Fake Coco Joe's...is this really a problem?

Hey All,

I've been looking to expand my Coco Joe's collection and, in doing so, I ran some searches on TC. While searching, I found some scattered discussions of "fake Coco Joe's" within threads. When searching these old threads, most of the links and pics from ebay were long expired so I wasn't sure what was being discussed. I have seen the multicolored plaques and the translucent sculps made into lamps, but are ebayers actually reproducing the original lava and hapa wood statues? Even though some of the rare statues fetch higher prices, I wouldn't think that there would be a market for knock-offs of such a niche item. Does anyone know if this is something that we collectors truly need to be wary of?

Thanks in advance,
Cheers,

Bob

I Have never seen anyyhing on fake CoCo Joes items. I would not think so since they were so mass produced. Its been a problem with Tiki mugs and such.

It's mostly a guy on eBay that made molds from the originals, then makes new casts.

It's the rare pieces, like the woman and tiki that are re-produced.

Are these counterfeiters going as far as reproducing labels, tags, stickers etc...? Just seems like a alot of work to do just to sell 20-40 dollar items.

Is it safe to say that all of these are fakes:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/mrbonedaddyz/m.html?item=261119083501&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ccbe903ed&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Sorry for all the questions but the prospect of buying something other than the genuine article is a bit scary and I'm far more knowledgeable of mugs than ccj.

Cheers,

Bob

My guess is that all but the lava ashtray are fake

If the guy is selling reproductions/fakes without acknowledging such then there's no reason to believe that anything he's selling is genuine. As a rule I won't purchase anything from this guy. Coco Joe's items are simple and relatively inexpensive to reproduce, all you need is a mold and resin. Recreating the labels and hang-tags would be a trivial effort with a scanner and a printer.

You can see more CoCo No's on his completed items, as well as other phoney
Disney items...
http://www.ebay.com/csc/mrbonedaddyz/m.html?item=261119083501&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ccbe903ed&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc The bad part is that a company in Hawaii still legally produces alot of the Coco Joe's and Hip items and said he bought the name from the bank at the bankruptcy sale years ago. The Ebay seller keeps saying he "found" more items in his warehouse, and over the years, keeps making more and more items. Brings in alot of copies from China.... :(

So I suppose that if a CCJ piece looks too new to be genuine....there's, at least, a chance that it isn't. I suppose until the fakers start rolling their repros around in the dirt or sprinkle a bunch of dust on them for that "found em in the attic" look.

Hate to admit it but I actually bid on one of the items that that buyer listed (I was outbid thank goodness). Looked legit but almost too clean. Figured that the seller just did a nice job of staging for the listing and dropped a bid. Should have looked at the sellers other items. The two-color repros and the translucent lamps actually led me to research the topic and post this thread.

I hope that the info here helps other would-be CCJ ebay buyers.

Cheers,

Bob

I thought I heard that a company bought the name and is reproducing casts from vintage pieces (but not from original molds). I have a few, you can buy they at the Honolulu Airport mixed in with some other brand of black resin tikis. The quality is not great but if you look through them all you can sometimes find a decent one. Some have reproductions of the original labels and some don't.

Could someone post pics of "extreme lookalikes" that are known to be fakes. Mahalo.

isn't this somewhat akin to the SECRET SERVICE tracking down counterfeit pennies?
Just my opinion,I could be wrong.

I just wanted to post the seller's Ebay ID in case future generations are Googling for answers: mrbonedaddyz

On 2012-10-31 09:29, TIKI DAVID wrote:
isn't this somewhat akin to the SECRET SERVICE tracking down counterfeit pennies?
Just my opinion,I could be wrong.

I laughed, but I remember this guy from a ways back. They're selling close to $100 in some instances.

On 2012-10-31 09:29, TIKI DAVID wrote:
isn't this somewhat akin to the SECRET SERVICE tracking down counterfeit pennies?
Just my opinion,I could be wrong.

You say "obsessive compulsive hobbyist" like it's a bad thing.
Welcome to the internet.

It's amazing what can sometimes start with something as simple as a few faded old photographs. TC has several such examples of sleuthing that started from a few crumbs turning into well-researched pop archeology.

