Unabandoned Shop

News

Posted by on 15th September 2016, 13:08

In amongst all the excitement of Twentica being unleashed to the world, the launch of the brand new Red Dwarf shop has understandably taken a back seat. But on any other day, this would be a huge deal, so let’s take a closer look. The first impression is that the site is functional but attractive. Nice big pictures and prices of everything on offer on the front page, with sub-indexes divided between “clothing” and “accessories”. It’s a bit of a shame, however, that the pictures are quite low-res, and that there’s no option to zoom in to take a closer look at the items you’re expected to pay good money for. There are details you can make out in last week’s TOS update that you can’t actually see on the shop itself!

As for what’s for sale, we have a choice of nine t-shirts (one long-sleeved, one polo, the others regular), all of which are available in S-XXL and presumably intended to be unisex. There’s also two hoodies, a mug, a bag, a poster, a postcard set, a lanyard, a badge set and a keyring. It’s worth noting that none of these things are actually available yet – you can order them all right now, but they’re all listed as shipping in October 2016. Prices are decent, particularly for the clothing, although the lanyard and keyring seem a bit steep at £8 each, before p&p. I placed a massive order earlier, and the shipping cost seemed very reasonable, but I’ve since seen unconfirmed reports that there’s a minimum shipping cost of £5.60 per order, no matter how small.

On the plus side, while we’ll have to wait to inspect the quality of the finished goods before making a declaration on value for money, the designs are consistently good, with a mixture of subtle and blatant branding to suit every need, and great use of the show’s iconography. A handful of the designs appear to make references to specific episodes and characters from Series XI, and it’s strange to see potential spoilers being put out there in this manner, especially as these are all pre-orders anyway – they could have been held back until the episodes in question have been on TV. Aside from anything else, they don’t know yet how the fans will react to these episodes – what if we end up all hating whatever “Captain Bollocks” means?

The single most intriguing item in terms of episode teasers has to be the postcard set. Six photographs feature: two of them are previously released stills (top left, middle left); two were first glimpsed in yesterday’s SFX (middle right, bottom right); and the other two are completely new (top right, bottom left). Again, the image available on the site is irritatingly small, but we can make one assumption: we know that the first still is from Twentica, the third from Give and Take and the fifth from Krysis, so it would make sense if there’s one from each episode, and that they’re presented in order.

In other news, it really is all go in the world of Red Dwarf on the internet – TOS has been redesigned, including a new banner which indicates that it’s now actually called “TOS” for the first time. The basic chassis of the site appears to be the same, but a new stylesheet has provided a simpler, cleaner, more up-to-date look to the content. Navigation is greatly improved, with big friendly blocks in the sidebar of each page, a much more intuitive nav bar at the top, and a rejigged front page, with thumbnails and lists replacing the old image slider, which makes it a lot easier to find updates that are more than a week old, and indeed to notice new content when they post two things at once. Basically, I approve.

And, it has to be said, UKTV Play’s servers coped very well with this morning’s demand. It took us by surprise by being so damned early – the episode was live just after 9am – but it all seemed to go smoothly from where I’m sitting. I’m not hugely enamoured by the picture quality on offer, and it’s a shame that many people’s first experience of the new series will be in inferior quality to how it will appear on TV, but I can confirm that the version on Sky set-top-boxes is HD, and looks pretty close to broadcast quality to my semi-trained-but-admittedly-quite-sleepy eye. Sky Go, on the other hand, looks dogshit, so don’t watch that.

So, if you have watched Twentica on demand, the place to discuss it is right here, and you can be as candid as you like in the comments. If you haven’t watched it yet, you can read the post itself, but don’t venture in to the comments. It’s worth everyone taking a look at our updated spoiler policy, if you haven’t already.

171 comments on “Unabandoned Shop”

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  • In other news-that’s-suitable-for-everyone-regardless-of-whether-they’ve-watched-the-episode-or-not, the audio from Monday’s BAFTA Q&A is now online.

  • The £5.60 is a bit much for delivery. I’ll wait until the series is over before buying to save on the delivery rather than buy some now and then buy more later as they are released throughout the series.

    I’ve been keeping an eye on the Google Play store and the game isn’t up yet. It was supposed to be out today, wasn’t it?

  • In other news-that’s-suitable-for-everyone-regardless-of-whether-they’ve-watched-the-episode-or-not, the audio from Monday’s BAFTA Q&A is now online.

