Favorite mug/best mug

I'm curious to what mug everyone likes the best or which mug they would really like to have in their collection. Myself it would have to be the Frankoma Ku mug.

Also which mug is the hardest to find?

I would love to have a Goatiki mug by Munktiki. That is the mug I REALLY REALLY want, but just can't seem to get my hands on. :( Maybe Santa will put one under my tree this year! :)

My favorite is a Trder Dick's Maoi mug from the early '60's that I got at the resturaunt when I was a wee lad. It's moved all over the place with me - one of just a few items that have lived everywhere I have.

Sentimental value only.

I've just started collecting tiki and one of my recent acquisitions is Sven Kirsten's The Book Of Tiki. Needless to say I just love the book. My favorite mug in the book is the one on page 181 from the Hawaii Kai with the wahini in the tiki's mouth. Very cool!

Mug I want- Munktiki Poison Mug

Mug I have- Well its a bowl, not a mug, but the three Moai scorpion bowl from AKU AKU at the STARDUST Las Vegas is right up there.

Actual mug, it'd be the green handled mug from Tiki Gardens.

TG
http://www.exotic-tiki-gardens.com

I'm still kickin' myself in the ass for not picking up this Munktiki moai mug I saw at Tiki Oasis III. It was black with yellow streaks running through it (kinda like a zebra pattern). They weren't accepting plastic so I told 'em to hold it for me until I got back from the ATM. Ran into Judy from Bamboo2U, started drinking mai tais and never looked back.

Go for vintage. Every time. You'll never regret it.

yep, i would love to have the frankoma ku mug as well. but, since i am such an stockton islander whore (i really am...) i would LOVE to get my hands on the green peanut-mug face mug/cup from the islander. or the three tiki bowl from the islander. or a MENU from the islander...or a SCANNED IMAGE of the MENU from the islander...

:)

On 2003-12-15 01:06, Basement Kahuna wrote:
Go for vintage. Every time. You'll never regret it.

I'd have to say I strongly agree with that statement. The only new mugs I like to get are ones that are from an event I attended like 'Big Ol Tiki Bash', Tiki Oasis, Resurrection of the Hawaiian Room, etc.

My favorite mug is the concave bottom Mr. Bali Hai mug I found at a local antique store - my first major score that didn't include Ebay! Mugs that I'm dying to have...Don the Beachcomber bust mug and the unattainable Ren Clark severed head mug just to name a couple...I've whittled away pretty good at my wants list this year getting a Mark Thomas Outrigger, a Mainlander and a Tiki Bob mug so I can't complain...

On 2003-12-15 09:23, Tiki_Bong wrote:

On 2003-12-15 01:06, Basement Kahuna wrote:
Go for vintage. Every time. You'll never regret it.

I'd have to say I strongly agree with that statement. The only new mugs I like to get are ones that are from an event I attended like 'Big Ol Tiki Bash', Tiki Oasis, Resurrection of the Hawaiian Room, etc.

I feel the same way. Not just my tiki collection, but pretty much everything I own is vintage. I really like the new tiki mugs being made but I wouldn't go out of my way to own one. However if one feel into my hands or was under the tree this year i'd be stoked!

Hmmm...
I'm pretty keen on adding a Steve Crane Warrior mug to the Aloha Room.
Of the mugs I have now, I really love the Skipper Kent's Moai and the Hula Girl from the Islander.
I agree that vintage mugs have a lot more mana and are my preference for collecting but I do think that the Tiki Farm reproductions are really nice. I love drinking out of my TF Suffering Bastard. He holds a double and when the moisture condences on the outside, it looks like he's drooling.
Aloha,
:tiki:

These are the two I wouldn't mind owning, but that are usually priced out of my range:


(doesn't matter to me if it's the Stockton Islander or the JP&Co version)

And I suppose I wouldn't mind getting one of these:

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2003-12-15 14:14 ]

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2003-12-15 14:15 ]

On 2003-12-15 01:06, Basement Kahuna wrote:
Go for vintage. Every time. You'll never regret it.