No! No! Don't do it! It's a fake....

Too late! :(

Photo of stolen Coco joes designs stolen from Tom D Kline
Buzzy Out!

Hey Buzzy, since you're the king of coco joes, did any of those plaques or ashtrays originally come with that red or blue color? In my 20 years of collecting I've never seen one outside of ebay....

Part of me thinks it sucks that somebody is remaking them, part of me is mad that they aren't remaking the 2 plaques I've always wanted and never found..lol

NO, the colored plaques are all Made in China.

On 2012-10-31 09:29, TIKI DAVID wrote:
isn't this somewhat akin to the SECRET SERVICE tracking down counterfeit pennies?
Just my opinion,I could be wrong.

This is exactly what I was thinking as I saw some of the knock-offs. Why go to all the trouble when other Tiki, or non tiki collectables, are selling for much more money? I mean, doesn't anyone just fake autographs anymore :)

On 2012-10-31 16:15, Bay Park Buzzy wrote:
No! No! Don't do it! It's a fake....

Too late! :(

Photo of stolen Coco joes designs stolen from Tom D Kline
Buzzy Out!

Is that the guy? The actual ebay seller? He seems to have all the exact same merchandise!

Its got to be. He's even got the fake Disney stuff. Plus, bones on the shirt...bones in the ebay name. Got to be the same dude.

[ Edited by: bob5150 2012-11-01 13:44 ]

I see a red tiki mug in there. Is he knocking those off too?

On 2012-10-31 16:56, ErichTroudt wrote:
, did any of those plaques or ashtrays originally come with that red or blue color?

Yes, they did.

On 2012-10-31 17:34, SandraDee wrote:
NO, the colored plaques are all Made in China.

Wrong.

On 2012-11-01 07:51, Hale Tiki wrote:

Is that the guy? The actual ebay seller? He seems to have all the exact same merchandise!

Yep. Picture from last week's Tonga Hut Sale. He's one of the guys out there named Al that goes by "Tiki Al".

On 2010-08-27 09:05, TikiBeast wrote:
...Tiki Al...

...his amazing TIKI JEEP!...

... this is a closeup of the hood...

here is another thread celebrating Tiki Al:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=27519&forum=17

Buzzy Out!

Buzzy why can't you just PRETEND I know what I am talking about...even if I am not ?

Ok so what about all the metallic ones...are those only made in China?

Bet they are!

On 2012-11-01 10:34, SandraDee wrote:

Bet they are!

I'll take your money on that bet...
Buzzy Out!

:) :) :)

On 2012-11-01 10:37, Bay Park Buzzy wrote:

On 2012-11-01 10:34, SandraDee wrote:

Bet they are!

I'll take your money on that bet...
Buzzy Out!

Hooray! I was right about something! I think hell just froze over :wink:

"I'll take your money on that bet..."

=

You lose!

Buzzy Out!

I give up!

I will leave the CoCo Joe info to the master my friend!

I'll still take your money...

Those were originally advertised with some fancy "blue flame" title or something like that. I think Freddie has the info somewhere.

Buzzy Out!

I will be sure to hand you a stack of coins next time I see ya!

I'll be damned.
It's a guy.
And he's on TC.
Maybe we can get him to jump in on this thread?
Eh?

Also, I dig the Jeep.

Thanks Buzzy....I figured if anyone knew, it would be you.

So is there a sure fire way of telling the repro's from the originals?

Wonder if they make the new plaques without the colors....Since I can't ever seem to find the 3 tiki and the single tiki plaque at a decent price on ebay or in the wild.

So there actually are multicolored Coco Joe's items? Can we still assume that the ones mentioned in this thread have been counterfeits?

I too am curious as to how to tell the real from the fakes. I'd hate to base it on something as arbitrary as how new or clean it looks.

[ Edited by: bob5150 2012-11-01 13:39 ]

I believe I had a conversation with him at the International Tiki Marketplace. Just looked back to see if he was there, and he was.

I think he said that he made those mugs for the Purple Orchid...