    Just listened to that, and I’ve got to say that there are a couple of details and references to scenes within that sound – to someone who *has* decided not to watch til next Thursday – a bit spoilery.

  • I’ve since seen unconfirmed reports that there’s a minimum shipping cost of £5.60 per order, no matter how small.

    After thorough investigation, I have compiled a complete list of shipping prices.*
    Postcards, Lanyard, Badges, Krysis keyring – £2.75 p&p each.
    Totebag, all T-shirts – £3 p&p each.
    Hoodies and Poster – £5.60 p&p each.

    *clicked on a few things

  • Combined to be as cheap as possible I think – I bought about 14 things in one go, and only paid a tenner or so for shipping.

  • I’m rather hoping they release a few more posters but I hope I don’t have to pay £5.60 delivery for each one otherwise I might just buy the one.

  • Personally i think the merchandise should have been more timeless, i mean clothing with Red Dwarf XI on it will be out of date by next year, it should just have been the logo IMO

    But hey maybe thats the point, the XII t-shirt will be out by next year ;p

  • I originally questioned the XI branding, but imagine how much cooler it’ll get over time as it becomes more esoteric. Every day I wish I still had my “Red Dwarf VII: Back From The Dead” T-shirt, for example.

    If we’re really lucky after XII they’ll do some classic branded stuff as well.

  • I think the £5 might have been a mistake, it seemed conspicuously mega-cheap.

    £5 is what I paid in 1997 for my black serif logo mug which I treasured until my mum broke it about six months later. The Slow Dazzle merch was very nice wasn’t it. Loved the calendar that had the free Starbug standee, and they also did the best poster there’s ever been.

  • Just had an email. Stock arrives at dispatch warehouse this week. And Ships then shortly.

    Then 3 millions years if you post pod is second class.

  • I wonder what the story is behind Doug’s evident self-appointment as online customer service operative for this shop? It’s extraordinarily strange to see.

    Have people genuinely not got their deliveries yet? That’s insane, the stuff’s already all half out of date!

  • https://twitter.com/Thursoloon/status/793846771487244288
    I’m more interested in why that person thought that Doug, rather than the company actually dealing with the merchandise, was the best place to tweet, to be honest. Doug probably wasn’t aware that there were delivery issues, (and that’s not a criticism, he’s been pretty busy), and would of course want to try and resolve any issues… unfortunately he probably isn’t aware just how widespread the problems are, because his very kind offer to help may open the floodgates.

    I have seen A LOT of complaints about lack of deliveries, but so far I’ve not seen reports of deliveries arriving. :-/

  • I’d recommend those that are waiting for orders email CustomerService@sandbaguk.com – they seem to need to be prompted into action. I’ve been informed that it was the Krysis keyring that was causing the delay, but that they’ll now send the rest of my order out asap. God knows how long it would have taken if I hadn’t have got in touch, which isn’t really the way things should work. Also, I know lots of people who are still waiting for orders that *don’t* include the Krysis keyring.

  • I ordered a t-shirt on behalf of my mum last night. It’s going to make up part of my christmas present. Hopefully there shouldn’t be too much trouble.

  • Unfortunately that’s one of the items they’re waiting for stock on (along with Krysis keyrings and also possible the pin badges) and has been holding up orders.

  • Hoorah my badges and exponoid T shirt have shipped.
    And the new Madness album is 5 in the charts. (2 on vinyl)
    Its a good day to be Jonsmad.

  • My order apparently shipped on October 21st, but then I only got the poster. I don’t have it yet, but considering that it was my Brexit purchase to take advantage of the low pound versus the Canadian dollar, I will give them some time to ship it across an ocean and a continent.

  • Huzzah. All aboard the Nutty Dwarf.

    Driving In My Carbug
    Smeggy Trousers
    The Return Of The Los Palmas VII
    Uncle Frank
    Bed And I’ll Be Back For Breakfast Man
    Yesterday’s Chen
    Embarrassment (Theme From Pete)
    The (Hud)Sun (Ten) And The (Nirvanah C)Rain
    Something About A Cloche
    Please Send Help

  • Voorhese (In the middle of our street)
    The Last Grey Day
    Kinatowowi Are London
    Pac-A-Mac McDonald
    Black And Blue Midget
    Tomorrow’s Dr-emohawk
    La Luna City Seven

    Okay, I’m done.