I have to temper my wants with reality. And I personally ( your mileage obviously varies ) find that the artistry of some of the new mugs/decanters/bowls/pizz outriggers
is of such a fine style, that I'd easily be satisfied to clear a space for one.

Kinda like wishing I had a tiki from any number of now defunct polynesian palaces, but I'd eagerly make room for a Basement Kahuna sculpt in a heart beat.

TG

the coolest mug in my collection is "the Mondo Tiki" in green from Shag. This isn't a vintage mug, but I think I'm the only one in Germany, who owned one of these beautifull mugs. :)

A mug or better mugs I like to get for my small collection are the 1st and 2nd of the limited Tikifarm Shag Edition.
Yeah I like SHAG !!!

My favorite mug is my Mr. Bali-Hai that I bought @ the Bali-Hai. I went around & showed people in the wedding downstairs that I had a Mr. Bali-Hai, my wife was embarrassed.

The vintage mugs I covet most aren't mugs: they are Trader Vic's Port and Starboard glass tumblers.

Vintage is not a requisite for me. In general the new mugs do much more for me than the old. I love vintage modern and comic art. So many new mugs are inspired blends of both.

Or maybe it's cuz I find so few mugs in Phoenix (and when I do, eBay is a better deal). Fatuhiva cleaned out the whole valley!

When I first saw this post I wasn't going to respond because, as much as I like tiki mugs, I don't lust over them like most of you do. My lustful (non-wahine variety) desires lean towards lamps, furniture, wooden tikis and paintings. So right off the top of my head I couldn't think of any tiki mugs that I could really have dreams about.

BK's post about "go vintage" got me thinking about it again. There are many vintage mugs (read:all) that I'd love to have, and Trader Vic's stuff would especially make the top of the list, but when I thought about it again I realized that there are some tiki mugs that really make me drool, but they are new not vintage. Go figger.

Top of the list is that new Outrigger mug set at Tiki Farm, the four Moai mugs set from Munktiki with their own coasters and the last Shag decanter set. If Sallie Mae didn't have me firmly by the short hairs I'd be grabbing those mugs up post haste. I'd love to have a "Shecky" and a "Hukilau" and so many others as well. Ah well, maybe the market for tiki mugs will collapse and the market for Sub Pop singles will rise and I can cash in the latter for the former. Fingers crossed. :D

On 2003-12-15 00:02, TikiSteve wrote:
My favorite mug in the book is the one on page 181 (BOT) from the Hawaii Kai with the wahini in the tiki's mouth. Very cool!

I'm in 100% agrement with TikiSteve. I've never even seen this mug on e-bay, and I've been looking for it for years.

The mug I most desire changes from day to day (sometimes more often) and, since I live in a part of the country in which one Tiki mug might show up in one of 9 Trift Shops every ten or twelve years, I find that I have nearly as hard a time finding New Mugs in stores as I do Vintage (I'd prefer to purchase only from stores, but that ain't gonna happen). The positive result of this is that I love just about every one of 'em and would buy them all if I was able to. Since I can't I find that my small collection grows slowly and in unexpected directions which creates a funky vibe that I really dig.
One thing I really appreciate is Tiki Farm's tendency to release Reproductions of Vintage Mugs. I can't imagine I'd ever see a Kava Bowl in real life otherwise and, since I buy stuff to keep (and not to trade or to profit from), the fact that they'll sell me one in the near future makes me quite happy.

