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Forums > TShirt Talk

When is vintage actually vintage

DeathByMetalAus...
Mon, 25/04/2016 - 03:00

While looking at t-shirt's and ridiculous prices most people want to charge, I came across t-shirt's from the 1980's right up to and including the current times of 2010. One thing that really pisses me off if some douche listing a t-shirt from like the mid 2000's claiming it to be a vintage metal shirt and adding an extra 50%+ on top of what the t-shirt is really worth.
This got me thinking, when does a vintage t-shirt actually become a vintage t-shirt?

I personally would class a t-shirt pre 1995 as a vintage shirt when it comes to METAL t-shirts..


Nater90's picture

Had a discussion about this on a dudes shirt...Can't remember who or what though.

Comes down to your age and the years prior, I was born in 1990, So anything before that is vintage to me, Anything after is still present.

Der Todesking's picture

Puh, that is really hard to tell... To me, vintage is before 1990 (too).

Blüdrayne's picture

Vintage is really a marketing label. If you're happy with the price and product, buy it.

Stronthor's picture

Only post-2005 neo-vintage bootlegs are real.

But in all seriousness, I agree with Blüdrayne... Vintage is quite a hollow term.

Hárbarðr's picture

+ 1!!!
Plus, if their prices are indeed too high compared to the rest, they will eventually lower them in order to sell, it is just how the market works, nothing wrong or objectable about it.

Der Todesking's picture

Totally true!

Vollhonk's picture

That's the point!

bad_american1992's picture

On eBay it seems that anything that's out of production can qualify as vintage.

Heinz's picture

Depends on the band too; like for instance a bunch of the 2nd wave BM bands came out with their very first records and merch in the early 90s, some maybe in the late 80s. I'd still call Mayhem or Dissection from the mid 90s vintage, especially tour merch. Death metal goes back into the 80s obviously.

Misfits666's picture

When it comes to band shirts I say vintage would be around the time the band first started. if i had an original pressing Metallica "Metal Up Your Ass" shirt before Kill 'em All was released then i would call that vintage. If its a newer band and lets say they only printed 100 of a specific shirt when they first started, before they got big, I would call it vintage. To me it just depends on how old the merch is corresponding with the bands start.

MorticiA's picture

This I agree with. 'Kinda hard to find vintage merch dating back to the 80s if the band began in the 90s!

So yea, I think vintage is essentially very early in the bands/it's career and has aged somewhat of 20-30 years.

THMManiac's picture

I would say anything older than 20 years is vintage. 15 is pushing it. 10 Is just not acceptable.

CAR's picture

I tend to agree with this.

the conjuror's picture

I too concur.......

Rotten's picture

This whole vintage bullshit is just a way of raping more money out of people - especially with patches right now. What people seem to forget is that patches and shirts were all made in mass back in the day. Sure, some may become harder to come by because survival rate for products that were heavily used back then will be harder to locate now but they are out there in the thousands if not more. So what happens in a few years when more recent patches that were booted and limited to minute numbers? Will they exceed patch prices made 20+ years ago? I've always said that something is worth what some idiot is willing to pay of it. What irks me is that once one sells for a stupid amount of money, others believe their merch is now worth the same. The entire market is fucking retarted. When did metal become a way of extortion?

the conjuror's picture

All markets are fucking retarded.:-)

the conjuror's picture

This is a good question, and there's been some good answers.
Vintage implies age. Yet out of print items not particularly old can still create a bloated price tag, as somebody mentioned with reference to ebay. And this all depends on how desperate the consumer is for the item.

EQA's picture

To me it's not just about vintage but also original, rare, official, and out of print. Some of these statuses are what can add an incredible amount of monetary value to a shirt. If you don't agree to the value being there than you just don't buy I guess.

Thane's picture

I was told vintage is anything older than 10 years, but I've never thought that felt right. I'd say more like 20+ years

Thane's picture

Actual definitions are unhelpful, but the highest rated one on urban dictionary says 20+ years

oldmate's picture

For me Vintage is like club rego. 25 years and its vintage. The thing is as you get older vintage seems closer. but for some dude who is 24 years old... a tshirt thats 25 is old is vintage as fuck.

its like when I see a fucking VN on club rego... I am like how the fuck... me and my mates used to cruse in one not that long ago haha!!

steelbath's picture

The word vintage has NOTHING to do with how old something is. A vintage item can be 1 year old or 40 years old. Vintage pertains to the time at hand.

example: DEATH "Symbolic" album came out in 1995, so anything made in the time period of release is vintage. Even in 1997, or 2001 a 1995 "Symbolic" CD or record is vintage.
Think of wine vintages. Wine grapes are harvested every year to bottle. The grapes harvested in 2001 make the 2001 vintage wine. So when someone says "wow, the 1996 vintage of Martinelli's Red Zin is much better than their 1998 vintage"

In other words. A tour shirt made for a 2002 tour made in 2002 is vintage. The same shirt reprinted 5 years later is not vintage.

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