Why should they? They have plenty of merch at their lives which sells out in minutes. Besides, they haven't released anything new for almost a decade. So make a shirt of what? old albums? that would be lame. I wouldn't like to see reprints of warmaster or 4th crusade even if they were official.
That's my point exactly. My friend saw bolt thrower once when they came to Austin, tx and he waited in front of the venue an hour before and their was still a line inside. He got an 10 minutes after the doors opened and they ALREADY sold out. You wouldn't have that problem if you could buy mercy from online. Besides, I would love old prints of albums for bolt thrower shirts instead of paying $150-$300 for bootlegs or old tour shirts.
You are describing the exact opposite of what i said. I don't like reprints. Either you bought the original when it was released or you pay the price now.
And as i said besides reprints they don't have any material to make a shirt for. Their last album was in 2005.
What stereodeth said I guess its not kvlt using the internet to support a band you like so you should go to their shows even if they rarely come to your continent.
im a bit angry about it too...if they would sell their stuff online too...ppl would not have to pay a shitload on money at ebay...or on any other page!!
the real reason is that bolt thrower finances their tours with their merch.... the old stuff wich they stockpiled in the 90's goes for big bucks, they sell some stuff and the tour is booked ! then the modern merch is the gravy on top....
The only reason why this sucks it's because they sell their entire stock in 10 minutes. I get their financial point of view since this play has been quite sucessful for them but this just feeds the bootlegers who profit on their decisions...Same for reprints...so I guess they are actually losing money due to their own politics.
I think it wouldnt hurt to sell SOME stuff online and still keep their own merch at shows.
Bolt thrower are not losing ANY money on merchandise, trust me. In fact, even though it is an aspect of the band I'm not fond of ($$$) you have to hand it to them--they have created a demand. Can you think of any other DEATH metal band where people get to their shows hours early to start a makeshift line for the merch table that hasn't even SET UP yet?? And when the merch table opens it forms a line OUT OF THE CLUB AND DOWN THE FUCKING STREET and EVERYTHING sells out??? (witnessed that shit first hand at Chaos in Tejas in Austin). Merch is BIG business and BT has got a handle on it. Think about it. NO online orders to look after, no shipping bullshit, no licensing agreements, no warehouse bills or employees to pay. Just one lady who has been with them for years in charge of merch at shows and shit SELLS OUT at a PREMIUM every fucking time. If I were them I would STOP making so much new shit (Reusing old art and suchlike). But they haven't hit the saturation point yet it looks like, so yeah. BT knows how to play the merch game. again, not a big fan of it, but I understand it. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Like I said, I understand their merchandise strategy. I think it's safe to say that almost everyone that stays hours in those makeshift lines know pretty much what they're about to get. Seen a lot of them planing on burning 3 digits on merch. No one stands in that line just to get a Small Bolt Thrower patch so, chances are, if they want something like that, they go bootleg instead. Thats money to the bootleggers pocket instead of BT's. So, virtually, they're losing money since theres a Shit ton of quality BT back and small patches circuling around and the main reason is because they only sell Live.
I'm not aware BT even HAS an official patch available at live shows. You know why--NO PROFIT MARGIN. why sell a patch for $5 that you have to pay someone else to make when you can just make your own shirts and sell at 100% profit (and for much much more I might add). Also, have you tried to SELL a Bolt Thrower patch online? Fucking lawyers will shoot you a cease and desist order so fast it will make your head swim. It's not easy to get a bolt thrower patch, original, bootleg or otherwise. No one, and I mean NO ONE is making good money off of BT merch besides BT. Again, those boots you talk of shoot up demand (look at this thread as an example) and thus shoots up profits. NO, Bolt Thrower LOVES the merch situation just the way it is..if they didn't they would change it immediately. The money BT might be losing from no online sales is far outweighed by the money they make by NOT having online sales. Period. It sucks, yes. Also, I'm sure if you ask someone in BT, they will tell you "We're not in it for the money!" LOL. I mean, I am sure they aren't totally in it for the money, but who wouldn't like to be in charge of their own merchandise situation? No online sales are a benefit to the band, not a detriment.
