Post #377404 by JanetMermaid on Thu, May 1, 2008 5:58 AM

If it was only underground, those in remote places would never find ANYTHING. And those like me -- I LIKE primary colors -- would be limited to the beautiful but muted "authentic" tiki. Here's what I said about it in the "Are you a tiki snob" thread, but it also applies here with respect to quantity and quality of available tiki.

"... I LIKE primary, bright colors. So my collection includes muted and simple authentic tiki as well as the garish Oriental Trading Company style tiki. I love both. As much as I love Bamboo Ben's decorating and designs, I'd get bored after a while, because the traditional look is all earth tones and shades of brown. I'd end up putting a plastic, multi-colored tiki-face trashcan in the corner or something and Ben would never speak to me again.

To see what MY ideal tiki room looks like, check out Janet's Lanai at Tiki Acres (our ranch in Lockhart, TX). (Although the best of my authentic tiki collection is in my house, leaving the more "festive" pieces, as well as my koi and mermaid opala (junk), to decorate the lanai.)"

I also agree with what EsQui said way back in 2005 -- the cheap tiki cups and mugs and crap decorate my lanai for a reason, leaving my more expensive and authentic items for the safer domain of the house.

Finally, remember, back in the day, wood and glass were cheap, and trendy junk was made out of it. But then these got more expensive, and now are considered collectible. Now plastic is cheap and trendy junk is made out of it. But one of these days petroleum-based products will become the collectibles, and the trendy junk will be made of something else. Plastic items are the antiques of the future.

So I'm not collecting "crap", I'm collecting future antiques. :D