Easily this mug

This is the mug my Dad stole for my Mom on their first date! My Mom said it was so ugly she just had to have it, so my Dad tried to buy it from the bartender. When he wouldn't sell it, my tipsy Dad tucked it under his jacket and he and his friend (a couple set them up) laughed all the way out the door. Who know's, I may not be here if it weren't for this mug!
My Mom has it tucked away but has promised it to me (along with two other rare cool tiki mugs)when she is gone. I don't think my other 4 siblings would want it anyway. I dragged my Mom to OA so she could see that they had one too (she got a kick out of telling her story there)

On 2003-12-15 17:39, freddiefreelance wrote:
My favorite mug is my Mr. Bali-Hai that I bought @ the Bali-Hai. I went around & showed people in the wedding downstairs that I had a Mr. Bali-Hai, my wife was embarrassed.

The hardest part for me is getting it home in one piece after I've been indulging in strong drink all evening (which usually happens when I go to the Bali Hai). The other night I was drinking at the Hanalei, which now sells souvenier mugs with their drinks. I managed to chip one on the way home, and I was being careful.

[ Edited by: Shipwreckjoey on 2003-12-15 21:44 ]

Here's another one my Mom's holding on to. I recently saved it from being the pens and pencils holder by the phone and put it safely away.
The Kono Hawaii was our family's favorite restaurant when I was young. We even had matching bright print outfits (shirts for the guys dresses for us girls) My sis had her wedding reception there (on my Birthday!)My Mom also recently discovered a coffee can full of Kono Hawaii match books.

I have managed to score a SB decanter in box, and an old Mr. Bali Hai from their garage! My parents rock!

[ Edited by: laney on 2003-12-15 21:41 ]

Out of all the mugs I've seen, my favorites are probably the really bizarre westwood knockoffs.

There's a few different "westwood" type sets- the oddball versions really excite me.

other than that, I like the very minimal hourglass tikis with the simple eyes nose and lips.. anybody know the one im talkin about? TikiQuest pg 51+52- although i prefer them in a solid matte glaze.

I also like the wacky set on 25-26. that kinda falls into the westwoody category for me somehow

As for what anybody likes; that is their business, but take it from the mouth of a 20-year veteran antique dealer...valuewise the vintage mugs will skyrocket, while the "limited edition" and/or new mugs will eventually tank, guaranteed. It happened to "limited edition" baseball cards. It happened to limited edition dolls. It happened to "new" Roseville. It happened to Captain Action and G.I. Joe re-issues. It happened to limited reissue model kits. It happened to the dreaded Beanie Babies. It happened to so-called "collector plates. It happened to limited edition guitars...the list goes on and on. Tanked. All of them. I mean like bad. I can't stress it enough....Buy original vintage stuff in good condition if you care about your collection being worth a poot in five or ten years and you will never regret it. With few exceptions (Keith Haring Swatches maybe?)today's hot artist will be tomorrow's nobody. It's just a fact.

Amen Bruddah BK!

The most important aspect about vintage mugs is that what was made (and still survives) is all there is. They weren't made to be collectors items, they aren't individualy numbered, and the aren't 'limited editions.

I like to think "if this mug/bowl could talk..."

Speaking of which, my favorite mug/bowl is my Kava Bowl that was made by the TEPCO owner John Pagliero for his wife Mary Jo. This bowl was the model that Trader Vic first saw and approved for production in the 40's.

On 2003-12-16 01:57, Basement Kahuna wrote:
As for what anybody likes; that is their business, but take it from the mouth of a 20-year veteran antique dealer...valuewise the vintage mugs will skyrocket, while the "limited edition" and/or new mugs will eventually tank, guaranteed. It happened to "limited edition" baseball cards. It happened to limited edition dolls. It happened to "new" Roseville. It happened to Captain Action and G.I. Joe re-issues. It happened to limited reissue model kits. It happened to the dreaded Beanie Babies. It happened to so-called "collector plates. It happened to limited edition guitars...the list goes on and on. Tanked. All of them. I mean like bad. I can't stress it enough....Buy original vintage stuff in good condition if you care about your collection being worth a poot in five or ten years and you will never regret it. With few exceptions (Keith Haring Swatches maybe?)today's hot artist will be tomorrow's nobody. It's just a fact.