They sold patches at somepoint. Saw them a few years ago in HF and, like we said, a friend of mine went to the typical waiting line for that Mythical unicorn land that is the BT merchandise booth. He told me everyone was mostly spending way more than your typical $20 for a t-shirt deal. He bought a few t-shirts and a big Backpatch. I wouldnt be surprised if they would be selling bootlegs themselves but yeah, they used to do it at least.
I don't know if they're making good money or not. What I know is, their bootlegs flies in a matter of hours and I see a shit ton of them being sold online on FB pages and Forums and there's a lot of variety. Not sure about that lawyer shit, never came across it, never knew anyone who did, so either we are lucky or you seem to be highly exagerating.
EVERYONE I know in the USA gets hit with that if you try to sell online--ask Voice of the Soul. Hell, ask Alex "China Patch" Headbanger--you don't think that asshole wouldn't be making Bolt Thrower patches hand over fist if he couldn't be making a risk-free profit? Also, I would love to see that official Bolt Thrower Back Patch your friend got. And I'm not being snarky or mean or anything like that my friend, I am just a big BT fan and have never heard of such a thing--and I have never seen or heard of one--a recent BT backpatch sold at shows--I would love to see that! post a link or a pic here, could ya please? And I if you want to see some BT lawyer shit? All you have to do is 1. Bootleg some BT merch. and 2. set up an online shop and try to SELL said BT merch. You WILL hear from a BT lawyer, no exaggeration there my friend. At least that's how it goes here in the States. Especially Ebay--check that out. Just search for BOLT THROWER PATCH. Not a single Bolt Thrower patch..on EBAY. Bootleg or otherwise. I wonder why that is? If you check my profile you can see I myself have a couple of bootleg BT patches I got off ebay--and they were listed as DEATH METAL PATCH--no "Bolt Thrower" anywhere at all on the auction. Why? BT's LAWYERS. Try it out. Post some Bootleg merch on Ebay. Maybe BT has gotten soft lately, I don't know. But it has happened before in the past, with alarming regularity. No exaggeration.
And I should say, this is all coming from a HUGE Bolt Thrower fan. My favorite Death Metal band of all time, hands down. I know they are good cats personally so none of this is meant to be rude or accusatory. The BT guys (and gal) are all smart people, and like I said, I don't think they would neglect online merch if they didn't have a good reason. The reasons I have suggested are just SPECULATION. But one thing I am not speculating on or exaggerating is the Lawyer thing. And, again, i'm not banging on BT for that, that is their prerogative, i'm just throwing that out there. It is what it is. And, it seems to me, it sure has driven up the market :/
Well I dont live in the USA so I wouldnt know how it is. And you sounded a little bit snarky but yeah, I'll still take a picture when I meet the guy, it's a basic rectangular woven with the BT logo. We ended up joking that the dudes were buying Boots for $3 and selling it for at least twice as much and after a while we were kind of scared because that may actually be the case...would the hilarious if it was.
If you take your time to read my comment you will find "I see a shit ton of them being sold online on FB pages and Forums and there's a lot of variety.". Of course no smart guy sells them on eBay (even though you eventually bump into them oftenly). I've sold a couple of them myself, had no problem whatsoever.
No, no, not being snarky at all. (and I took the time to read all of your post BTW--maybe I am just out of the loop, but I am not aware of any forums or FB pages where "Shit ton"s of BT merch are sold with a lot of "Variety". Maybe our definitions of "variety" are different--and I lurk most if not all of the patch forums on Fb and places like Nuclear War Now). If I came off rude, I apologize. I just know from years of collecting BT stuff that it is not easy to get their patches. Official, bootleg or otherwise. It would be nice if that changed, and maybe it is eh? It's nice talking about it. And I'm excited to hunt down another BT patch I haven't heard of before ;) Cheers to you my friend.
HERES THE DEAL WITH BT. they do not own the rights to their name/logo/artwork etc.... its all owned/created by GAMEWORKS ...they would have to pay a license fee to sell their own stuff online..and gameworks will profit the most....not BT. the lawyers are working for gameworks interest ..the are not lawyers for B.T. NOT sure how the touring merch is handled, maybe they have a deal with GW to sell on tour for all the profit?
