Is anyone interested in WWdN merchandise?

Before I put in the time and effort to make some new WWdN merchandise for the WWdN CafePress store, I’m looking for a show of hands: is anyone interested in some WWdN gear, like T-shirts and stuff?

I don’t have the time or desire to run a store myself, or take the risk of buying a lot of stock ahead of time. I would not be doing this for shiny gold rocks as much as I’d be doing it for the fun and to increase the chances that I’d be out in the world doing my thing one day, and see someone wearing a WWdN T-shirt, and to "spread the virus" as Jonathan Coulton says.

Stats tell me that about 200K people are reading my blog (man, that’s a lot and is so very weird) so if about 100 or so of you guys chime in, I think it would be enough to make it worth the time and expense of paying a designer to put something together.

I’m a huge fan of American Apparel, so I’m thinking about moving to Spreadshirt if I do this. Obviously, I’m not going to bother if there isn’t enough interest, though. I am supposed to be writing, after all.

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251 thoughts on “Is anyone interested in WWdN merchandise?”

  2. Yes to t-shirt and mug. “Don’t be a dick” is good, but it shouldn’t be the only option, in case one wants to bring one’s mug to the uptight lawfirm in which one, sadly, works.

  5. Well, okay then. 200 is way more than the 100 I figured would be a good indicator of whether or not it was worth doing this, so . . . I’m going to do it.
    Design contest! That’s a great idea that didn’t occur to me. That’ll be a lot of fun, so let’s do that. I’ll figure out contest rules and get some design guidelines from Spreadshirt and post that stuff in the next couple of days.
    Thanks for all your comments, everyone! I’ll do my best to create something super cool that we can all be proud of.

  6. Good call on the design contest, because here’s the thing, I would buy one if it looks cool, not just because it has WWdN on it. But a COOL WWdN shirt I’d buy. You have raised the bar by posting about threadless.com after all.
    Suggestion for the design contest, have a category where the design is made from Creative Commons materials and publish it back to Creative Commons. Its like doing an electronic bit of found art and it would be interesting to see where that goes. You might get several evolving versions out of it.

  8. Yeah sounds good, t shirts are always good but as a teacher its getting mugs for me.Would love to see a new design other than the plain white one.
    Good luck with the design.

  10. For one theme, I would just take one of your favorite posts (or a collection of quotes from a gazillion of them) and have it cover as much of the t-shirt, mug, etc. as possible. The whole thing would be best, if that can be done.
    Then when people stand there reading us and our accessories, we can ask them what the hell they’re staring at.

  11. Somebody up there asked for multiple-X shirts… I second that request!
    Checking out Spreadshirt it look like they do have a 3X shirt, you just have to explicitly pick it.
    It looks like Threadless only carries 2X.
    I’m just sayin’… 🙂

  14. Frika,
    I bought several T-Shirts at Xmas. Dark colored shirts for my sons with a Lacrosse theme. While the online dispaly showed the designs being light colored on the dark background, when I recieved the shirts the designs were absoultely invisible as in black on a dark blue shirt. Three different times and finally I gave up. Never again with CafePress.
    Mark

  17. Interested. But not in a weird way. Alright it’s weird, but still cool. Maybe you could do shirts that say, “Wil Wheaton says, ‘Don’t be a dick!'”
    Notice the fancy nested quotes.

  19. Geeka – um, I second that. I can only wear guy shirts from those places because of… the boobs. *blushes* Kind of sucks but hey, if the shirt’s cool enough…

  20. I would LOVE to wear your shirts on my body!!! 🙂 Seriously though, great idea, just don’t forget us girl geeks. We love “girl tees”!! Wil W. for Prez!!!!

  21. PS: Just in case you remember every t shirt you see. I was wearing the Product of the 80’s t-shirt at PAX 2007. I’m stupid to bring it up, but there you go. Thats me!!

  22. Count me in… someone once noticed my posse shirt at Canada’s Wonderland… she was waving from quite a ways away “Wil Wheaton! Wil Wheaton!”. It’s like an almost secret club…

  23. I checked out your store and I love it! Yes, I’d love to see more merchandise. I’d definitely buy more. Sure, let’s see some WWdN merchandise.

  24. Mark, from looking light to being invisible even with reprints… sounds like the design is at fault to me, the manufacturing folks can’t do anything about that, the designer has to change it.
    Designer might have chosen an RGB color which would show up great on a monitor but not on an actual product.
    At any rate, no matter what provider you use (even silk screening them yourself), you gotta havea designer who knows the process.
    And for anyone on this thread, if you ever are unhappy with a shirt from me, I’ll replace it with a shirt from another one of my other providers if you like.

  26. Chiming in way late but as someone who has handled ordering t-shirts with artist’s designs for an SF conference I thought you might like a tip or two. Darker t-shirt colors seem to sell better than lighter colors. Also, for the contest be sure to specify that no copyrighted logos be used (unless you plan to get permission).

  27. I’m all for higher quality, and WWdN merchandise is sorely tempting, but I have to add my voice to the commenter above who pointed out that gamers and geeks often are of the ‘fun size’ variety in both directions.. and most clothiers ignore this and stop at 2XL. It appears that spreadshirt does.
    (This is often something I’m compelled to remind *gaming* and *anime* con personnel of, which is surprising)

  29. Registered to post–I would definitely buy something Wil-related for me and the hubby, who are both big fans of yours, from yesterday, and today.
    Keep up the good work, Wil.

  31. If you went with Threadless I’d definately buy (at least) one. If you went with someone else I’d seriously consider it. If it’s Cafe Press that would count against something that would otherwise be wicked cool.

  32. Two suggestions:
    You, with upraised fist, caption of “Wil Power”
    Blue Sweaters with “Walter” in shaky script on the tag inside.

  33. 🙂 I’m a designer! LOL.. I do mostly adult stuff atm… but I would love to design your shirt!! If you would like to see my work please let me know.. I work for food… 😛 haha
    … starving artist joke…

  38. I already have a T-shirt – although it’s getting very worn out now! Would definitely be interested in more stuff – even if the shipping costs to good old blighty are a little peaky! 🙂

  39. Agree with “I don’t know if I’d be interested enough to actually complete a transaction, but I’d consider it.
    It would depend alot on how hawesome they were, how much spending cash I had free,” what the items were, and whether wearables would look good in the appropriate size. For example, I’m hankering for some
    “Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show” stuff; however, not only are their (CafePress) T-shirts priced a little high, but they’re cut in a way that’s unlikely to be flattering to the large and/or buxom among us — OTOH, they don’t have much in the way of non-wearables as an alternative.
    As for the interest level, it’s a good sign that this post generated 238 responses so far, most of which demonstrated interest!

  42. Yes, I’d buy a t-shirt. Then, if we happen to meet someday, I can be the total nerd girl wearing one of your shirts. LOL! 😀

  43. Andrew – WIN!!!! A thousand times over! I would buy that.
    Or: My nanites — let me show you th — crap! *starts searching frantically*

  45. Late to the game, but yeah, I’d be up for buying merchandise. And not to be immodest, but my designs have won a few national awards — so I second the design contest idea.

  46. Oh hells yeah! Mugs and stickers sound fantastic – and shirts as long as the sizing is geek-friendly.
    Signed, #149

  49. I probably shouldn’t get a vote, ’cause I don’t see myself buying anything (not that I don’t love your site, I totally do!), but you should know that people who have things like shoulders and hips can’t wear American Apparel. And while they may be “sweatshop-free,” they have some other appalling business practices. Stick with Hanes or something you don’t have to have an eating disorder to wear!

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