Would he like it if someone made copies of those... :)

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=38683&forum=17&26

Here is more info on that...

Hale Tiki - That red/orange one is his Purple Orchid mug that he is selling for $80.

[ Edited by: lunavideogames 2012-11-01 18:26 ]

On 2012-11-01 18:02, lunavideogames wrote:

I think he said that he made those mugs for the Purple Orchid...

Would he like it if someone made copies of those... :)

Those mugs are copies of the Stockton Islander Bumatay mug.

I like Tiki Al.

He has always been nice to me.

I don't buy his items but it is obvious others do.

I say just talk to him if you have questions or an issue.

I am sure he would be receptive to having a conversation with ya

I do know that they were not his original design.

SandraDee - I agree with you. He is very nice. I chatted with him for quite a bit.

For the record, here's a link to some pics of some of the other CCJ-type items that are being discussed:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=42065&forum=17&vpost=654580

The existence of these items doesn't bug me(unless there's some sort of infringement going on), but as a CCJ newbie I feel that its important for potential buyers to know what their getting. The ebay listings, mentioned earlier in this thread, refer to the items as "CocoJoe's" not "CocoJoe's-style" and some of them are ending in the 20-30 dollar range. While that amount is unlikely to break the bank, especially for collectors, its too much if one thinks that they're getting something that they are not.

Repros definitely have a place, as evidenced in the several classic and rare mugs that have received the treatment. We all know that some of those mugs have gone on to attain high values of their own. Difference seems to be that we knew that they were tributes, homages, repros, etc...before laying down the money to buy them.

Thanks everyone for continuing to educate me, and maybe others, on CCJ.

Bob

I was wondering how long it would take for someone to I.D. Tiki Al

He has never misrepresented any of his items at the Tiki Market Place at Don's
though I do believe these are newer items versus vintage
Al is a true character & a very nice guy & he vends at many of the Tiki events
if you have questions,I am sure he will be glad to give you the 711.

I dig the mug.
I liked the original too, and would love to have one.
$80 is a bit out of my range for a mug at the moment though.
He seems like a genuine wack-a-do. And I mean that in the absolute nicest way possible.
Being a bit of a nutjob myself.

I believe he was selling the purple ones for $40.

Dunno, but the guy on ebay is not Tiki Al. It's a guy named Phil, who seemed to be confused when I contacted him, and said Tiki Al. I don't know if Phil is his mainland contact who doesn't know him as Tiki Al, or just some random guy who buys the stuff from Al.

Maybe we can get Tiki Al to weigh in on this thread. And to let us know where to get the purple mugs! (It'd be cool if they didn't have Purple Orchid on them. I know I saw some on that thread that didn't. And as much as I like the owners of the Purple Orchid, who were very cool when I met them recently, I only like buying location mugs if I've been there, or if it no longer exists.)

Hale Tiki,

Did the subject of his "Coco Joe's" stock ever come up when you contacted him. Just curious if he had anything to say about their authenticity.

cheers,

Bob

The Phoney CCJ's goes back Years.....

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=29907&forum=12&vpost=419211&hilite=ebay

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=29907&forum=12&vpost=430146&hilite=ebay

The ebay links are now gone, but the items are the same. If the
rhinestones are a different color or shape than ones you've seen before...it's probably New....Also the colored plaques in different colors are to be suspect too... :roll: HoKU

On 2012-11-04 19:10, bob5150 wrote:
Hale Tiki,

Did the subject of his "Coco Joe's" stock ever come up when you contacted him. Just curious if he had anything to say about their authenticity.

cheers,

Bob

He did not. And he's definitely not associated with Tiki Al. I'll inquire more.

More FAKE Coco Joe Stuff.....

http://www.ebay.com/sch/mrbonedaddyz/m.html?item=251210433081&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a7d4f0239&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

I don't understand why Tiki A**o, won't have someone in China Sculpt his own designs and make copies instead of duping innocent people!!

Recent RIP OFFS..
http://www.ebay.com/csc/mrbonedaddyz/m.html?item=251210433081&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a7d4f0239&LH_Complete=1&rt=nc