  • The No Longer Insane shirt is the best Red Dwarf shirt I’ve seen for a long, long time. That Red Dwarf Haynes one is shonky.

  • They’re really nice but they’re going to regret that “XI” branding on non-series-specific items. Within 8 months they’ll be out of date and massively devalued as merch.

  • If they’re charging £40 for a polycotton sweatshirt, they’re not going to give two shits about charging you full price for stuff with the old logo on it.

    Either that or they’ll send stock back to their supplier and have an extra I transferred on to it, which will then come off in the wash. It’ll be like those old carboot sale tshirts that had your favourite band on only for you to wash it and discover it’d been reprinted on top of an a1 tshirt that hadn’t sold.

    On a more serious note, I imagine they don’t order massive amounts in advance so they could just ‘reissue’ the non episode specific ones with XII on the sleeve.

  • I like the No Longer Insane one because of the reference, but out of context it looks like something a 13 year old nu-metal fan would wear.

    Yeah, come to think of it, it is a bit mid 2000’s mosher but I like how not obviously a Red Dwarf t shirt it is. That’s what they should be going for imo.

  • That RD Manual shirt is *still* listed at $5 on the US shop, so maybe it’s not a mistake. Which makes me feel less guilty about deciding to take advantage of the ‘error’. With postage, it came to $9.54, which is about £7.50.
    Having received it this morning, noticed two spelling mistakes on the front. It has ‘scope’ instead of ‘scoop’, and misspells ‘antimatter’ as ‘antimater’.
    I’d suggest that perhaps these mistakes might be why they’re listed cheaper. But they’re still full price on the UK site, aren’t they? Oh well.

  • I’m not going to lie, I’ve bought the mispriced T-shirt as well. I feel a bit guilty, and hypocritical, especially after how strongly I voiced my displeasure at people buying the mispriced albums, but after all the terrible customer experiences I’ve read and the massive markups that have priced me out of the running and made me feel like shit since the shop launched, this doesn’t feel half as unfair. Besides, over the past week-and-a-bit, surely enough have sold for it to be noticed and rectified? I’ve given them a fair headstart, for me to refrain any longer from capitalising on a significant misprice of something I genuinely want and couldn’t afford any other way is pointless self-flagellation.

  • I’m assuming that all the Red Dwarf Haynes shirts are printed wrong, maybe some tactical weathering could rectify the situation. A lot of Haynes rip off shirts are weathered anyway, with the design flaking off, maybe a bit of an all over sand down with particular attention paid to the scope and antimater sections.

    Or they could just sort it out I suppose.

  • My T-shirt arrived.

    They’ve updated the site with a code for a discount on Boxing Day (clue: it is the word SMENG), but still not fixed the $5 error, so either it *is* deliberate or the admins at Sandbag still haven’t done a WIP for December yet.

  • I’d hope it’s not deliberate because it’s incredibly shitty to charge Americans (mostly) £3.50 and Europeans £20.

    I’ve been trying to get in touch with them but the most I’ve gotten is an automated email.

  • You can order it from the US store even if you’re in the UK, though. Cost me around £7.50 with P&P. True, It does feel a bit…dishonest?…to be taking advantage, but if it’s there…

    Oh, unless you’ve already paid full whack from the UK store. That *is* a bit shit, isn’t it?

  • What I mean is, if you’re in the UK or EU, why would you ever think to change your currency to USD?

    It’d be great if Sandbag or whoever would actually respond because for all the people taking advantage of a tshirt for 4 quid, there are probably more paying £20 and getting a tshirt with spelling mistakes on it to boot.

  • if you’re in the UK or EU

    Harsh.

    I’ll always be in the EU at heart, despite what my country says.

    But really I just meant “if you have Euros in your wallet”.

  • Ordered some shirts in the Boxing Day sale, they arrived this morning (also got the XI logo hoodie for Christmas). Very impressed.

    Would’ve liked to get the Haynes Starbug shirt and maybe the Krysis keyring too – any idea when these might be back in stock?

  • I got three RD t-shirts for christmas – the Haynes Bug, the RDXI logo, and most exciting of all, a Jake Bullet t-shirt that my brother found online, because I’ve been moaning about mine going missing for the last twenty years.

  • The new merchandise seems to be being made in very small runs. I can understand that in a stock control sense but it does look a bit amateur when they’re repeatedly running out of stuff after three months. It’s a deeply weird operation – I can’t see why they’ve not focused on a smaller selection of the more populist items, in bigger runs/stocks and at better prices. It almost looks like there’s a made-on-demand element to proceedings.

