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Wall of Tiki |
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10558
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
|  Posted: 2003-12-08 5:54 pm Permalink
Aaaaah.....a toast to the born again Tikis!
Glad that Florida is earthquake-free.
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fatuhiva
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 634
From: Melbourne Beach, FL
| Posted: 2003-12-08 6:18 pm Permalink
Thanks for the compliments everyone 
I have been collecting tikis for about 10 years now. It all started when I met my wife and she had this really nice thatched "hut" rattan shelf hanging on the wall in her room. On this shelf were some tiki mugs and I walked over and said "wow these are neat tikis!" She had a few cool items like a small Toby head, the Bumatay style JPco mug (BOT pg250) and the one that started her collection, a matte-black moai from The Tikis (I still have that mug in the collection- the poor guy is full of hairlines and dripping with candlewax) To impress her, I would look for mugs to fill out her shelf when we would go thrifting together. After we started dating, we decided to try our hand at being vintage dealers and picked at garage sales/fleas/estate sales religously all day, every weekend, for years. This was way before Ebay, and also when mugs were usually 25c to $1 anywhere you went. There were a few retro/antique dealers around town who would mark the tikis they found up to a whopping $3 or $4 and I would always buy them to save myself some legwork.
Then my wife got a job that required alot of travelling and I often went along with her to pick other towns. Found alot of good stuff that way.
Finally Ebay came along and luckily I found out about it pretty early. Duke and I were having a good time recounting stories about the infancy of Ebay- for quite awhile, he was about the only other person on there that I recall specifically buying tikis on a regular basis. We used to get in bidding wars and rack the rare mugs up to *gasp* 8 to 10 bucks! Back then, if you typed in "Tiki" on Ebay, you'd get about 13 entries- we remember it took a few days sometimes for anything new to get posted, and then we'd both be salivating.
He was cracking me up with this story about how he thought I was f*#%ing insane the day I ran a mug up to $20. HAHA oh the good old days. Duke and I did some trading after awhile, and I finally got to meet him years later just this last weekend.. it was a really fun time (His book TikiQuest is excellent by the way.. if you don't have it, definitely pick it up.)
Of course, it wasn't long until Ebay became a household word, the tiki stuff started to really sprout up, and so did the prices. I still see things I've never seen before, and I know now I will never have anywhere near a "complete" collection. I also on occasion still bust out the checkbook for things I really like, but thankfully, it's not too often anymore.
So I would say 1/2 the collection was found in the "wild" (Duke has kept a much more impressive record on this regard), 3/8's was gathered during the early ebay "freeforall" years, and the rest were picked up during the mania we have all come to love hehehe. I still do pick up a tiki in the wild every once in a while, although I don't get out picking as much as I should these days.
To answer the questions, that's not a bike seat, its a tiki-lamp laying on it's side. The blue tiki set is un-named set that had little mini shots similar in size to the westwood jiggers, and the big one is a decanter. I also had a lamp made from one of those decanters, but I gave it to the little girl next door who is doing her room in a tropical theme, and wanted a tiki. You can still find this set on Ebay from time to time, and its not too uncommon in the field.
The thatching I got from ACE thatch in Central Florida, and also some from Safari Thatch in Ft. Lauderdale, which is where the split-bamboo trimming will come from. If I were on the west coast I would probably use Oceanic Arts. ACE Thatch will UPS rolls to your house- I did that recently to save myself a 5 hour roundtrip drive to their place in BFE, Florida.
Lastly, no need for earthquake putty here, except for wobbly uneven bottoms. Just hurricanes- so if you see a Cat 5 rumble through Melbourne Beach, observe a moment of silence for all the mugs laid to waste
I am however considering mounting plexiglass in front of the shelves so I won't have to cringe when the tikiroom gets crowded during a party, our new boy starts walking, grabbing and throwing, or a bunch of kids come over for Shirley Temples
[ This Message was edited by: fatuhiva on 2003-12-08 18:46 ]
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Slacks Ferret
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 02, 2003
Posts: 1172
From: Calgary
| Posted: 2003-12-08 6:20 pm Permalink
Damn that's full-frontal!
