Favorite Merch

Gonna be upfront: I'm taking a comedy tour on the road this summer and need help coming up with some cool ideas for merch, but I want to make this a cool thread at the same time.

So what is your favorite piece of merch you've ever bought from a band?

Mine is my Fun. teacup. Bought two, but the handle broke off one, so I was the bigger person and gave my little sister the unbroken one. Share your memories!

 

I always go for hoodies when I'm looking for band merch. I also love when bands do cool things like teacups or mugs or something. I got a circa survive hoodie my freshman year of high school and 5 years later, I still have it and my girlfriend wears it almost every day. I think there's like three holes in the arms and now one in the back!

 

I have a Best Coast shirt that's the Seinfeld logo with the band name instead

 

always looking for crewnecks

 

At a DIY punk show in Seattle, there was a band that had all sorts of crazy merch that I found really interesting. They would have pot holders, aprons, hand knitted coozies. Small things that you use every day.
Also Kimya Dawson does something fun on her tours. She doesn't have any pre printed merch (except for socks), instead if you want a shirt, you pick a color and she draws something for you on it.
Also Ghost Mice sell their art they do while they are driving on tour, my Gf picked up a charcoal drawing that we proudly display in our living room

 

Andrew WK coffee mug that he signed.

 

I'm a coffee mug fiend. also love a good pint glass with a band logo on it.

my go to at shows though is just a t-shirt or limited poster. pretty simple I know.

 

I worked the merch table at a show once where one of the artists was selling homemade jam. Thought that was pretty neat.

 

Hoodies are always a solid bet, especially for my wife. I've purchased Title Fight, Balance & Composure, and Couterparts hoodies...all large. Each and every one shrinks after one wash and, voila, my wife has a new hoodie. It's difficult to rock band merch when your 6'3.

 

I always look for zip-ups at shows. T-shirts can be weird (especially as a female) and don't fit like I want and they ended up becoming work out shirts or sleep shirts. If the hoodie/zip-up design sucks I go for the knick knacks – coffee mug, matchbox (hey Bayside), guitar picks, etc.

 

Zip ups are cool. My Silverstein 10 year anniversary zip for DTW is one of my favorite pieces of merch.

 

I'm a plus-sized girl, so I tend to look for the large or XL size shirts and hoodies.
I bought an autographed drum head from The Starting Line's farewell tour and I got a Go! Team pennant from the record store. And when I was 16, one of my friends gave me an *NSYNC marionette. I ended up throwing it away when I moved home from college.

 

and as a plus-sized female, I sympathize with the weird fitting shirts.

 

Some great suggestions in here! I used to be two sizes bigger than I am now so I have a bunch of concert shirts that don't fit me.
Y'all think those t-shirt quilts on Etsy are cool?

 

Great thread! Here's a recent purchase that I had to get when I saw it.




NOTE: This is not me. I just figured it'd be easier to google image search "saosin misfits" than dig mine out of the dirty clothes and take a wrinkled picture.

They also had it in a hoodie but, that would make the 3rd hoodie I've bought this year at a show and figured the t-shirt would do.

 

It would either be my Brand New album art shirts or my Pentimento I, No Longer mauve hoodie. This is gonna sound sappy, but I also have grown quite the fond attachment to my gray Encore shirt.

 

I'll buy most band's Merch if they have a 3/4 sleeve option. I love baseball tees. Points if the sleeves aren't black.

 

That actually goes for all band shirts. Give us some variety! I know black band tees sell well because it's a universal shade, but I love when there's like a pretty maroon shirt to buy.

 

My closet is all black from band shirts. I think I've got 2 blue, 1 red, 1 white and 2 grey / off-white. The other 20-30 shirts are black.

Wanted to get a new Movielife shirt the other week when I saw them (my old one is 13 years old) but they only had 3 designs. 1 black with a print I didn't like, one in white that was the SAME image as the black one I have and the other I liked but it was supposed to mimic an ambulance so The Movielife was in a mirror image and I thought "no one will even read that!".

So instead I bought beer.

 

I've got a shirt with this art on it (none of the text). It is easily my favorite t-shirt. The back just says "Brand New Fall Tour 2003" and then lists all the dates/cities. BN used this as the backdrop for this tour as well. Opening with Tautou the band had 2 lights shining on the guys eyes. So goddamn creepy.

 

I love when they have tour posters for sale. I love buying and framing tour posters of my favorite bands. I ask second the baseball tees, especially minus the black sleeves. I used to have a starting line baseball t-shirt with blue sleeves that I wore like twice a week back in Jr High and High School. I also loved my Brand New t shit with the space monkey, and my Taking Back Sunday with the yellow road split sign on the front. Rocked both those basically every other day in 7th grade back in 03

 

most of the time the more simple the artwork on the shirt the more incline I am to but it. a pocket tee with the logo on it is always a welcome change, albeit very slightly.

 

Merch is dumb, do the tour in a food truck.