    I just can’t fathom it – all I wanted earlier in the year was more merch. What we have now isn’t really what I wanted, the obscene prices, overly esoteric designs, and the exclusivity to a slow and P&P-hungry website being smaller issues. Mainly though, I think they’re flying wide of the crucial middleground, particularly regards the high street which is (literally) a shop window to your perceived presence as a ‘hit’ and that they’re deliberately snubbing for some reason. They *need* to get stuff into Forbidden Planet and HMV, they need a bookshop presence again, and they need a decent poster partner to get them into racks. They’re standing too alone when they need to be schmoozing with the big boys like Half Moon Bay and GB Eye. This isn’t as hard a sell as you’d think for a big brand like Dwarf – people do want it, and what GNP will lose in top-end and the faff of kicking it all off they’ll regain in brand strength which will protect the show itself. Like the whole thing with them completely dropping the ball for international broadcast partners for XI – they need to find the confidence to cede more control to others in certain areas. Because really, by acting like a charning but inoffensive little cottage industry, pairing with other small-fry operations, that’s how they will be seen.

    Also, by making the current merchandise so single-mindedly part of the PR campaigns for XI and XII, they’re not hitting the ‘legacy brand’ seam which is their main power source really, and shying from that will weaken them in the longrun. The new series exist because people like the old ones – capitalise on it! This show is not a mini-brand – if they do that tour, just watch how fast those mega-arenas sell out. RD is a big thing and at the moment I think it’s underselling and undermining itself.

    The game’s a good start, and the Lego stuff will DEFINITELY help (hopefully if and when the Lego Ideas kit emerges it’s undergone some significant content changes as the X set and 6-inch Blue Midget remains a bizarrely unpalatable mix – just do a big bloody Starbug!) but Red Dwarf rates higher here than other shows that have much bigger shelf presence in UK shops.

    All GNP need to do is to take on a dedicated brand manager for a spell. They’re missing a trick, and it’s no doubt costing them money and brand integrity. They’ve already got social media strength, a high quality mother product, good ratings, a wide press interest, proactive backers, international presence with untapped potential… but this big bloody bubble of nothing in the middle. And it shouldn’t be on Doug’s plate to worry about some of this stuff.

    Still, very optimistic stubbornness with the pricing on that Christmas jumper there. That’ll fly off the shelves in May.

  • Hmmm. I’m aware that last post sounds a bit know-it-all and hectoring. I just want GNP to do as well as it possibly can and be a big player again.

  • >Also, by making the current merchandise so single-mindedly part of the PR campaigns for XI and XII, they’re not hitting the ‘legacy brand’ seam which is their main power source really, and shying from that will weaken them in the longrun.

    Merch really isn’t my bag, baby. But you raise a good point. The incessant need to brand everything XI (even when it has no specific link to that particular series) seems counter-productive.

  • I don’t mind the XI logo so much (haven’t bought anything it’s on, mind you) but the episode titles around the JMC logo on the Third Technician hoody is just fucking stupid. I was gonna get it in the boxing day sale til I saw them.

  • Actually, I’ll tell you what GNP need – someone to deal with (a) all the horrible bootleg merchandise that’s constantly over Facebook and (b) all the pirated shit on YouTube.

    Today’s bootleg crap du jour – a mug of a wonky cameraphone photograph of the Twat It T-shirt with the neediest seller in the world demanding photographs of people using it as a reply to every single comment.

  • I think they should focus on making official and better quality versions of the good bootleg shirts, the ever present London Jets shirt etc..

    Make those and sell them for a reasonable price and people will be less likely to buy knockoffs on eBay.

    It all comes down to what you said really, tapping in to their vast archive of Dwarf related things and sticking them on shirts. Maybe some reissues on specific dates, “Polymorph aired on this day in 1989 so we’re going to reissue the twat it shirt, available this month” and stuff.

  • Actually, I’ll tell you what GNP need – someone to deal with (a) all the horrible bootleg merchandise that’s constantly over Facebook and (b) all the pirated shit on YouTube.
    Today’s bootleg crap du jour – a mug of a wonky cameraphone photograph of the Twat It T-shirt with the neediest seller in the world demanding photographs of people using it as a reply to every single comment.