I also stick to vintage mugs but as many times as you make your point, I think it is falling on deaf ears. I think those who have bought new mugs buy them because they like the style and look of them, not because they think they are investing their money.

You are so anti-new mugs, I can't count how many times you've made this point. While I have my vintage suffering bastard decanter on my shelf it sure is nice to drink out of one of my repro S.B. tiki farm mugs and do a shot out of the tini, cute S.B. shot glasses. The only real money I've invested in "new" is stuff I really like. I think that goes for most, if not, all of us here. I also know many of us would, or could, rather break a 12.00 repro than the real thing!

On 2003-12-16 01:57, Basement Kahuna wrote:
As for what anybody likes; that is their business, but take it from the mouth of a 20-year veteran antique dealer...valuewise the vintage mugs will skyrocket, while the "limited edition" and/or new mugs will eventually tank, guaranteed. It happened to "limited edition" baseball cards. It happened to limited edition dolls. It happened to "new" Roseville. It happened to Captain Action and G.I. Joe re-issues. It happened to limited reissue model kits. It happened to the dreaded Beanie Babies. It happened to so-called "collector plates. It happened to limited edition guitars...the list goes on and on. Tanked. All of them. I mean like bad. I can't stress it enough....Buy original vintage stuff in good condition if you care about your collection being worth a poot in five or ten years and you will never regret it. With few exceptions (Keith Haring Swatches maybe?)today's hot artist will be tomorrow's nobody. It's just a fact.

Ahhhh but you see most appraisers, and most collectors will tell you first and foremost
the underlying reason to collect is because you like an item. Collecting as speculation rarely works. Most people who collect as speculation burn out because of the very reasons you mention. But usually the people with the insane collections are the one who collect for the passion they feel for the things they collect.

Will my Tiki Farm Mugs become the next Ren Clark's? Don't know. Don't care. But I do know they have some amazing artists ( as do Munktiki ) making product for them.

Besides which I like to be able to drink from my mugs, and lead ingestion ain't my bag.

TG
Classic is great, but my wallet is only so deep.

What if we don't like the new stuff?

(talk about falling on deaf ears)

On 2003-12-16 10:15, Tiki_Bong wrote:
What if we don't like the new stuff?

(talk about falling on deaf ears)

If you're allowed to explain, so are we.
TG
Goose meet Gander, pot meet kettle.

[ Edited by: TikiGardener on 2003-12-16 10:28 ]

No "calling" anything. Just giving you the facts, proven over and over and over. Collect what you want.

No "calling" here either, just pointing out that the views expressed are two sides of the same "collecting" coin. Hence the "meet" instead of "calling".

If you want to collect mugs as a portfolio, great. Go to town.

TG

On 2003-12-16 11:45, Basement Kahuna wrote:
No "calling" anything. Just giving you the facts, proven over and over and over. Collect what you want.

I believe the original post was a question-(What is everyone's favorite or most wanted mug) I also didn't see that you even answered the question, you just stated your opinion (more than once)about vintage vs. new mugs. Which is a topic, I believe that has been beaten to death here! I don't think it was appropriate and may make someone shy away from posting that they "want one of the new mugs"

Don't get offended, I think your posts here are very informative and creative and I truely admire your collection. But spewing your opinion all over a lighthearted post without even answering the original post is uncalled for.
Thanks for your blessing to "Collect what you want."
Maybe I just expect better from you?

[ Edited by: laney on 2003-12-16 12:59 ]

On 2003-12-16 12:53, laney wrote:
you just stated your opinion (more than once)about vintage vs. new mugs. Which is a topic, I believe that has been beaten to death here!

Don't get offended, I think your posts here are very informative and creative and I truely admire your collection. But spewing your opinion all over a lighthearted post without even answering the original post is uncalled for.
Thanks for your blessing to "Collect what you want."
Maybe I just expect better from you?

Laney,

I'm pretty sure BK has posted his preference for vintage mugs far less than you post about your mom's collection she will someday pass out to you. Believe me, we're impressed. I'm sure we all wish our moms had tiki mugs or something or other.

