Defunkd

[CRAZYBUBBA]

Alright, I'm a vintage wearer and buyer for the aesthetics, so I'm not familiar with t-shirt printing techniques, although the defunkd guide is excellent.

I've seen references across this board to dishonest tee sellers who buy blanks and print on them for resale. Could anyone start a list to stop people like me from supporting people who print modern repros? It would be much appreciated.

[StivTaters]

Here's a few to get the ball rolling:
Tinalove1991 (all fakes)
Academyclothiers (most if not all)
Rainbowgasoline (some)

[hermosavtg]

Stiv, I second your inclusion of Tinalove1991. He is a notorious repro seller here in Southern California (besides running a regular rag warehouse wholesale operation as the main business). He makes repros of punk/concert t-shirts, and denim jackets. The tag is commonly branded MAHAGAMAGE and the screen prints are usually of poor quality. The denim jackets are often sold under the same brand, or as "Denim King."

I have however bought a couple items from Academy Clothiers, both authentic. And besides the inflated shipping price, a good experience. However buyer's should beware of sellers with return policies that read like theirs:

We accept returns for store credit only. There will be a 15% restocking fee. Buyer is responsible for shipping the goods being returned. The goods must be returned in the same condition as the original purchase.

[CRAZYBUBBA]

Mikhael Jackson?

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-T-SHIRT-M-M ... 2558f3dd96" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[StivTaters]

Hi Hermosa! Yeah, Tinalove and Mahagamage are the worst. Just blatant fakes. Be careful with academyclothiers though!

[jimmyj]

The rumor has always been that Academy Clothiers are the boys from Tiny Pony. Shortly after TP vanished the AC account started up but it was just vintage tees and I can't remember the name they originally operated under. The majority of their stock was very reminiscent of TPs stock. A few other sellers told me it was the account of one of the TPs girlfriends. It's all hearsay but I have repeatedly seen the bogus Humpty shirt in their stock (that was the screen printed fake we tested) I stayed clear of their listings. That was a shirt that TP had in their rotation for years - and they are who I purchased it from.

Again, it's all rumors...so review their stock, make a purchase, make up your own mind. It's interesting to hear Hermosa's comments after a purchase. I've never purchased from them. If anyone else has any dealings with AC let us know.

If it is TP I would assume they also have a boatload of originals still. When TP attempted a website only biz (from tinypony.com) it appeared as though everything they had posted was the real deal - they got quite a bit of negative feedback in a few t-shirt related blogs, and stood by the legitimacy of their website operation.

the thread is here:

http://tcritic.com/archives/real-vintag ... tiny-pony/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I actually believed them at that point, but it was too little too late. Plus they still adamantly denied the allegations about the eBay bootlegging.

Whatever is going on in certain parts of Cali is disturbing. Greed is getting the better of certain individuals in the biz. It will always be an issue though, given the scarcity of this inventory. The lure of producing one's own inventory will always be tempting.

[StivTaters]

Thought i would share these pics so you can compare using apples to...not so apples.
The first pic is my shirt and is an original from 1987.
The second one is a Rainbowgasoline shirt printed on a 80s deadstock size small screen stars shirt.
The third and fourth pics are Academyclothiers.

I'll say this: At least rainbow printed his on a screen stars shirt...it's like academy isn't even trying anymore.

[jimmyj]

No doubt there's a difference, lots of details lost for sure. The bottom two look hazy compared to the top. If you zone on on the "tm" under the X - the bottom two are lessor quality...quality that would be lost in a print generated by graphic designers from a t-shirt.

But the bottom one the colors are way off too...Anthrax is supposed to be yellow, it's orange.

[lord ched]

Question: could this be vintage stock from a vintage bootlegger and not their own homemade boots?

[hermosavtg]

The rainbow gasoline shirt is a blatant sham counterfeit. Such poor quality print on a dead stock screenstars tee? You could at least try to make it look old! http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-ANTHRAX-198 ... 439dcd728d

The Acadameyclothiers shirt is obviously something he or she picked up second hand. Looks like a late 1990's-early 2000's repro that would have been sold at a flea market etc (Made in Honduras, I.E. post NAFTA). I doubt its something the seller cooked up themselves. I think this is what Lord Ched was getting at.
http://cgi.ebay.com/vintage-1987-ANTHRA ... 1e5a865f4e

[Frank]

A major tip-off for me is if the print is missing a copyright date. I also expect to see real distressing, cracking, and peeling in the print. That seems pretty tough to replicate.

Only poseurs wear reprints and poseurs don't know any better, hence the positive feedback.