    Believe me when I say there are people working on this, and they have been for a while. It’s just that Facebook are absolutely bloody appalling at caring about people’s intellectual property being ripped off.

    It boils my piss every time I have to see it in my own feed, though. Especially when the page in question can block me from commenting, but I still have to see them as adverts.

  • That’s a combination of optimistically heartening and nihilistically depressing news. At its worst, stuff like that really eats at the brand like a parasite. Cheap knockoff London Jets/Mugs Murphy shirts are one thing, but some of that Facebook stuff is humiliatingly dodgy.

    By the way, I only realised after I’d written all that spiel (specifically after reading the print on the neck of my ill-gotten T-shirt) that UKTV look after the shop and merch, not GNP. That explains to me a bit more why it’s such a parochial setup, and why the branding is so nanoscopically focused on the current series – it’s basically a pop-up operation. Hope there are longer term plans/hopes to merchandise on a bigger scale. Before too long I want to walk through the Arndale and get sick to death of the sight of bright red ellipses like it’s twenty years ago. I remain adamant that there’s an ecosystem to support it.

    I still think the most remarkable Dwarf thing to happen in 2016 – a year in which a new series launched, another one filmed, I accidentally initiated two completely seperate shit Digital Spy news articles and Howard Goodall recorded a track specifically as a joke about me – was Doug Naylor sitting down to a shift of fielding customer service enquiries. Strangely indelible mental images of him sat there with a headset on, impatiently waiting for half five.

  • Update: After only 2-3 months they’ve finally corrected the pricing error on the Red Dwarf Haynes shirt that was costing them $20 per shirt bought (well, they probably aren’t owed $25 per shirt but you know what I mean). Anyway, yeah, it’s the correct price now.

    Unfortunately, they still haven’t corrected the two spelling errors on the shirt so now it’s just expensive and wrong rather than wrong but cheap haha… Oh well.

  • Well we can kind of guess what Craig will be wearing in the Series 1 get up stuff.

    As for selling it in the shop… how many are gonna buy this shirt since the Knockoffs have been round for years?

  • how many are gonna buy this shirt since the Knockoffs have been round for years?

    That’s pretty much what my brother’s said. He’s got a perfectly good quality knock-off that’s severely him well for a few years now. And I’m inclined to agree with him that this official one doesn’t seem to look as good for some reason. Don’t ask me what. But a lot of people will still favour buying an unofficial one because it’s cheaper.
    After the casting announcement today, I kind of suspected the new shirt to feature Holly, actually.

  • The fact that people might want to buy a cheap ripoff instead is really not a good reason to decide not to put out an official product, guys.

  • I agree, and I think it’s a nice one to have in the official range.

    My only slight reservation is the series-specific logo on the sleeve (which is more understandable for the shirts that reference specific storylines, but feels especially odd on a throwback design like this one).

  • They posted a few things related to Series 1 style stuff on Twitter roundabout the fourth recording including what appeared to be a VHS cover for highlights to a London Jets season. You can see the pictures in the Gazpacho Soup set report and the set report on here for the fourth recording. So it could just be to tie into that. Perhaps while the main plot is going on we’ll have Lister catching up on his Zero-G and this ties in.

    I’ve ordered the shirt. I have an unofficial one but it is black.

  • If Rimmer is in his Series 1 get up in that picture then you can bet lister probably will be also.

    I doubt Doug will miss a chance to get Lister into some nostalgic wear.

  • The fact that people might want to buy a cheap ripoff instead is really not a good reason to decide not to put out an official product, guys.

    No one suggested it was a *good* reason. :/

    I hope there’s a Mugs Murphy one next.

    Oh yes, that’d be nice.

  • Skipper T-shirt, innit.

    Yeah, I get that. I just think it looks odd to have the specific series logo on an item that’s relevant across multiple series.

  • They’re not all “cheap rip offs” though, although they are obviously ripoffs, I have one I got from 8Ball Tees which is a reputable shop, fruit of the loom heavy cotton t-shirt, been washed a lot still fine etc and it was £10. I’ve got some of the new Red Dwarf merch and it’s of equal quality to be honest, good thick shirts, solid printing.

    The ones that cost £5 on eBay for costume purposes might be crap but a lot aren’t.

    Suppose it gives GNP more of a case for their removal from other sites though which is something.

