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Tiki Central / Collecting Tiki

Huge Float found

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S
Swanky posted on Mon, Mar 3, 2003 7:59 PM

After buying a very nice, big float in Georgia with Basement Kahuna, we came across a huge float this weekend. It's not in the budget, but you can't say no when these things come along. When will I find a vintage float, this big, this close to home?
Okay, so this isn't my best picture. The floats left me stunned I guess. The one on the left is 11 inches. The new one on the right is 17. The original beachball!

Not bad....not bad at all. That looks like a pretty old float, too....am I right?

Wow Swanky!
Any man that can swing his balls..ur..umm..floats to his shoulders is ok by me.

(You guys knew someone was going to make a comment like that, so I thought I'd get it over with....haha)

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Swanky posted on Tue, Mar 4, 2003 4:30 PM

All indications are it's old. The float itself has an anchor mark on the bottom. I wonder how big the net was floats this size held. Must have been huge!

Score Swanky!
I've got a picture of my Grandmother polishing some that size. cira 1940. Will be bringing many re-prints of my Grandfathers past to Hukilau.

I've seen little floats with an anchor embossed in the bottom, at flea markets here, there must be gass float sites out on the web that could give us a clue to the maker.

G
GECKO posted on Wed, Mar 5, 2003 2:19 PM

good job! they are plentyful here on Hawaii but still pull big coconuts if you plan on taking one home. 11 inches run between $75 to 150 depending on the trade mark and net quality. Or you wait for a nice three days worth of rain and wind then go to the wind ward side of da island and da north shore and go beachcombing and you will fo sho get lucky!

you might get them cheaper there on da mainland.

AUW-WIEEE love da 17 incher!

They just don't have the "feel" of the old ones...(as Swanky would probably attest, he likes old ones, too). The reproductions are cheaper by a longshot, but with little personality compared to the genuine article...I have bought the repops in the past to fill holes in the decor...we have fourteen 9 to 16-inch floats in our bar, of which only 7 are old, but the thrill of finding those, especially with a strange pulled pommel or old stamp in the glass is so much better. One should save 60 bucks and buy one old one instead of two new...They'll appreciate in value to boot but the new ones won't.

I was wondering why they were so cheap.

I went ahead and bought some anyway. Poor college student = non vintage =).

That's cool though...they still give you the basic atmosphere.

Pages: 1 10 replies