Category: Tees

“My name is Mark Killington and always been a big music fan. By luck in early 1986 I got a job as a general gofer for the late great Rupert Neve (most famous audio equipment designer for studios) and what was then his new company Focusrite after he’d sold his Neve company. The first job he was doing was a sub-mixer for Air Montserrat (George Martin). Rupert was persuaded to go back into big console manufacturing and had a huge list of big studios wanting to leave a deposit to be one of the first recipients of one of his ... Read more

The 1980s was the golden age of wrestling, ipso facto the golden age of vintage wrestling t-shirts. The WWF was still called the WWF. Hulkamania was running wild. Storylines were playful and still kid-friendly. I miss those days. Sadly, 5 out of 8 of these squared circle legends have left this earth. But true legends never die, and thankfully they can be celebrated via t-shirts from their heydays. The Ultimate Warrior Finishing Move: Gorilla press drop followed by a running splash. WWF Accolades: Intercontinental (2), Champion (1) The Warrior made a name for himself with his theatrics, physique, and brute ... Read more

Giant Records and Merchandising was a joint venture founded in 1990 by legendary rock manager Irving Azoff and Warner Bros. Although Giant also produced merchandise for Warner Bros movies and cartoons their t-shirts quickly became synonymous with rock music. This was by design since at the time it was thought Rock fans were more loyal than others and it was hard to argue since in 1989 Brockum and Winterland combined for nearly $500 million in sales. 1991-1995 Starting in 1991 Giant used three tags interchangeably, with no reliable heuristic. While other brands like Brockum silently used FOTL for their blanks, ... Read more

I took a break for a couple of years from the VTU (vintage tee universe) and all hell broke loose. Marketplace platforms like Grailed and Depop (sold to Etsy!) exploded while a ton of transactions started happening through Instagram DMs. Then the early days of the pandemic ushered in live auctions on IG courtesy of 1980 Something Co. At one point last week five IG accounts I follow were hosting t-shirt auctions at the SAME time. It’s live insanitee. Vintage t-shirt auctions on eBay were huge in the early aughts, people got caught up in the excitement of bidding and ... Read more

Iron Maiden tees have long been one of the gold standards of vintage t-shirts. Through the many peaks and valleys of the vintage t-shirt market, they have retained their value, and in many cases steadily increased over the years. Why Are Iron Maiden T-Shirts so Valuable? This is partly due to a loyal and ravenous fanbase, and the fact that they’re still touring. And of course, nostalgia is a huge driving factor. Most importantly though, they had a unique approach to t-shirt merchandising and designs. While they did print mass quantities of certain designs, they also created specific designs for ... Read more