  • There’s also the element of wanting (at least some of) your money to go towards the people who are actually responsible for Red Dwarf, and of wanting your purchase to count towards the show’s commercial viability, thus helping to ensure that it still gets made. While I don’t want to be ripped off, I don’t mind paying a *little* bit more for something official.

  • I’m actually quite curious as to where the source elements came from for the previous bootleg Jets/Mugs shirts – were the drawings once printed somewhere?

    I’d like an official version of the Mugs one but as an all-over print completely covered in fake stains and marks.

  • I’m actually quite curious as to where the source elements came from for the previous bootleg Jets/Mugs shirts – were the drawings once printed somewhere?

    I’d like an official version of the Mugs one but as an all-over print completely covered in fake stains and marks.

    I would have liked the official London Jets one to be a long sleeve like the one Lister wears, full on screen accuracy would have differentiated it from the others and made the price a better value.

    I agree though, it’s good that you have a chance to support the show, always felt a bit bad about none of the money going to GNP.

  • It’s a T-shirt in the first half of series 1 and a jersey (with elbow stripes) in the second half. This is screen accurate to the first version, sleeve logo aside. Might be a bit on the brick red side though – the jersey’s that colour but the original T-shirt’s more of a ruby. This is splitting hairs to an obnoxious level though even for me.

  • It’s a T-shirt in the first half of series 1 and a jersey (with elbow stripes) in the second half. This is screen accurate to the first version, sleeve logo aside. Might be a bit on the brick red side though – the jersey’s that colour but the original T-shirt’s more of a ruby. This is splitting hairs to an obnoxious level though even for me.

    Would you agree that the jersey is what comes to mind though? It is for me when I think London Jets. Would have distinguished it from the fakes a bit more, that’s all.

  • I’d definitely be interested in a long sleeved T-shirt version of it if that’s what you’re asking! But to me the T-shirt is more iconic as it appears first. It’s what he’s wearing in the shaving mirror scene of Future Echoes which is *the* enduring image of series 1 in my mind.

  • So, I did an analysis of Listers wardrobe in Series 1

    The End – Beige tshirt, hawaiian shirt
    Future Echos – London Jets tshirt
    Balance of power – Beige tshirt, Various jackets, Uniform
    Waiting for god – Grey tshirt/Uniform, Yellow tshirt, London Jets long sleeve
    Confidence & Paranoia – Yellow tshirt, Beige tshirt, Hawaiian shirt
    Me2 – Yellow London Jets (zero gee), D-D-Don’t Shoot, Blue tshirt, London Jets long sleeve

    It would appear that after Future Echos the shirt was made in to a long sleeve top (I’m guessing by adding the red sleeves and a strip to hide the seam.) He also frequently wore either the army surplus jacket or black bomber jacket. I’ve no idea the shooting schedule, but it would appear that after filming Future Echos Mr Charles got chilly on set and wardrobe was adjusted to keep him warmer.

    So. ‘Iconic’ tshirt only appears as a tshirt in one episode.

  • Future Echoes was recorded fourth.
    (Right?)
    No idea about the rest of them, except The End was recorded first and then half of it was re-recorded later

  • They are different garments in slightly different shades, and the T-shirt reappears in series 2. Probably made using an iron-on transfer.

  • The London Jets Shirt arrived today. Rather nice.

    If there is another nice design like that (maybe a Mugs Murphy shirt) then I’ll pick up another shirt during the series.

  • I bought the 8-Ball version of the London Jets one a little while ago, before the official one was out. I have to say it’s really well made, despite being an unofficial knock-off. I agree that the series logo on the official one looks a bit naff.

  • I agree that the series logo on the official one looks a bit naff.

    I think especially so on ones like this, where part of the fun is that it’s a bit of an obscure reference that will only be recognised by certain people who know the show (as opposed to ones with images of the cast or the vehicles or whatever).

    It would be like buying a Last Exit To Nowhere t-shirt that has a big sign on the sleeve telling you exactly what movie the design on the front is referencing, just in case you missed it.

  • On the other hand, part of the reason places like LETN do what they do is because they’re NOT officially licensed, so they can’t use the films’ names, logos etc. This is an official Dwarf shirt, so it can use the official logo, and does so to show that it’s official (and promote the show!)

  • Yeah, I understand that. But it’s not necessarily something people want to have on show on a shirt as it kind of blows the fun of the ‘secret’ aspect.

    (Presumably you could put the logo on the label if you really wanted to have it somewhere to prove it’s official.)

