Introducing….The Graveyard!
I started Fright-Rags back in 2003 with just three basic t-shirt designs that I created myself. From that first small batch of three designs, the company started to grow and in the years that followed we’ve released over 200 shirts featuring original horror artwork. Each one an expression of our love for the genre and throughout all the various artistic styles we’ve showcased, our intention has always remained constant; to create kick-ass horror shirts. I’m extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished, and we have big plans on how we will continue our journey in offering the highest quality horror apparel.
However, with releasing so many shirts over that period of time, it is inevitable that some designs fade away. After all, it is impossible to keep all sizes of all the shirts in stock at all times. So, over time designs die off as we continually pump out new stuff. But even as each design sells out, we still face the all important decision: do we reprint it, or not?
REPRINTS ARE DEAD…LONG LIVE REPRINTS!
Up until now, the decision to reprint a design was based on several factors; how well it sold, how many we have left, how long has it been available, etc. Sometimes it pays off and a reprinted design can see new life on the site when we restock it. Other times, well, the shirts gather dust on the shelves and we wonder if anyone got the memo that it’s back in stock. Quite frankly, it’s a guessing game. So in order to keep putting out new shirts,we are going to stop reprinting designs as they sell out.
Yes, you read that correctly.
From now on, every new shirt we release will get one print run. If you like it, grab it before your size is gone because once sizes sell out, they will remain sold out. When all the shirts are gone, the design will be considered dead, and out of print.
But wait, this is a horror shirt site…can’t designs come back from the dead???
Yup, they sure can…keep reading.
ENTER….THE GRAVEYARD!
When designs are sold out and considered dead, we will put them in our graveyard. The Fright-Rags Graveyard is a place where all of our out of print designs can rest in peace. There you will also find many of our older designs dating as far back as 2003, when I first started Fright-Rags. There are designs that some of our oldest customers may have never seen, or for our new customers, a look into our history and all the designs we’ve put out in the past.
But what if you could do more than look at the dead designs and pay your respects? What if you had the power to bring them back to life?
ONLY YOU CAN RESURRECT THE DEAD
The graveyard isn’t just a final resting ground for you to pay your respects to designs that have come and gone. It is also a place where you can vote on what design(s) you want us to raise from the dead and bring back to life! All you need to do is click on any design you like, enter your email address, and your vote will be counted. Every other month, we will choose the designs with the most votes and reprint them. If a design you voted on has been chosen for a reprint, we will notify you via email letting you know it’s coming back.
THE GRAVEYARD LAUNCHES TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20! MAKE SURE TO CAST YOUR VOTES FOR THE SHIRTS YOU WISH TO BRING BACK – THE FIRST ROUND OF REPRINTS WILL BE DECIDED ON JANUARY 3!
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I’ve posted some information below to help answer any questions you might have about the graveyard and how we’re doing our reprints now. But if you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me at ben@fright-rags.com
WHAT DESIGNS WILL BE IN THE GRAVEYARD WHEN IT LAUNCHES?
The graveyard will hold many of our old designs, but not all of them. There are exceptions that prevent us from including every single design we’ve ever released. For instance, no limited edition shirt wll be included in the graveyard as we do not reprint those. Other factors include expired licenses, so some designs might be omitted because we are unable to legally reprint them. That said, we will be opening the graveyard with over 80 designs, so there will be more than enough to start voting on.
HOW OFTEN WILL YOU ADD NEW SHIRTS TO THE GRAVEYARD?
Well, the easy answer is, when they sell out. In order to keep pumping out new stuff, we have to let shirts sell out without reprinting them all the time. So once we release a design, we will continue to sell it until all the shirts have sold out. At that point, it will be moved into the graveyard. Some designs might take months to sell out, or weeks, or even days. The best advice I can give you is, if you like the shirt grab it before it’s gone because it might never come back. There is never a guarantee that a dead design will come back to life as it is solely based on demand.
WILL YOU EVER REPRINT A DESIGN BEFORE IT GOES TO THE GRAVEYARD?
The short answer is no. However, there have been a few rare instances where a shirt takes us by surprise and sells out in hours so we’ve ordered more right away to meet the demand. In those instances where demand clearly exceeds supply on the initial release, we will do our best to restock sooner than later. For the vast majority of shirts, one run is all they will get initially and will have to get voted back for a reprint once they sell out.
DOES THIS MEAN ALL YOUR SHIRTS WILL BE “LIMITED” IN SOME WAY?
Yes, I suppose you could say the shirts will take on a bit more of a “limited” quality to them due to the uncertainty of when (or if) a design will ever come back it has sold out. So you’re better off buying the shirt you like when you see it because there is no guarantee that it will be reprinted. However, this isn’t much different than what we have been doing for awhile. Many of the shirts we’ve put out over the last year or so have only seen one or two prints. And if you have been following us for awhile, you will have noticed that we have not brought back many designs lately. The main thing that is changing is that all reprints will be decided by YOU. So if a design does sell out, at least you have a chance to vote for it to come back. After all, if we’re going to reprint a design I’d much rather print what you want rather than take a stab as what we think should come back.