And once again, as is your style of wanting it both ways, you praise BK's post as being informative, then in the next sentence say he 'spews' his opinion. Spews?

After that, the implied guilt trip of 'maybe I expect better from you' probably ain't gonna work.

But I applaud your efforts on this fine Tuesday! Hooray! Hooray!

Back to the topic! I also own the not-so-collectable un-numbered Tiki Room anniversary "Grog Cup" with the rope work. I also bought the special Shag designed anniversary mug, but I seem to like the Grog Cup better right now.

On 2003-12-16 13:16, Tiki_Bong wrote:

On 2003-12-16 12:53, laney wrote:
you just stated your opinion (more than once)about vintage vs. new mugs. Which is a topic, I believe that has been beaten to death here!

Don't get offended, I think your posts here are very informative and creative and I truely admire your collection. But spewing your opinion all over a lighthearted post without even answering the original post is uncalled for.
Thanks for your blessing to "Collect what you want."
Maybe I just expect better from you?

Laney,

I'm pretty sure BK has posted his preference for vintage mugs far less than you post about your mom's collection she will someday pass out to you. Believe me, we're impressed. I'm sure we all wish our moms had tiki mugs or something or other.

And once again, as is your style of wanting it both ways, you praise BK's post as being informative, then in the next sentence say he 'spews' his opinion. Spews?

After that, the implied guilt trip of 'maybe I expect better from you' probably ain't gonna work.

But I applaud your efforts on this fine Tuesday! Hooray! Hooray!

Bong, bong, bong, first, I applaud your effort at antagonizing, every point I make. Get a new obsession.

By telling my Moms story, I was not only answering the question but, I'm certain not everyone here has heard it, there are lots of new members. Many times collectors favorite pieces aren't the most expensive or rare but are the things that have purely sentimental value. That is the case with me and I think it is a sweet story so I may even tell it again, hah.

Also, I DO expect more from BK. Especially since he is a moderator here now and shouldn't want to offend anyone. No guilt trip. I was praising his posts on TC in general not this thread.

I am a person who says what I feel, maybe you aren't used to that from a woman. I can't speak for BK but maybe he didn't mean to come off as he did. It's just how it read, I wasn't the only one to reply. Does BK need you to defend him, I don't think so!

Now, back to the question, What's your favorite, most wanted mug?

[ Edited by: laney on 2003-12-16 15:18 ]

Laney...come on...I don't get offended, little buddette. My two favorite mugs? Probably the old standard Trader Vic's Suffering Bastard (the original edition, of course, which Vic oversaw the production of himself!)and the Mai Kai Mystery Bowl (especially the more detailed ones from the 60's..Johnny Carson, Joe Dimmagio and the Apollo Astronauts very well may have used them!) Lotta genuine history there... :)

I think Laney's story about her Dad stealing the mug for her mom is the greatest.
I found a picture of my folks at the Luau in Miami (which I've posted before) so I've been trying to find a mug or something from there to go with the picture...
aloha,
:tiki:

The "Blue Eye" and "The Bird of Paradise" from Steven Crane. He made some cool mugs


The "Idols Cast" and the "Mystery Drink" from the Kahiki


These are from the Islander. "The Maori" and the "Andress Bumatay"

From the Hawaii Kai in New York. One of my favorites

Johny Quongs Utah

Hawaiian Room, New York

Kelbos "The Smiley" LA.

The Mauna Loa in Detroit.
Here's a repost

From the collection of Trader Pup "The Zombie Village" San Francisco

Trader Vic's Suffering Bastards.