(CEASE AND DESIST LETTERS CLAIM their doing it on bt's behalf. which is stupid since they dont own any rights to their merch.) ...pretty sure some lawfirm saw $$ and convinced gameworks to pursue at any cost...haha i have received 3-4 letters over the years...asking me to forfit my inventory and all profits made to them ...lol yeah right! just lawyer scare tactics . oh and once they find you ...they will have trolls TROLL YOU , in forums, email, fb, hahahahaha looking for that elusive bt merch.
That makes sense (WHERE the lawyers are coming from not the fact that lawyers are involved). I know that re-issue for "Realm of Chaos" came with new artwork because Gameworks refused to give permission to use the artwork (or asked for too much), but I didn't know they owned the LOGO too. haha. man. So the lawyers are coming from Gameworks direction and not BT....that makes sense. thanks or chiming in man. I knew the BT guys were good cats, a fellow TSSer wrote me to say they give to charities and such too.
GW-its there logo..lol BT borrowed it? HA........i dont know the extent of bt's role in all this ..they sholud just re-spell the name differnt BOat throwA lol
another contributing factor to the general annoyance expressed here, is that most of the people who are there to line up buy 3 of every fucking shirt!!
Ive seen a few folk on here upload about 50 BT shirts at once being like "yeeh i just saw bolt thrower on their last tour" - noone else can buy a shirt and yer free to crank the price up to whatever you can and sell them online to folk who'll probably never see BT live.
It's a bit rediculous. When bolt thrower played in California , their shirts were $10. People were buying stacks of them and literally taking photos pfnthe shirts to put on eBay.
Apparently some just go to see bolt thrower for a stupid shirt.
the only point i have being a merch seller myself is that the band has no hold on the ammounts being sold to one person, on the 2010 tour when i was at the NDF with Asphyx i saw a greek guy litterally BUY ALL THE SHIRTS (900 euro +), the merch people let him. lots of dissapointed fans and such, 2 days later they are on ebay for 45 euros each, he sold them all ! and i've heard of even more of these stories going round, but that one i saw myself.... BT needs to put a 2 or 3 shirt maximum on their sales per design. just to ensure that everyone gets what they wanted. or do like me... SEND THEM AN EMAIL before they hit your town and tell them you want a merch pack put aside for you (i did that on the antwerp show a couple of years ago), they'll hold one of each design in your size and you pick up your package at the stand when the heat dies down... i got mine 4 hours after being completely sold out....
All the shirts?? How come nobody strangled this guy in the mob? You're absolutely right, everyone deserves to get what they wanted. I thought of myself, even if I don't buy a certain shirt I'm happy to see Bolt Thrower but I got everything I wanted. Great guy humus from this site picked one shirt for me in Hasselt that I didn't get in Vienna. Merch girl packed me a wrong shirt there and I'm glad she did haha
They do it to inflate the demand and create hype. I think it’s a dick move; for one thing, theyve never played within 1000 miles of me and their modern shirt designs are fucking awful anyway. You couldn’t pay me $30 to take one of those stupid Ed Hardy looking shirts theyre printing recently. I just took the For Victory art, blurred the borders in photoshop and had a DTG print place put it on a t shirt for me, problem solved. Looks just like the original.
674,236 items in the gallery, 910,659 comments, and 499 items have changed hands in the last month.
Guess this TShirt!
Can you guess which metal TShirt this is from? Click here for all previous tshirt guesses
100%
Phantastic album! Watch Out for my 1984 Omen Shirt (upload next weeks)
That Mystic Styles patch is hard as fuck
Beautiful! 🤘🏻
sick
Thank you, friend.
yes the link is https://buysupermerch.com/products/sarcofago-inri-enamel-pin
One of the first AP shirts I bought back then, still love the colors!
A thing of beauty… wow. I wish I was a rich man!
What do you want for that dark angel patch???
Where u get.the hirax logo?
fantastic
Thanks.
(34448)
Stathis on
Why should they? They have plenty of merch at their lives which sells out in minutes. Besides, they haven't released anything new for almost a decade. So make a shirt of what? old albums? that would be lame. I wouldn't like to see reprints of warmaster or 4th crusade even if they were official.
