Wow...big box and Tiki...I like those ceramic planters.

Wouldn't mind one of the large Tikis on the right for plant obstructed areas in the yard that get too much water for a carved wood Tiki. Certainly not as cool as a carved Tiki, but adequate for areas that take abuse. It's always cool to see Tikis in places that might expose folks and encourage them to dig a little and learn about the culture.

The Tiki Leilani Rum mug rip-off is cool, that is a classic design. I can do without the pineapple heads and the big tooth ones...

You'd think our home depot here on Maui would have something like this.. NEVER... EVER..! Don't really get it either.. so many people that have just moved here would go crazy over these if they did sell them.. Hell I'd snatch up a few of those Leilani one's for sure if they had them Sven.. :wink:

As Sven has put it before, you're "to close to the source."

On 2014-08-31 01:19, Beachbumz wrote:
You'd think our home depot here on Maui would have something like this.. NEVER... EVER..! Don't really get it either.. so many people that have just moved here would go crazy over these if they did sell them.. Hell I'd snatch up a few of those Leilani one's for sure if they had them Sven.. :wink:

If it weren't so damn expensive to ship out there they totally would.

seeing this reminds me of the first time I saw "Green Day" performing their bubble-gum crap and was faced with the sad reality that punk rock was dead.

the difference between this and a carved tiki is that this has no soul... it is a lifeless shell. empty & void.

the "big box-ifcation" of tiki will surely ruin it. it'll put guys like me who barely make it as tiki artists out of business... then there will be hardly any "real art" out there, and then you'll have nothing but this crap top chose from. as soon as we allow the "merchants of cool", who have no love for anything but money to homogenize something authentic and package it for the masses, it is essentially ruined...

I tend to think, the folks that are likely to buy these are not looking to shell out considerably more for something carved by an artisan. As it stands, this community is mostly comprised of a core group of folks who are passionate about Tiki culture and to a deeper extent Polynesian culture. Many folks come and go, but the core usually remains. Home Depot selling Tikis has no more power to destroy Tiki than Party City, Jimmy Buffet or any other entity that serves plastic Polynesia up to the uninitiated masses. If anything, it may expose folks to an aesthetic that they hadn't seen before but now feel drawn to.

That's the effect it had on me 35 years ago when I bought my first Randotti Tiki from the tropical imports stand at Disneyland. I could see the same thing being said then... Not everyone can afford to go to the islands. Not everyone lives near a Tiki Lounge, the beach or Oceanic Arts. For some folks, these crossovers are the only way they might be exposed to Tiki design or culture. If we want the establishments we care about to stay open, maybe we should consider folks drawn in by big box exposure to be an opportunity to educate (rather than alienate) them on the rich culture associated with the design aesthetic that Home depot is attempting to cash in on with these phoned in designs.

I think the community stands to be more damaged by a "private clique" or "secret club" mentality that does no favors for Tiki folks struggling to keep their businesses open.

If competition gets too stiff, the best approach is to step up your game. Mass production by uninspired designers or companies can rarely compete with the designs and creations of a passionate, inspired artist.

Oh, those are planters? I thought they were just really big mugs :wink:

well, sure... the customers who are serious tiki people understand the difference... but the average joe does not, and the average joe actually vastly outnumbers the serious tiki people... and now that he can go buy pop-outs at Home Depot... well, I'm probably fucked.

and now my there will be more focus on my car business than my tiki business... I'll make less stuff, and other guys like me may do the same... and then there's less "real art" out there, and the market is flooded with crap, and the bar is lowered in general. just my opinion.

Believe me, I understand where you're coming from. I make next to nothing for the things I create. However I have come to think that that's what differentiates an artist from a businessman. If your interest in creating Tiki is limited to it's profitability, then the road ahead is surely to be rough. I barely make anything now and will likely barely make anything in the future. I'm driven by my passion for the culture. I will always make Tiki stuff, even if I don't make a penny. Hopefully big box exposure to Tiki will serve to increase demand for other Tiki related items... until then, we struggle, but isn't that what artists are supposed to do? At least that's what I keep telling myself...

On 2014-09-01 12:55, pjc5150 wrote:
seeing this reminds me of the first time I saw "Green Day" performing their bubble-gum crap and was faced with the sad reality that punk rock was dead.

That's funny, I was sad because the Descendents didn't get any recognition for doing the exact same thing, 10 years before them, and with better songs :D

Oh yeah and, mass produced plastic has its uses, but honestly the same people who seek out and commission carved wood tikis, are going to do so no matter what a big box store has on their shelf. Tikimaster's range of Indonesian carved products is probably a bigger threat to the craft carvers than this Home Depot stuff.

[ Edited by: Greg_D_R 2014-09-02 09:40 ]

On 2014-09-01 14:32, MadDogMike wrote:
Oh, those are planters? I thought they were just really big mugs :wink:

They are.

Just because it is in the Garden Department means you are locked into putting dirt in them.