The only 'thrax shirt I would wear would be a "Fistful of Metal"- era shirt anyway. Neil Turbin was the superior vocalist.

[Frank]

oh Stormcrow, you cut up:
"ORIGINAL! THIS IS NOT A RAINBOWGASOLINE OR ACADEMYCLOTHIERS MODERN DAY FAKE PRINTED ON A VINTAGE BLANK T-SHIRT! UNLIKE THOSE SELLERS, I DON'T PULL THAT B.S. AND AM NOT OUT TO SCAM YOU. THIS IS AN ORIGINAL PURCHASED AT A CONCERT ON THEIR 1987 AMONG THE LIVING WORLD TOUR PHASE 2! Broken in, soft, thin and very faded with no stains. One tiny pinhole just below the front print that is shown in the last picture. CHECK OUT MY STORE FOR HUNDREDS MORE VINTAGE TOUR TEES!!! Thx!"

[StivTaters]

oh Stormcrow, you cut up

Thank you. I'll be here all week.

[jimmyj]

Don't forget to tip your waitress.

[Johnny65]

Only poseurs wear reprints and poseurs don't know any better, hence the positive feedback.

So true!

[jimmyj]

I also just noticed that the ground area around the skulls, is red in the original - the fakes there's no color - it's just black. As we've mentioned in some of our guides...the counterfeiters just get lazy - and/or want to save money. That color would have meant an extra screen and stage in the process, make it more time consuming and expensive.

[StivTaters]

Well, i was reported to ebay for that anthrax listing and it was removed. haha. Apparently rainbow and academy are the shy sensitive type of scammers and don't want their buyers to know.

[Frank]

classic!

[VP's]

Hi. I know for certain that Tiny Pony is now going under the name Academy. How do I know? Well, 5 years ago I sold TP a "Westen" gun tee. It was very distinct and said "My Westen beats your 4 Aces." Had slight discoloration and a couple of noticable stains. Sold it to TP back in 2005 for $60. Well, last year this SAME tee showed up on Academy's site as a BIN. I am not sure if it is still there or if it sold. Also, my buddy sold a 1984 MTV shirt to him back in 2006 and I had lost out bidding to TP. Well, the SAME MTV tee was on his site last year and I bought it. So that proves 100% that Academy is TINY PONY! I did my detective work.
I have bought a few legit tees from Academy, including a 1984 Thriller Michael Jackson tee, a Mean Joe Green Steelers Coke tee, and a fishy Paul McCartney tee. I think he screen printed that one. It was super fishy.
Down with the bootleggers and scammers!

[Frank]

I think you've cracked the case!

[jimmyj]

Yup, I studied TPs purchases for quite some time and just before their fall I noticed they purchased a RUN DMC/Beasties Together Forever t-shirt for $400 through their selling account. For me it was the nail in the coffin for believing the stories about their printing operation. I'm sure it was planned the mint shirt would be used to create bootlegs and that $400 would come back many times over. However their operation crumbled and I don't think it ever went in to mass production.

Low and behold -

http://cgi.ebay.com/vintage-1980s-RUN-D ... 1e5962cc4e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I would even wager that's the exact one I saw them buy years ago. Rainbow has one up but it looks legit and isn't a small mint screen stars. It's also a pretty tough shirt to duplicate given it's a photo and probably has way too many intricate color separations to pull off convincingly.

Good ol' TP. I never understand guys like them. They put so much hard work in to ripping people off. Use your powers for good, not evil, or one day...

[Frank]

I think you're a bit generous on that model's height. He's probably more towards the Ronnie James Dio end of the spectrum.

[hermosavtg]

Is that the tinypony model? I'm confused!

Anyway, I spotted this fine dandy at the flea market last Sunday. Looked good at first but something was fishy. The shirt had a faded tag, but everything else was perfect, no stains, etc. The print was pristine. I have a hard time trusting a vintage t-shirt (especially a HARLEY t-shirt) with nearly no signs of age. Something just felt off. Then the seller went down from his asking price of $100 down to $50 when i offered $40... fishy! I asked around and apparently the seller had been selling identical tee's for a while, definitely a fake:

[Frank]

Yeah, Ronnie James Emo up there was TP's model ahhahahaha

[jimmyj]

I just had someone post this on my YouTube eBay video - I'm betting it's retaliation from one of the bootleggers - their YouTube account was registered today.

"rip off. he has these designs printed. notice the stack of shirts that is set down that all of them are the same? And none of them look worn at all. several of these design he has many of. these are not shirts off someones back, they are out of the printshop. ebay scam artist of the year!"