I found two articles, written by The Defunkd Store, extremely helpful, especially when it comes to identifying brands of the era, if you're a collector of vintage music memorabilia, specifically tees. As collectors of vintage concert tour tees, we have learned, the hard way, that there are more fakes out there than there are the "real deal". We've, also, learned that buying from Jimmy J (if, in fact, that's his real name lol), operator of The Defunkd Store on eBay, is NEVER a problem. After several purchases, we've been delighted with everything BUT we did our homework first.

We are Aussie and collect difficult-to-find Australian tour shirts as well as some American personal favorites. Here's my advice after doing some homework on my own....

If there is a particular band or artist that you love and treasure their vintage collectibles, find their website or a related website. If the band/artist doesn't have their own "store", they likely have photos of old tour memorabilia. For example (and this is a great one), we are huge Keith Richards fans. One tee was produced for The X-Pensive Winos in the 70's. I found a pic of the only tour shirt made on Keith's personal website. It's FULL color (very colorful) on the front and the art is quite complicated. It's, also, PAINTED and not silkscreened. If you search eBay, for The X-Pensive Winos, you'll find the shirt from several different sellers. All claim to be original and vintage. However, the frontal art is WHITE AND SCREENED, on a solid black shirt. Hardly the original. The artwork is copied perfectly but a black & white non-painted shirt was never produced by the band.

Bottom line...do your own research and know what the shirt should look like. It's quite easy to find unless it's some obscure band that has no website and no information on the net. In that case, I would go with a TRUSTED seller. Check their inventory for fakes of other bands or artists. If there's even one knockoff, it is likely that there are more. I'd stay away.

I hope this helps you as much as it has helped us. I can tell you this from my own experience...The Defunkd Store has NO fakes or repros. And, Jimmy has found several "not-so-well-known" items for me from Australia. Buying vintage is tough. These two articles, of The Defunkd Store, contain a ton of helpful information. My final comment...if you're going to collect, don't throw your money away on fakes, knockoffs or reproductions. Do your homework before buying and have your hard-earned money buy the real thing. It's worth the time and effort.

By the way, this may seem like an advertisement for The Defunkd Store. IT'S NOT!! I bid and pay just like everybody else and I met Jimmy through an eBay transaction. He's just THAT good and honest - the REAL DEAL.

The Defunkd Store - The Real Deal

HAPPY BUYING!!

Judie & Paul (Beverly Hills, CA and Adelaide, South Australia)