Get It On

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I guess the sign of a real dedicated retro gamer is when their collection not only covers the machines and games, but also books, magazines, and of course, clothes. That is not say there is anything wrong is having a few t-shirts emblazoned with cult games. Whether it is an Atari t-shirt worn by a celeb or G@MERS resident game-geek (and I mean that in the nicest way!!) Matt Cuttle sporting one of Joystick Junkies cool Space Invader shirts, they are out there.

I have a few myself and I wear them in the summer. My pride of joy is a chocolate brown Space Invader logo t-shirt from Joystick Junkies. People look at it and smile, although I'm not sure if it's bringing back memories of the game for them, or they are just thinking 'sad man'. But who cares. I also have a Sensible Soccer t-shirt also from Joystick Junkies and one of the new range of Super Mario inspired shirts from Gamestation.

Below is a list of the main retailers of retro game related t-shirts in the UK. These are the one's I know about, but if you know of others that should be listed, just drop me an email and I'll add them. Click on the banners / titles to visit their websites.

These guys really are the top dog for t-shirts. They started off with a few official Taito Space Invaders shirts but their selection has grown over the last couple of years and now covers several different brands. They also cater for the ladies, which is something that most other retailers don't do.

The classic gaming theme covers t-shirts based on Space Invaders, Activision games (River Raid and Chopper Command), Midway (Gauntlet, Defender, and Robotron), plus one-offs such as Sensible Soccer and California Games. There is also a range based on 80's America gaming 'Big Al's Arcade', 'Berkeley School of Videogames', and 'Arcade Asylum' - just a note, you should check out the Berkeley shirt, very nice indeed. Check out their website for the whole range, believe me, you'll find at least one you like (if only I had the money....).

New arrivals for September 2006 : Kung Fu Master (Yie Ar Kung Fu) , Pac Man 'quote' T-Shirt, Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, and Arcade Asylum Atheletic.

Joystick Junkies Kung Fu Master T-Shirt Image

The t-shirts themselves are made of cotton, to an extremely high content. They have a softness that feels nice on the skin and are pre-shrunk for a comfortable fit. Oh, and I nearly forgot, there's free worldwide shipping. Yeah baby!!!

Joystick Junkies River Raid T-Shirt Image Joystick Junkie Big Al T-Shirt Image Joystick Junkies Arcade Asylum Girls T-Shirt Image Joystick Junkies Berkeley T-Shirt Image Joystick Junkies Defender T-Shirt Image

Joystick Junkies River Raid Patch Image

The first retro t-shirt I ever bought was from loadrage and although they only have three designs, they do offer good value for money (£13 each). The one I own (and the best I think), is the 'Manic' design. It has four images that remind me a little of sprites from Spectrum games!! There is a space-suit guy, an invader, a space ship, and a pong image. The other two designs involve the 'Old Skool' design (a break-out style image) and the 'wasted youth' design (text in a sort of oriental typeface) with invader-like sprites and scores against them.

Load Rage Oldskool T-Shirt Image Load Rage Oldskool Logo Image Load Rage Manic T-Shirt Image Load Rage Manic Logo Image

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Gamestation have recently released a range of fun t-shirts based on Mario and other famous Nintendo characters. There is heavy usage of the Mario 'mushroom' imagery, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I've got the 'magic' t-shirt which is very 70's 'hippy'. Cool man... Each t-shirt retails for just £9.99 which makes them very good value. Some stores also hold some of the Joystick Junkie range.

Check out tee-fly.com for their range of retro gaming t-shirts. They have some great designs including Crash, Zzap64, International Soccer, Space Invaders, Commodore logo, and much more. They retail for around £15.99 each.

Also visit retrogt.com. They have some t-shirts covering the Spectrum, Commodore 64, Dizzy, Outrun, and quite a few others. They also sell several pin badges that feature some of their designs.