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That sounds great, and I completely understand why you wouldn’t want to mix images of the exclusive shirts with those of the graveyard shirts, it kinda sucks we can’t see those shirts at period unless we’re lucky enough to own them. It would be cool to see a page on your site dedicated to all those exclusive shirts that are dead and never coming back. Hopefully everyone will understand it’s just a hall of fame and you wouldn’t get blasted with emails to bring them back, although I’m sure you get that already.
Why don’t you just print them on demand? When an order comes you print it right then and there. It may take a little longer for us to get them but you should be able to sell more that way…… maybe a reprint might cost 2 to 3 dollars more because you have to print as orders are received but I bet a lot of customers will like that!
Johnny – Unfortunately, screenprinting doesn’t work that way. Once the screens have been burned and set up, you have to print batch of shirts to make it economical.
I need to have a total geek out on this. Dude, love this idea!
I agree with James. I think it would be cool to document the shirts that can never be reprinted, a Fright Rags museum, so to speak. This would collect images of the limited edition shirts, and any design that has an expired license. Assuming that you still have the right to show an image of a shirt that can no longer be printed, due to non-license. As far the the Graveyard idea itself, very excited to see if there are any designs I missed to vote them back!
How many designs will be chosen to be brought back each time?
Sheesh. Can’t you just leave stuff the way it was. I’m sorry but this is stupid. 1st you go changing the type of shirts you got,now this crap. I want to give you guys money but pulling shit like this will make me spend my dollars elsewhere and I am sure a lot more will do the same as me.
Loved this idea from the 1st time i heard it was going to happen, cant wait to see what shirts your opening the GY with! Ive been following you guys along while so i have so many of the older designs in mind id love to see someday.
This is the best idea EVER! There are so many shirts I’d love to see reprinted (either because I missed out or I need to replace my old shirts that are getting worn out)! Thank you Fright-Rags for kicking ass and being the best!
Not sure, it really depends on how many votes each design has. I’d like to start out with at least 2-3. But that may vary as we do this for some time and figure out what works.
I’m not terribly fond of this idea. Some time i cant buy a shirt right then and there, and have to wait for an occasion to buy: Christmas, a birthday or something along those lines. But i do understand that is a business and you must maximize profits. I do however look forward to seeing some of your older designs as i have only been a customer for the last 2 years or so.
Now I understand that some like limited edition and expired licenses can be reprinted, but will there be a place where we can, at the very least, see what they looked like? I 100% understand not reprinting those, but I would at the very least like to see what has come and go.
Please bring back the Phenomena shirt. That ones my favorite.
It’s in the graveyard, so there is always a possibility of it coming back…only if it gets enough votes, though
Yes, we’re thinking of having a section of designs that were limited, or will never (ever) be brought back again.
Thanks Rob, and I I totally understand where you’re coming from. However, as I mentioned in the post, it’s not much different than what we’ve been doing already. For instance, Silent Night Deadly Night was released last December and we did not print it again until this December. Many of our shirts have been like that in recent years, but now we’re just making a point of saying “if it’s sold out, it must get voted back”.
How many shirts can 1 person vote on bringing back?
I love this idea! kudos again to fright Rags. I have so many designs stored away because I gained a little weight in the last 5 years & I have given away some older FR designs and am EXCITED at the chance to rebuy them! Of course I have another 40+ that are in my current size
I still have ones that have the fright rags logo on the back collar 
Keep up the innovative ideas Ben, we the customers and fans really appreciate it!!
You can vote on as many shirts as you want…but only one vote per shirt.
Sounds great! I found out Fright Rags at the end of 2010 and i think, i missed so much of those great shirts.. I can’t await “THE GRAVEYARD”!
Great idea….
Great idea! I love it!
I think that is a fine idea. Sometimes i do not get a chance to get all the shirts i want from Fright Rags. I guess that is okay. People always ask me where I buy my shirts. I let them know, and tell them to be quick if they want to copy me, because I am actually wearing a legendary shirt before you.
Love the idea! Hopefully DEADLY SPAWN and STREET TRASH are in the Graveyard!
As someone who only discovered your wares about a year ago, I think this is a great idea, and welcome a chance to see and possibly buy your old designs.
However, while I understand you cannot sell all your old designs, I would still like to see those I missed. Is there no way you can put up a separate archive of the “all dead” designs?
Ben,
This is a great concept and I vote for the all-encompassing museum of art but I sincerely hope you are still working on the Vintage Horror T shirt website. I was hoping to get some more of the classics that I passed on last year when I bought my first batch. In this day and age I didn’t think a website would take this long. Can you give me a little idea of when this might happen?
Oh yes, we’re still planning the vintage shirt site. It’s coming along and an announcement will be made early in the new year.
Since you first mentioned this idea way back, I always felt that it was a great idea. I just hope the shirts that I voted for are resurrected. Otherwise, this whole concept just boils down to a popularity contest. It is entirely possible that no shirts that I may want will ever get reprinted due to this process. This in turn may hurt Fright-Rags sales in the long run. Frustrated customers may just go somewhere else to get what they want. There is a lot of competition out there, especially in this economy. I am a huge fan and purchaser of Fright-Rags shirts and am loyal, but I hope this new concept works out fairly.