T-Shirts for Geeks - Dark Bunny Style...

Ever since I was a kid I have been fascinated and drawn in to the world of movies, films and computer games. There is something so special about being a kid; closing your eyes and just imagining that you are that character, inventing adventures you would go on. This view obviously changes when you start getting into the more sinister movies filled with blood gore and violence. But still, the love is there.

As I have grown up and got past the 18-25 age I have been through every fashion cliché imaginable, trying to fit into every ‘cool’ group but always feeling a little bit out of place... That is until a few years back I finally realised and accepted that I am a geek, a pure 'disappoint the parents' geek and I am proud of it. And then it dawned on me, I don’t need a group; I just want to celebrate the things I love in the form of clothing. And what better way to do it then wearing quirky t-shirts that only other geeks would understand, forming a sort of geek brotherhood, MMORPG style.

So I could sit here for hours and explain the in depth contents of my wardrobe, but instead I would like to tell you about one company in particular that if you are a film buff, who like me has become tired of the 'Keep Calm and Carry On' trend, then you will love their work.

Dark Bunny Tees (www.darkbunnytees.com) is (and this I admire greatly) a one man band. Alex Chenery is a self-proclaimed movie buff and father of twins (I assume the other way round in priority!)  As a fan of the movie T-shirt he went and did what I have dreamed about all my life... he designs t-shirts that depict things that could have happened in the same universe, but are not directly referencing the movie. This, to put it simply is GENIOUS. There are so many companies pumping out clothing with back to the future logos, and star wars t-shirts made to look vintage but this is  taking popular movies and making them suitable for my geeky brotherhood.

All the imagery is drawn by Alex himself and so gives each design a unique twist that a lot of movie t-shirts lack. The designs are then screen printed in simple colours on good quality (Dark Bunny branded) shirts.  And something that makes these T-shirts extra special is that they are limited edition, so you can rest assured that you won’t see everybody wearing the same one a few months down the line. But this also means that if you like one, you have to get in quick!

Some personal favourites include a bright red T-shirt featuring Audrey II on his very own radio show, obviously in association with Mushnik's Skid Row Florist. Any fan of Little Shop of Horrors would be mad to not want this...

The Leon T-shirt is awesome and a little dark, Alex's idea being that Mathilda went on to set up her own cleaning academy' which is why he has drawn roots forming the shape of a sniper rifle...

And how could you not love the Raiders of the lost ark design featuring The Chachapoyan idol fertility clinic established by the main man himself!

All in all these are some of my favourite T-shirts I have come across for a very long time, and all from a small business that is doing great things in these recession filled times. I still cant make my mind up as to which ones to buy... I am a little sad that I cant buy some of the sold out designs, but now I have found this company I will snap up future ones and make my brotherhood jealous.

Follow Dark Bunny Tees on Facebook for daily movie trivia (and awesome special offers and competitions) HERE

Vintage vs modern: A toy story

As a child of the 1980's, I whiled away many hours in my garden reinacting massive battles involving some of the most impressive armies of all time! Whether it was the Autobots battle for Cybertron or Cobra Commanders world domination following on our favourite cartoons and movies at home was a favourite past time for me and my best friend. How our families afforded such mass armies of plastic I will never know. Now although the style and design of these toys was lacking some finesse the sheer volume available allowed for any storyline to be relived. Good examples are The Masters Of The Universe action figures, they issued hundreds of He-man figures and all of them used the same muscly macho man moulds. However as long as they had a different accessory to the last one we got, we were happy!

Now since I have been involved in Evil Robot Designs I have spent a lot of time hunting and scouring the world for these 80's gems for us to use in our products and although certain toys are hard to find we have found ourselves drawn towards there modern day counterparts. It was only a couple of years ago that I gave up on modern toys I think I had seen to many WWF wrestlers and Power Rangers to last me a lifetime and was pretty certain the toy industry had given up! I was pretty certain it had a great deal to do with the down slide in kids TV, programmes like sponge bob had taken over the television and there was nothing on worth making great toys from.  Then suddenly while I wasn’t paying attention they rehashed all the great 80's toys and suddenly today’s kids had all those great characters I loved except with detail!

 

Vintage vs Modern Buzz-Off

Now we have Transformers that look great in both forms not just the vehicle, they have lost their bulky box like robot form and have a new sleek robot that almost transforms itself. As for He-man you can see from above that the macho mass production has disappeared and a new stylised version has arrived that kicks ass out of the original whilst keeping all the charm of the characters we had grown to love. Now I could go on with other examples, but have a hunt for yourself as there are some great new thundercats well worth checking out. Now there are a few toys that have not changed quite dramatically as there originals were already really great such as Star Wars and GI Joe, in fact the latter have barely changed in any way which shows the quality of the original designs.

 

Vintage vs Modern Bumble Bee

Now it may seem like I am dissing the original action figures throughout this comparison but im really not. The 80's toys will always be my favourite and I’m pretty certain they hold a place with every guy of my age, I’m just glad that I have a job now that allows me to embrace both my memories and the evolution they have taken to the sleek modern toys we have today.

EViL ED