MasterDeath on
+1
Well said.
headbangingmadness on
That's my point exactly. My friend saw bolt thrower once when they came to Austin, tx and he waited in front of the venue an hour before and their was still a line inside. He got an 10 minutes after the doors opened and they ALREADY sold out. You wouldn't have that problem if you could buy mercy from online. Besides, I would love old prints of albums for bolt thrower shirts instead of paying $150-$300 for bootlegs or old tour shirts.
Stathis on
You are describing the exact opposite of what i said. I don't like reprints. Either you bought the original when it was released or you pay the price now.
And as i said besides reprints they don't have any material to make a shirt for. Their last album was in 2005.
ThrashLikeIts86 on
Practically every other band sells shirts with old album covers on them though.
deadlock on
"Either you bought the original when it was released or you pay the price now." Why would you like that though? That just sounds annoying and costly.
Symbolic692 on
What stereodeth said I guess its not kvlt using the internet to support a band you like so you should go to their shows even if they rarely come to your continent.
meaningless
im a bit angry about it too...if they would sell their stuff online too...ppl would not have to pay a shitload on money at ebay...or on any other page!!
DevilzForce on
the real reason is that bolt thrower finances their tours with their merch.... the old stuff wich they stockpiled in the 90's goes for big bucks, they sell some stuff and the tour is booked ! then the modern merch is the gravy on top....
true story
RavenEffect on
The only reason why this sucks it's because they sell their entire stock in 10 minutes. I get their financial point of view since this play has been quite sucessful for them but this just feeds the bootlegers who profit on their decisions...Same for reprints...so I guess they are actually losing money due to their own politics.
I think it wouldnt hurt to sell SOME stuff online and still keep their own merch at shows.
odder7 on
Bolt thrower are not losing ANY money on merchandise, trust me. In fact, even though it is an aspect of the band I'm not fond of ($$$) you have to hand it to them--they have created a demand. Can you think of any other DEATH metal band where people get to their shows hours early to start a makeshift line for the merch table that hasn't even SET UP yet?? And when the merch table opens it forms a line OUT OF THE CLUB AND DOWN THE FUCKING STREET and EVERYTHING sells out??? (witnessed that shit first hand at Chaos in Tejas in Austin). Merch is BIG business and BT has got a handle on it. Think about it. NO online orders to look after, no shipping bullshit, no licensing agreements, no warehouse bills or employees to pay. Just one lady who has been with them for years in charge of merch at shows and shit SELLS OUT at a PREMIUM every fucking time. If I were them I would STOP making so much new shit (Reusing old art and suchlike). But they haven't hit the saturation point yet it looks like, so yeah. BT knows how to play the merch game. again, not a big fan of it, but I understand it. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
RavenEffect on
Like I said, I understand their merchandise strategy. I think it's safe to say that almost everyone that stays hours in those makeshift lines know pretty much what they're about to get. Seen a lot of them planing on burning 3 digits on merch. No one stands in that line just to get a Small Bolt Thrower patch so, chances are, if they want something like that, they go bootleg instead. Thats money to the bootleggers pocket instead of BT's. So, virtually, they're losing money since theres a Shit ton of quality BT back and small patches circuling around and the main reason is because they only sell Live.
odder7 on
I'm not aware BT even HAS an official patch available at live shows. You know why--NO PROFIT MARGIN. why sell a patch for $5 that you have to pay someone else to make when you can just make your own shirts and sell at 100% profit (and for much much more I might add). Also, have you tried to SELL a Bolt Thrower patch online? Fucking lawyers will shoot you a cease and desist order so fast it will make your head swim. It's not easy to get a bolt thrower patch, original, bootleg or otherwise. No one, and I mean NO ONE is making good money off of BT merch besides BT. Again, those boots you talk of shoot up demand (look at this thread as an example) and thus shoots up profits. NO, Bolt Thrower LOVES the merch situation just the way it is..if they didn't they would change it immediately. The money BT might be losing from no online sales is far outweighed by the money they make by NOT having online sales. Period. It sucks, yes. Also, I'm sure if you ask someone in BT, they will tell you "We're not in it for the money!" LOL. I mean, I am sure they aren't totally in it for the money, but who wouldn't like to be in charge of their own merchandise situation? No online sales are a benefit to the band, not a detriment.
