I do design work including sculpting for a major toy company and have a very unusual piece available today. This
is a full scale life-size replica of the Tiki God "Kona" from the television series Gilligans Island. It's from
episode #10 entitled "Waiting for Watubi" which first aired on December 5th, 1964.
This prop is from the episode where Skipper unearths an ancient tiki god while digging in the lagoon. He recognizes
the statue as "Kona" and feels only a Watubi witch doctor can break the curse he thinks Kona has placed on him.
Gilligan dresses as "Watubi" and for a change saves the day. It's a classic episode and this is a classic very
limited edition television prop.
This piece is "BIG", really BIG...it's 20 inches tall and roughly 7 inches across...it is actual size to the
statue the prop department made on Gilligans island. This prop piece took several weeks and many reference photos
to sculpt, mold and cast. This piece is very accurate to the one used in the series. This piece is made of a
hollow resin about 1/4 inch thick and fairly light. It has been painted in shades of browns to replicate aged
and distressed wood. The eyes and mouth have been painted with metallic gold paint to color match the prop from
Gilligan's Island. The bottom has felt pads and states this is a limited number and signed prop by the artist who
created it...Douglas Hildebrandt. Just as a tiki alone this is a very cool piece to own but the fact it's based
on a prop from Gilligans Island makes it even more unique and rare.
In doing research I discovered the tiki used on the Gilligans Island episode "Waiting for Watubi" is based on an
actual tiki available in the 60's carved in wood by Milan Guanko. I also noticed the tiki prop used on Gilligans
Island was not an actual heavy carved wood statue but a rather cheaply made plastic resin copy of a wood statue
made by the prop department. You can clearly see a mold lines in the statue in some scenes plus the fact the
castaways are throwing around the statue in different scenes tells me the prop department made a light weight
resin copy so no one would get hurt. You can also see some of the paint worn off the statue in some scenes showing
white plastic underneath.
The prop available today is a resin tiki prop just like what they used on Gilligans Island and this rare piece
is a very nice addition to anyone's collection. Because of the economy I kept the price down on this piece to
$299.99 which is very fair considering the time, materials and rarity of this unique collectable. In better times
this piece would sell for upwards of $399.99 and higher. Shipping in the United States is $30.00 for this
oversized item. E-mail me for shipping quote to the rest of the planet or if you have any questions.
