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TRADER VIC's Warehouse Sale |
martiki
Official Mixologist
Joined: Mar 29, 2002
Posts: 3056
From: http://www.smugglerscovesf.com
|  Posted: 2008-02-27 12:27 pm Permalink
He was already sold when I got there, and I guess my tiki must have been inside, or out front at a later date- I have an appointment that will hopefully confirm in the next week.
But I must say, the one at the warehouse was in really really good shape, and a bit shorter than those pictured. Looked more recent, and not worn by the elements. It didn't look 50 years old at all- perhaps was an indoor tiki, the one from Seattle. I will double check.
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10558
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-02-27 1:24 pm Permalink
I think the Trader was just a very small guy  .
But seriously, most of those "super egos" in history had a Napoleon complex that made them so successful. I wonder where that last photo was taken, anyway, it's not Cosmo Place...maybe Oakland, and there WERE two different pairs of these guys? WHERE in Hawaii did they come from, WHO made them?
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-02-27 15:37 ]
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GatorRob
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 20, 2004
Posts: 1766
From: 3 hrs 33 mins to paradise
| Posted: 2008-02-27 2:59 pm Permalink
Regardless of whether that tiki is one of the tikis in the pictures, that was a great post bigbro. Learning the history on an obscure design like this one is very fascinating. Me like!
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tiki1963
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 12, 2003
Posts: 196
From: los angeles
| Posted: 2008-02-27 3:13 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2008-02-27 13:24, bigbrotiki wrote:
I think the Trader was just a very small guy .
But seriously, most of those "super egos" in history had a Napoleon complex that made them so successful. I wonder where that last photo was taken, anyway, it's not Cosmo Place...maybe Oakland, and there WERE two different pairs of these guys? WHERE in Hawaii did they come form, WHO made them?
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hey sven...
yes, i am the lucky bastard. he's in exceptional shape and is definitely vintage. we're fairly certain its from the main entrance interior of either the Oakland or Seattle TV's. (it's aged but not weathered) according to Kier and Eve B, It was from the Oakland location.
after the old Don the Beachcomber sale in LA many years ago, i expected this sale to be a dud as well. i have to say, in the 20 or so years i've been collecting tiki, i've never come across such abundance. reminds me of the first time i saw Oceanic Arts in the 1980s.
overall, i was a bit stunned and dazed at the plethora of great, vintage pieces upon my arrival. i have to admit it was funny to see everyone else so dazed and bumping into each other as the tiki-high was intoxicating! thanks to tiki-Ray who helped convince me that i needed to add this incredible tiki to my collection. i was too crazed to be rational with the sheer amount of neat stuff and good ol' Ray set me straight. i did go a bit crazy and was spending way too much, but i truly believe this was a once-in-a-lifetime event. the gods were smiling on me that day in that i was also able to commendeer THE last U-Haul truck in Oakland, fill that sucker and high-tail it back to LA like a bandito.
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10558
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-02-27 3:37 pm Permalink
Aaaah, so YOU were Kiara's partner in crime...or were there SEVERAL Tiki-loot filled U-Haul trucks on the freeway to LA that day ? Well now I know "Mr. Modern" is down here, I gotta photograph him some day. 
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Psycho Tiki D
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: Oct 13, 2006
Posts: 1783
From: The river Styx, can you pay the toll?
| Posted: 2008-02-27 4:09 pm Permalink
On pages 90 and 91 in The Book Of Tiki there is a shot of a Trader Vic's restaurant and on the left in the back is the same design as the pole I purchased last Saturday. If not the same one, it is exactly like this!
PTD
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MolokaiMike
Member
Joined: Feb 27, 2008
Posts: 7
From: Hollywood
| Posted: 2008-02-27 5:40 pm Permalink
I'm thinking of flying in on Friday (the 29th) for the last day of the sale. Has anyone been there recently (as of Wednesday) - and is there anything of note left? I was looking for masks and tikis, specifically. PS - Thanks to everybody who posted all the photos of the warehouse items and their own treasures. Great stuff!
