Essential Selection
Vintage Fantasy Tees Are a Reality
In this section, we highlight the vintage shirts you simply must have in your poly-cotton arsenal. Some are hot commodities while others are speculation on a future trend.
Selection: vintage fantasy art t-shirt
Demand: Low – Moderate
Price: $20-$100
Info: The roots of fantasy art can probably be traced back to classroom doodles by bored students with over active imaginations. The other kids poked fun at them, while their parents were drawing conclusions about their drug use. If they were victorious in battling their outer demons, these days, demand is high for these respected artists.
Most fantasy art is extremely detailed and features scantily clad women versus magical creatures. Think Angelina Jolie battling Puff the Magic Dragon, that is, if he were freebasing cocaine instead of just smoking weed. These D&D style prints are geeky cool and will make you the dungeon master of vintage t-shirt collectors.
The art is easy to reckognize and the artist can be determined by their insignia below each shirt.
HOT: Boris Vallejo is the grandfather of fantasy art. He’s basically lent his hand to every form of print media that can make use of it – the covers of video games, magazines, movie posters, etc. Vallejo has a huge fan base of aging Napolean Dynamite types, so most of his art on t-shirts is sought after by those who may otherwise not wear vintage.
BUY LOW: John Pound has created tons of fantasy art that has been featured on fantasy and comic book covers. He’s also done work for Mad Magazine, various skateboard companies, and is the man behind The Garbage Pail Kids. Pound’s shirts are also a lot tougher to find, so if you do come across one, snap it up and stash it away.
Jimmy founded Defunkd in 2004 when he started selling vintage t-shirts online. 20 years of experience later and he hasn't looked back since. Actually, he looks back all the time given he's a sucker for nostalgia. For more, check the history of Defunkd and Jimmy's Expertise.