RavenEffect on
They sold patches at somepoint. Saw them a few years ago in HF and, like we said, a friend of mine went to the typical waiting line for that Mythical unicorn land that is the BT merchandise booth. He told me everyone was mostly spending way more than your typical $20 for a t-shirt deal. He bought a few t-shirts and a big Backpatch. I wouldnt be surprised if they would be selling bootlegs themselves but yeah, they used to do it at least.
I don't know if they're making good money or not. What I know is, their bootlegs flies in a matter of hours and I see a shit ton of them being sold online on FB pages and Forums and there's a lot of variety. Not sure about that lawyer shit, never came across it, never knew anyone who did, so either we are lucky or you seem to be highly exagerating.
odder7 on
EVERYONE I know in the USA gets hit with that if you try to sell online--ask Voice of the Soul. Hell, ask Alex "China Patch" Headbanger--you don't think that asshole wouldn't be making Bolt Thrower patches hand over fist if he couldn't be making a risk-free profit? Also, I would love to see that official Bolt Thrower Back Patch your friend got. And I'm not being snarky or mean or anything like that my friend, I am just a big BT fan and have never heard of such a thing--and I have never seen or heard of one--a recent BT backpatch sold at shows--I would love to see that! post a link or a pic here, could ya please? And I if you want to see some BT lawyer shit? All you have to do is 1. Bootleg some BT merch. and 2. set up an online shop and try to SELL said BT merch. You WILL hear from a BT lawyer, no exaggeration there my friend. At least that's how it goes here in the States. Especially Ebay--check that out. Just search for BOLT THROWER PATCH. Not a single Bolt Thrower patch..on EBAY. Bootleg or otherwise. I wonder why that is? If you check my profile you can see I myself have a couple of bootleg BT patches I got off ebay--and they were listed as DEATH METAL PATCH--no "Bolt Thrower" anywhere at all on the auction. Why? BT's LAWYERS. Try it out. Post some Bootleg merch on Ebay. Maybe BT has gotten soft lately, I don't know. But it has happened before in the past, with alarming regularity. No exaggeration.
odder7 on
And I should say, this is all coming from a HUGE Bolt Thrower fan. My favorite Death Metal band of all time, hands down. I know they are good cats personally so none of this is meant to be rude or accusatory. The BT guys (and gal) are all smart people, and like I said, I don't think they would neglect online merch if they didn't have a good reason. The reasons I have suggested are just SPECULATION. But one thing I am not speculating on or exaggerating is the Lawyer thing. And, again, i'm not banging on BT for that, that is their prerogative, i'm just throwing that out there. It is what it is. And, it seems to me, it sure has driven up the market :/
RavenEffect on
Well I dont live in the USA so I wouldnt know how it is. And you sounded a little bit snarky but yeah, I'll still take a picture when I meet the guy, it's a basic rectangular woven with the BT logo. We ended up joking that the dudes were buying Boots for $3 and selling it for at least twice as much and after a while we were kind of scared because that may actually be the case...would the hilarious if it was.
If you take your time to read my comment you will find "I see a shit ton of them being sold online on FB pages and Forums and there's a lot of variety.". Of course no smart guy sells them on eBay (even though you eventually bump into them oftenly). I've sold a couple of them myself, had no problem whatsoever.
odder7 on
No, no, not being snarky at all. (and I took the time to read all of your post BTW--maybe I am just out of the loop, but I am not aware of any forums or FB pages where "Shit ton"s of BT merch are sold with a lot of "Variety". Maybe our definitions of "variety" are different--and I lurk most if not all of the patch forums on Fb and places like Nuclear War Now). If I came off rude, I apologize. I just know from years of collecting BT stuff that it is not easy to get their patches. Official, bootleg or otherwise. It would be nice if that changed, and maybe it is eh? It's nice talking about it. And I'm excited to hunt down another BT patch I haven't heard of before ;) Cheers to you my friend.
slant on
HERES THE DEAL WITH BT. they do not own the rights to their name/logo/artwork etc.... its all owned/created by GAMEWORKS ...they would have to pay a license fee to sell their own stuff online..and gameworks will profit the most....not BT. the lawyers are working for gameworks interest ..the are not lawyers for B.T. NOT sure how the touring merch is handled, maybe they have a deal with GW to sell on tour for all the profit?
