A brand spanking new vintage t-shirt book was released today and it looks pretty promising. The author was inspired by the all-too-common nightmare of having his beloved t-shirt collection discarded by his mother. For the last 20+ years he’s been on a mission to relive his youth via poly-cotton, which the better part of was spent growing up too fast all over Sunset Strip. The book offers a visual history told through the rarest of the rare one-off t-shirts.

We’re in the process of acquiring a review copy from the publishers for the fifth installment in our series of vintage t-shirt book reviews. If you’re too excited to wait until the verdict is out, copies are available now through Amazon.

Every few weeks we scour through eBay’s vintage t-shirt auctions and report which relics are fetching top dollar. More reasons to raid your grandpa’s closet.

Click the links below to view the full eBay listing or the seller’s current inventory.

1. 80s vintage Suicidal Tendencies Possessed sold for $500.00 by stormcrow-vintage
2. 80s vintage Black Sabbath/BOC Jersey sold for $300.00 by wyco_vintage
3. 80s vintage Death Scream Bloody Gore t-shirt sold for $250.00 by silverruins
4. 80s vintage Corrosion of Conformity Animosity t sold for $250.00 by wyco_vintage
5. 70s vintage Yardbirds t-shirt sold for $204.02 by koshercollectibles
6. 80s vintage Mercyful Fate Melissa t-shirt sold for $204.00 by christrikk

Pssssssssst…that blessed day is fast approaching, so it’s time to get on the case! Nothing honors St. Patrick more than throwing back copious amounts of green beer while your torso topper does a little throwback of its own.

First stop: VintagePimps – especially given they’ve loaded their store with 14 vintage gems (which in beer terms is a 12 pack, plus 2.) Next up is VINTAGE RETRO WEAR who is carrying a smaller selection (one of which is our favorite this year, featured above.)

The bonus with true vintage during this celebration is that you’ll avoid that embarrassing puke-on-your-shirt-and-then-notice-some-other-guy-at-the-bar-is-wearing-the-same-t-shirt…feeling. We’ve all been there.

Remember to search around because sellers are using different keywords to describe their goodies. “St. Patricks” (no apostrophe fetches the best results) to “St. Patrick’s” (where you’re likely to score a better deal in auction format), to “Irish“(which is the broadest search but includes bonus sport related results).

Which ever method you use to track this green gold, avoid those jerks who abuse the “vintage” keyword to describe cheap t-shirts that were printed a week ago.

Brand #3: Springford

Circulation: Common

Era: Late 70s to 1990

Information: This brand of t-shirt emerged in the late 1970s as a general purpose blank. By the mid 1980s Springford developed some ties within the music industry and they shifted focus to became one of the most popular choices for rock tees throughout the decade. The tag seemed to vanish after the year 1990, so it was likely bought out by a larger manufacturer or it went belly up when alternative rocked the industry.

Absolutely no information can be found about the history of this company, if you have any knowledge please comment below.

The various phases of the tag design above spans from the late 1970s to 1990.

• View the previous Hanes brand.
• Check out our forum discussions on brands.
• View the entire gallery of vintage t-shirt brands.

Shirt #3: Metallica, One

Availability: Explore Vintage Metallica Tees on eBay

Album: …And Justice for All

Date: 1989

Art: Pushead

Fact: “One” was Metallica music video #1.

Approximate value: $75-$150

Image Courtesy of: stormcrow-vintage

• Check out the previous vintage Megadeth Mary Jane t-shirt.
• View all the t-shirts featured in our Big Four gallery.