Pretty hard to make a small list of favorite mugs, but for me some would be:

suffering bastard anything
daga moai
munktiki outre mug
aku aku squat moai
skipper kent moai
kona hawaii (santa ana) fisherman mug
small green bosko goofball mug (dunno the name)

My wish-for list is pretty short:

Tiki Bob (still hunting, and still too cheap to just shell out $60 on ebay)
Luau 400
hoffman kahiki moai

Regarding collecting-as-investing, my strategy is to collect things that will sharply decrease in value in the future. The same strategy also seems to be in effect with my finances and stock picking as well. So BK, thanks for the tips, but unfortunately I believe they are not compatible with my current investment plan. Buy high, sell low!

-Randy

aquarj wrote: "Buy high, sell low!"

Randy, you crack me up! We must have the same broker.

My favorite mugs are the somewhat-hard-to-find ones that I got for a song. I paid $20 for my suferring bastard decanter, and $5 for my original Bali Hai mug. I won't mention what I paid for my Tiki Bob - why torture Randy?

Someday I hope to find the bowl with 3 topless girls on it from the Lanai.

I also like mugs with big eyes, like the aformentioned Andres Bumatay mug, and this one,

neither of which I have.

That Zombie Village mug from Trader Pup's collection is amazing. I turned one of those down a couple years back because I thought $60 was too steep.

(Thanks to http://www.tikiroom.net for the use of the images.)

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[ Edited by: thejab on 2003-12-16 16:07 ]

The mug I'd really, and I mean really, like to have is one of the two Oceanic Arts OA mugs that are in the case at Oceanic Arts.

Does anyone have a scratch & sniff picture of one?

On 2003-12-16 10:15, Tiki_Bong wrote:
What if we don't like the new stuff?

(talk about falling on deaf ears)

Why? :-?

[poooooot....]

New Stuff Schoo Stuff. The point I was trying to make before was that, unless you are made of time and money (you must admit, BK, that the ability to watch eBay auctions conclude at just about any time of the day helps), some of the vintage stuff is out of the question. It also helps if you live in California, Florida, Columbus or some other place that had Tiki Bars (at least A tiki bar) in town.

Cultjam spoke of two mugs that I am also quite taken with. I found the Trader Vic's Port and Starboard Light Mugs on eBay last night at about 11:00 pm EST ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3260948683&category=29460&rd=1 ). At the time the high bid on each was around $5.00. This morning I checked back to find that, after one bid on each, the price had risen to nearly $30.00. Were we only competing with other Tiki enthusiasts this would be one thing. The person who drove those auctions up that high overnight (it still has 4 3/4 days to go) has made over 1900 trades on eBay. Whaddaya figure her plans are for these?

I think (or, at least, I Hope) that we all appreciate vintage stuff. It is the History of Tiki that drives us to want to make sure it has a Future. If not for eBay, however, I would never have the opportunity to see some of this stuff for sale. The new stuff is, many times, just more practical. Plain and simple.
I don't sell my stuff. The mugs I buy I buy to keep. Therefore, the value of those mugs is based more on what I think of them than what the highest bid was. I would certainly prefer a Steven Crane Bird of Paradise Bowl over a modern, cheap, shoddy knock-off of an Orchids Volcano Bowl, but the $800.00 price (combined with the hassle of bidding, while at work ,in the final seconds) of the former might convince me that the $35.00 price (and the ease of ordering from a well stocked supplier) of the latter is more reasonable.

Sorry if this post is off subject but it seems that just about everything is these days.

[ Edited by: Traitor Vic on 2003-12-17 00:46 ]

[ Edited by: Traitor Vic on 2003-12-17 00:51 ]

Dude, I rarely go to Greenville, Spartanburg, Columbia, etc. (I usually leave off in Easley) but every time I have I have bought mugs. Right in your backyard. There's plenty of vintage stuff out there. Plennnnty. You do have to go out and look for it occasionally, though.

I'd like to get my hands on most of the Mauna Loa, Detroit mugs... especially the parrot mug for some reason...

Oh, and a Ren Clark or two so that I can afford to put in a pool...

-Z

I'd also love to own that hand-sculpted flaming coffee grog set that the Mai Kai used back in the late 50's, early 60's (I guess?)