  • I think you’d have to admit to several unresolved personal issues if you were willing to shell out twenty quid plus on a Red Dwarf T-shirt, walk around in public in a Red Dwarf T-shirt, but then get into a strop because it was subsequently apparent you were walking around in public wearing a Red Dwarf T-shirt.

    It’s alright you know, you’re allowed to like it. It says “RED DWARF XII” on the sleeve, not “SAVILE IS INNOCENT”.

  • Anyway, another classic T-shirt is getting reissued tomorrow, I’m *presuming* it’s Let’s Get Out There And Twat It, which I recently found out was designed by comic artist and all-round good guy Kev F Sutherland, who casually mentioned it in a Facebook thread like it wasn’t a brilliant new factoid.

  • It’s alright you know, you’re allowed to like it.

    Are you also allowed to not like it?

    I really like the T-shirt overall, my preference would just be to not have the logo on the sleeve. It’s not a big deal.

  • I’m thinking tomorrow’s shirt will probably be the classic ‘Smeg Head’ t-shirt. Stuff like ‘Twat It’ is too specific to a particular episode from a past series. Same with the Smoke Me A Kipper or Jake Bullet shirt I’ve got. I had an RDVII – Back From the Dead shirt too, God knows what happened to that…
    Anyway. Although it would be nice in the future for the online store to have shirts relating to old episodes (either classic or even new designs) with that series’ logo on the sleeve.

  • New XII design tomorrow. I think it’s likely we’ll get ‘Kryten/Rimmer for President’ shirts based on Mechocracy at some point, maybe it’ll be that.

    On another note, isn’t it weird how Officer Rimmer and Can of Worms have no episode-specific merchandise at all apart from being included as part of the postcards pack, but there are *three* different T-shirts for Give & Take?

  • Incidentally, I received my Smoke Me a Kipper T-Shirt today and can confirm it does not have the list of dates on the back the original had.

    To give Sandbag some credit, they have improved massively since last year’s farrago, and I can now go around in my In Space No-One Can Hear You Clean shirt nearly three weeks before the episode’s even been on the telly.

  • My brother sketched out a Hayes style Skutter design about two years ago, but did nothing with it. This new shirt has therefore annoyed him. Plus, he keeps pointing out that proper Hayes manuals show you the inside of the machines, not just the outside, like the RD shirts do.

  • Has G&T ever considered doing an article on all the T-shirts? A comprehensive list sorting all the official ones from the bootlegs could be worth doing, at least?

  • I’ve got a photo of me wearing a Red Dwarf shirt with ‘Y2Smeg’ on the front. I have no recollection of seeing, owning or wearing said shirt.

  • Worrying thing: it seems like the Smoke Me a Kipper shirt might be rather less high-quality than the others. Mine’s been through the wash once and it’s already showing signs of flaking, particularly on the two RD logos where the red is niow half-grey.

    My Everyone’s Kryten shirt is fine though, so hopefully it’s just that one rather than the XII stuff not being up to the same standard.

  • This would be easy to miss given everything else happening today, but another new t-shirt later today.

  • *NICE*. The branding, promotion and merchandise this time is so much better than last year, I cannot state that enough.

    All it needs now is a way of getting it into some flesh-and-blood shops.

  • I don’t think they should put “Red Dwarf XII” on the t-shirt because they should be timeless and it just dates them.

  • If they make a plain Red Dwarf XII logo t-shirt, I don’t think they should put “Red Dwarf XII” on the t-shirt because they should be timeless and it just dates them. I’d much rather have a shirt with a blank Red Dwarf logo on the front which could easily be for any series.

  • If they make a plain Red Dwarf XII logo t-shirt, I don’t think they should put “Red Dwarf XII” on the t-shirt because they should be timeless and it just dates them. I’d much rather have a shirt with a blank Red Dwarf logo on the front which could easily be for any series.

    Sound Logic.

  • The new Smoke Me A Kipper shirt has a plain, unnumbered, logo. Though I do think it might be fun for episode-centric shirts like that to have its own series number. So a Red Dwarf IV on there, a Red Dwarf III for a Twat It revival.

  • Told my sister I’d bought the Mugs Murphy shirt, and she said I was stupid because I could have bought a cheaper one off Redbubble years ago.

