thrifting. This irregularity tends to shift what items are worth in your town and what they are worth on eBay.

I think a good basic rule to follow about the worth of a mug is simple common sense - pay what you think the mug is worth. Regardless of how rare, different, uncommon, etc. a mug is, it is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Putting pricing information on your Tiki Mug database will not accurately depict that.

*** * * The Polynesian Popster * * ***

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2002-12-29 09:56 ]

[ Edited by: polynesianpop on 2002-12-29 14:50 ]

All good points Pop- thanks. So no prices in the gallery. I have enough to do anyway...I've got lots of new stuff still to put in and have dug up some more info on many of the mugs and the places they were used.