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midnite
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 1230
From: 37? 47' N, 122? 26' W
| Posted: 2008-02-27 10:52 pm Permalink
tiki1963 wrote:
overall, i was a bit stunned and dazed at the plethora of great, vintage pieces upon my arrival. i have to admit it was funny to see everyone else so dazed and bumping into each other as the tiki-high was intoxicating! thanks to tiki-Ray who helped convince me that i needed to add this incredible tiki to my collection. i was too crazed to be rational with the sheer amount of neat stuff and good ol' Ray set me straight. i did go a bit crazy and was spending way too much, but i truly believe this was a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Stunned and dazed pretty much sums it up. It was, and still is, a numbing experience for any Trader Vic's fan boy or girl. It was a brief peek inside the chocolate factory, and I'm just glad I made it out (4 times) without being turned into a giant blueberry. This was a week for the ages, tiki wise.
Congrats on acquiring that one tiki1963, it was one of the stars of the sale (and you got quite a few of the others as well!). That tiki will always be the "Ginger Rogers tiki" to me. I was pleased to be of some assistance...heck, it helped distract your attention from the one I had claimed. No, you still cannot have it.
If anyone has any desire to visit the warehouse, by all means do. I was there this afternoon and there is still a great deal to see and purchase. Hi Kier, Hi Michelie....see you tomorrow (just kidding).
Trader Vic's fan boy #6,
midnite
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tiki1963
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 12, 2003
Posts: 196
From: los angeles
| Posted: 2008-02-27 11:08 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2008-02-27 22:52, midnite_tiki wrote:
No, you still cannot have it.
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curses! foiled again!
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Kenike
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 24, 2003
Posts: 1201
From: McKinney, TX
| Posted: 2008-02-28 04:41 am Permalink
Damn...I hate everybody.
You west-coasters don't know how lucky you are to have this in your neighborhood. I know several people flew to CA to grab some things, and a friend of mine scored me a lamp I wanted. But I would have loved just to have seen this stuff...and grab as much as I could ship home.
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tiki1963
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 12, 2003
Posts: 196
From: los angeles
| Posted: 2008-02-28 08:10 am Permalink
kenike...
i wasn't that easy for Californians. it's a pretty big state.
we had to hop a flight from LA to Oakland, rent a car and drive a bit to get there, not knowing what kind of sale we would find.
also, driving an overloaded U-Haul full of tiki at 3am in the wind and sleet ridden Grapevine (highway route) isn't the best picnic in the world...
it was a great adventure and absolutely like the tiki hunts of old. there's something very satisfying about hunting and bagging your tiki prey by hand. tiki residue on yer chest and primal screams into the night are what its about. the cyber-tiki hunts of today a'la newgroups, forums and ebay is kind of like safari hunting with robotic drones.
i'm sure you'll have some easier access to some hunt that we'll be envious of soon enough, though.
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Kenike
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 24, 2003
Posts: 1201
From: McKinney, TX
| Posted: 2008-02-28 10:19 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2008-02-28 08:10, tiki1963 wrote:
kenike...
i wasn't that easy for Californians. it's a pretty big state.
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I keep forgetting that fact...I know CA is HUGE. Still it's more do-able than trying to lug a U-Haul back to TX. Sounds like quite an adventure, and now those items have a great story...in addition to wherever they were previously.
Congrats to everyone for their great scores. It's good to know these items now belong to people who can really appreciate them instead of ending up spray painted next to a taco stand.
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Polynesiac
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 29, 2004
Posts: 2020
From: San Pedro, CA
| Posted: 2008-02-28 3:08 pm Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: polynesiac 2008-02-29 07:32 ]
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Polynesiac
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 29, 2004
Posts: 2020
From: San Pedro, CA
| Posted: 2008-02-28 6:41 pm Permalink
THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE TC!!!!!!
you have made me VERY happy! I'm covered for the globe!!!!!
mahalo!
_________________
Polynesiac - putting the "F" back in "ART"
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Fres-tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 11, 2007
Posts: 109
From: Fresno, CA
| Posted: 2008-02-28 10:46 pm Permalink
Does anybody know what's left at this point in the sale?
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