(CEASE AND DESIST LETTERS CLAIM their doing it on bt's behalf. which is stupid since they dont own any rights to their merch.) ...pretty sure some lawfirm saw $$ and convinced gameworks to pursue at any cost...haha i have received 3-4 letters over the years...asking me to forfit my inventory and all profits made to them ...lol yeah right! just lawyer scare tactics . oh and once they find you ...they will have trolls TROLL YOU , in forums, email, fb, hahahahaha looking for that elusive bt merch.
odder7 on
That makes sense (WHERE the lawyers are coming from not the fact that lawyers are involved). I know that re-issue for "Realm of Chaos" came with new artwork because Gameworks refused to give permission to use the artwork (or asked for too much), but I didn't know they owned the LOGO too. haha. man. So the lawyers are coming from Gameworks direction and not BT....that makes sense. thanks or chiming in man. I knew the BT guys were good cats, a fellow TSSer wrote me to say they give to charities and such too.
slant on
GW-its there logo..lol BT borrowed it? HA........i dont know the extent of bt's role in all this ..they sholud just re-spell the name differnt BOat throwA lol
deadlock on
Them not owning their logo doesn't sound right for one thing. Do you have any confirmation for this, or is it just your theory?
slant on
bolt thrower is a trademark of games works...and yes this is stated in my cease n desist letter i received frm GW lawyers
deadlock on
I don't suppose you can post this letter, omitting any personal details from it of course.
stenchcore massive on
another contributing factor to the general annoyance expressed here, is that most of the people who are there to line up buy 3 of every fucking shirt!!
Ive seen a few folk on here upload about 50 BT shirts at once being like "yeeh i just saw bolt thrower on their last tour" - noone else can buy a shirt and yer free to crank the price up to whatever you can and sell them online to folk who'll probably never see BT live.
OSDMNICHOLAS on
It's a bit rediculous. When bolt thrower played in California , their shirts were $10. People were buying stacks of them and literally taking photos pfnthe shirts to put on eBay.
Apparently some just go to see bolt thrower for a stupid shirt.
DevilzForce on
the only point i have being a merch seller myself is that the band has no hold on the ammounts being sold to one person, on the 2010 tour when i was at the NDF with Asphyx i saw a greek guy litterally BUY ALL THE SHIRTS (900 euro +), the merch people let him. lots of dissapointed fans and such, 2 days later they are on ebay for 45 euros each, he sold them all ! and i've heard of even more of these stories going round, but that one i saw myself.... BT needs to put a 2 or 3 shirt maximum on their sales per design. just to ensure that everyone gets what they wanted. or do like me... SEND THEM AN EMAIL before they hit your town and tell them you want a merch pack put aside for you (i did that on the antwerp show a couple of years ago), they'll hold one of each design in your size and you pick up your package at the stand when the heat dies down... i got mine 4 hours after being completely sold out....
MasterDeath on
All the shirts?? How come nobody strangled this guy in the mob? You're absolutely right, everyone deserves to get what they wanted. I thought of myself, even if I don't buy a certain shirt I'm happy to see Bolt Thrower but I got everything I wanted. Great guy humus from this site picked one shirt for me in Hasselt that I didn't get in Vienna. Merch girl packed me a wrong shirt there and I'm glad she did haha
DeathInFire on
fuck that guy. fuck him hard.
Wrathchylde666 on
Reading this thread makes me really glad Im a casual fan of this band LOL
nameless_rites on
Yeah i dont see the big deal about bolt thrower, the last time they had a good album I was a kid playing in the sandbox with my GI Joes...
emperialmassacre
Note to self: bootleg some BT shirts.
nameless_rites on
They do it to inflate the demand and create hype. I think it’s a dick move; for one thing, theyve never played within 1000 miles of me and their modern shirt designs are fucking awful anyway. You couldn’t pay me $30 to take one of those stupid Ed Hardy looking shirts theyre printing recently. I just took the For Victory art, blurred the borders in photoshop and had a DTG print place put it on a t shirt for me, problem solved. Looks just like the original.