Yr "Waiting list" collection photo is about 5 times the size of my regular collection.
Nice work!
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fatuhiva
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 634
From: Melbourne Beach, FL
| Posted: 2003-12-08 6:53 pm Permalink
hey sven! Good to see you- I fixed that problem, btw.
[ This Message was edited by: fatuhiva on 2003-12-08 19:37 ]
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Phillip Roberts
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 09, 2003
Posts: 1486
From: OAHU, Hawaii.
| Posted: 2003-12-08 7:28 pm Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: filslash 2008-09-06 19:08 ]
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emspace
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 05, 2003
Posts: 875
From: Vancouver
| Posted: 2003-12-08 7:47 pm Permalink
Er, when you say "in limbo", do you really mean "in emspace's collection cuz he's such a swell guy"?
Maybe?
byooteeful,
em.
_________________
It's never too late to have a happy childhood!
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RevBambooBen
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 12, 2002
Posts: 7197
From: Huntikington Beach
| Posted: 2003-12-08 9:05 pm Permalink
I am however considering mounting "plexiglass" in front of the shelves so I won't have to cringe when the tikiroom gets crowded during a party, our new boy starts walking, grabbing and throwing,
-------------------------------------------
Trust me on this. USE LEXON!!!
p.s. Awesome collection!
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fatuhiva
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 634
From: Melbourne Beach, FL
| Posted: 2003-12-08 9:44 pm Permalink
Is lexon the "no-glare" stuff? I remember when i worked an at art gallery we had some really nice plexi material that wasn't reflective.
Where do you get that stuff?
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RevBambooBen
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 12, 2002
Posts: 7197
From: Huntikington Beach
| Posted: 2003-12-08 10:22 pm Permalink
Glare or no glare. LEXON! Kids can't break it, yet.
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Rattiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 03, 2003
Posts: 422
From: Key West, FL
| Posted: 2003-12-09 03:11 am Permalink
You are a sick puppy and need help immediately! You should seek out counsel for your addiction, this...this obsessive compulsive behavior. You should go cold turkey and purge yourself of the poisonous fruits of your insanity! Put all these vile trinkets and nick-nacks back in the boxes and send them to 1608 Von Phister St. Key West, FL 33040 where we can deposed of them properly. You feel so much better when you do....  
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Atomicchick
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 08, 2003
Posts: 577
From: Southern California
| Posted: 2003-12-09 08:00 am Permalink
Oh sweet Jesus! I thought my tiki mug collecting was getting out of control with about 70 mugs, but you, you take the cake! I'm sooooo jealous!
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4806
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2003-12-09 08:52 am Permalink
Great story. Every 6-12 months on Ebay you think it's peaked and it hasn't. You think back to when it was cheap and you were rather lax about it and didn't buy much... Oh the days!
Just gotta join BK and I and haunt the South Eastern shops...
_________________
Mai-Kai Memories Series Custom ceramic mugs!
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purple jade
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 19, 2003
Posts: 1450
From: New Orleans
| Posted: 2003-12-09 10:53 am Permalink
Quote:
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LEXON! Kids can't break it, yet.
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HA! Spoken like a true parent. Yet...har!
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Unkle John
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 22, 2003
Posts: 1216
From: Middle-of-the-Ocean, TX
| Posted: 2003-12-09 10:57 am Permalink
LEXAN can be bought through any (respectible)sign shop if you are willign to pay for the mark-up. You can try Reece Supply Or N. Glantz & Sons.
I'm in the sign industry so I can tell you they have the cheapest prices (atleast in my area). Your best bet would be N. Glantz. They don't have any in FL, but can ship it to you. But I would do an internet search for local sign suppliers in Florida.
_________________
Mo-Holler.
- Unkle John: -one man aspiring to be everyone’s favorite unkle.
www.unklejohn.com
[ This Message was edited by: unkle john on 2003-12-10 07:36 ]
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Geeky Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 15, 2002
Posts: 533
From: Las vegas
| Posted: 2003-12-09 5:28 pm Permalink
To paraphrase the comic book guy on the Simpsons, "Best Tiki Wall Ever."
How do ya ever decide which mug to have a drink from?
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