  • Alternative versions of the Starbug and Red Dwarf Haynes manual shirts have been added. They both have an XII logo instead of XI, but it’s possible the spelling mistakes on the RD shirt have been corrected. (They both seem to still have the XI titles in the background, mind you…)

  • I wore mine Wednesday night when I went out. Shoved it on again yesterday seeing as it was my day off, and discovered late last night that I had two spots of melted chocolate on Mugs’ face.

  • Alternative versions of the Starbug and Red Dwarf Haynes manual shirts have been added. They both have an XII logo instead of XI, but it’s possible the spelling mistakes on the RD shirt have been corrected. (They both seem to still have the XI titles in the background, mind you…)

    Congratulations, scrambling in a red alert situation, a new record time….. 10 months, 13 days, 3 hours, 52 minutes and 39 seconds.

    They’ve spelt antimatter correctly, and scope is now scoop as it should be, but they shouldn’t have waited.

    Unless they corrected it and didn’t change the picture on the site, has anyone bought one in the last few weeks? Which is still pretty Mickey Mouse, having an inaccurate product image there all that time, but better than selling an inaccurate product for all that time.

    As soon as it was released I sent an email to sandbag, tweeted sandbag, tweeted the official twitter and attempted to sign up for the TOS forums so I could try to get a message to them.

    Never got any response from any haha

  • Is there really a XII version of the Haynes T-shirt that still has the XI titles on? *Really?!*

    That’s literally the opposite of the steelbook mistake.

  • Yes, that would seem a little odd. Ideally, it should have not episode titles, and a plain Red Dwarf logo, with no series number attach. But I suppose that’s too easy.

  • I have just taken delivery of my Skutter Haynes Manual shirt. Very nice, although it seems the image might be quite a bit smaller than the other two manual shirts. Also, the episode titles are in alphabetical order rather than broadcast order, for some reason.

  • the image might be quite a bit smaller than the other two manual shirts

    Well, Skutters are quite a bit smaller than spaceships.

  • The Leopard Lager shirt has been released into the world.

    Can’t help but feel it might have been a good idea to have that one out in time for the Mirror promotion, whereas you could own the Four Krytens shirt before that episode had even been released on UKTV Play, but I presume there was a reason.

  • The fonts aren’t right on that redraw – “Premium Lager” shouldn’t be in Brush Script, the “LEOPARD” is close but not a proper match, and the text around the edges should be in Caslon Antique. There are loads of photos of original props for reference online.

  • That leopard shirt is extremely disappointing. The Premium Lager font isn’t even close.

    Expected if it was a Redbubble Zazzle Etsy job, but not officially licensed merchandise

  • Just been having a proper look at that shirt, on the computer as opposed to my mobile. Looking with the original next to the screen…it really *is* bad, isn’t it? Shocked.

  • I’m going to wait until they finish releasing t-shirts, and buy maybe the two or three best ones. Sort of defeating their purpose as a promotional tool, except to promote to all my friends that I love Red Dwarf, as if I don’t already remind them of that fact constantly.

  • 30% off sale for unspecified amount of time.

    Also: the Leopard Lager bottle-opener keyring and the set of pin badges have both been added under-the-radar.

  • The Leopard Lager bottle openers are, indeed, very nice. Shame they weren’t around in time for the bottle of Leopard Lager they could have opened.

  • Did they ever fix the spelling mistakes? I never bought the Haynes rip offs because of the errors.

    Wonder why they’re shutting it. Sandbag innit? Are they expensive to have run you shit?

  • I hope they have a sale at the tail end. It costs like $15 in shipping to get something to America. I’m not paying $40 for a fucking t-shirt, no dice. The accidental $5 price on the Red Dwarf Manual shirt plus shipping was well enough expensive.

  • Update: it’s finally closed now.

    Says “powered by Shopify” at the bottom, was previously “Powered by Sandbag”.

    Reopening? Hopefully with less typos and cheaper prices.

  • This is a good sign, though. The shop closing really contributed to the general feeling that the series had died in the UKTV reshuffle.

    Well, my paranoid feeling.

  • This is a good sign, though. The shop closing really contributed to the general feeling that the series had died in the UKTV reshuffle.

    Well, my paranoid feeling.

    It does say series XI/XII though, well it did, I can’t get on it anymore. Could it be that it’s just been moved off Sandbags backend and back to the placeholder UKTV set up before the e-commerce stuff was sorted.

  • Yeah, the mention of XI/XII made me think it had just reverted to an old placeholder.

    I also can’t access it at all now, the link seems dead.

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