LT Features

I Laughed, I Cried, I Bought the T-Shirt Merch - that’s what we called merchandise in the buiz (and “buiz” is what we call business) - is there anything better?   The words “free gift with purchase” make me break into a cold sweat and start looking around for the nearest cash register like a junkie searching for his dealer.  Heck, I’ve started a pretty extensive collection of 3D glasses purely because they’re free and will be a “collector’s item” one day… right?  But it doesn’t have to be free for me to get excited about it – I can’t think of a single concert I’ve gone to where I haven’t bought a t-shirt, no matter how over-priced or how stiff and itchy the fabric is – and movies are the same.  When I really fall for a flick I want junk around that reminds me of it.  Since bidding on hunks of movie sets or vintage costumes is a little out of my price range, I often settle for the commemorative plastic cups (“collect all five!”) or action figures.  There are movie branded Halloween masks, baseball caps, video games and fairy princess wands, but the really unique merchandise is what always catches me eye.  Zippo made a limited edition lighter to celebrate their product’s role in Buried, the Lionsgate booth at Comic-Con handed out some sweet temporary tattoos to promote The Expendables(it didn’t hurt that they also had models in camouflage hot pants on hand to apply the tattoos), Kevin Smith had towels with his face printed on them (an homage to his profuse sweating, I suppose), and I’ve even seen Iron Man belt buckles.  So now my question to you all is what new merchandise you would be interested in seeing.  I can tell you for a fact that if I was walking through Sephora and saw Benjamin Button reverse-aging cream I would buy stock in the company, spend my entire paycheck on it and bathe in it nightly.  Wouldn’t you? L.T.

I Laughed, I Cried, I Bought the T-Shirt

Merch - that’s what we called merchandise in the buiz (and “buiz” is what we call business) - is there anything better?   The words “free gift with purchase” make me break into a cold sweat and start looking around for the nearest cash register like a junkie searching for his dealer.  Heck, I’ve started a pretty extensive collection of 3D glasses purely because they’re free and will be a “collector’s item” one day… right? 

But it doesn’t have to be free for me to get excited about it – I can’t think of a single concert I’ve gone to where I haven’t bought a t-shirt, no matter how over-priced or how stiff and itchy the fabric is – and movies are the same.  When I really fall for a flick I want junk around that reminds me of it.  Since bidding on hunks of movie sets or vintage costumes is a little out of my price range, I often settle for the commemorative plastic cups (“collect all five!”) or action figures.  There are movie branded Halloween masks, baseball caps, video games and fairy princess wands, but the really unique merchandise is what always catches me eye.  Zippo made a limited edition lighter to celebrate their product’s role in Buried, the Lionsgate booth at Comic-Con handed out some sweet temporary tattoos to promote The Expendables(it didn’t hurt that they also had models in camouflage hot pants on hand to apply the tattoos), Kevin Smith had towels with his face printed on them (an homage to his profuse sweating, I suppose), and I’ve even seen Iron Man belt buckles. 

So now my question to you all is what new merchandise you would be interested in seeing.  I can tell you for a fact that if I was walking through Sephora and saw Benjamin Button reverse-aging cream I would buy stock in the company, spend my entire paycheck on it and bathe in it nightly.  Wouldn’t you?

L.T.