My niece’s birthday is coming up soon and I have been shopping for her. My family does “wish lists” and her list is a little lacking as she does not have many specifics. For example, my brother’s list always has about 50 books complete with title and author listed. My niece, on the other hand, just has bullet points of shows, movies and bands/artists she likes. What am I supposed to do with that? Then, she has a note that she would like merchandise rather than DVDs or actual albums. She wants the other stuff, including t-shirts, socks, stickers, posters and more. This, of course, got me thinking about Duran merchandise. What are we missing? I know that we can buy Duran stuff at the band’s official website but are there other sites that might be useful?
What We Have
Right now, I can think of the following items that can be purchased on the band’s official website:
- t-shirts/sweatshirts/hoodies
- caps
- masks
- posters
- mugs
- water bottles
- beach towels
- candles
- tote bags
- tour books
- art books
- Christmas ornaments
What am I missing?
What’s missing? What other products should there be?
So, in thinking about my niece’s list, what other merchandise should be made? One that I am particularly drawn to is stickers. I have been doing a lot of journaling as of late. I’m not an artist so it is not as creative as many journals out there but I do try to add a splash of creativity when it feels right, including adding stickers of all sorts. Sometimes, I like to include Duran news or lyrics. Wouldn’t it be cool to have stickers of various lyrics or images that represent different songs or albums? I would think the sky is the limit. I know in my niece’s case she likes stickers for her water bottles. That would be cool, too.
I also really liked the idea of socks. I know that for some people they are not as comfortable wearing Duran shirts in every setting. I get that. I’m not one, for example, to wear Duran shirts to work. Could I wear socks, though? Sure. No one would see them but I would know that I’m wearing them. I like that.
I’m sure that there are lots of other options beyond those. What about bookmarks? I know that there were Christmas cards before but what about other greeting cards? Playing cards? What about jewelry? Necklaces? Earrings? I’m sure that there is a billion other products that I could think of and list here.
Where to shop?
When I’m thinking about buying Duran merchandise, of course, I immediately go to the official store. Part of the reason that I like to buy various products is because I like the idea of supporting the band in this way. That being said, I know that there are other places that I can go as well. I’m not sure places that are considered box stores like Target or Walmart would have a lot of Duran merchandise. Heck, I’m not how much you can really find on Amazon either. No, one place that comes to my mind is eBay, particularly if I am looking for something that once was an official product but that I missed at the time. What about online sites like etsy or redbubble? They are obviously not official items but there might be some creative products there. Am I missing a site or two or ten?
While I’m not sure that this helps me with any Duran purchasing, it has given me some ideas for my niece.
-A
