What is the rarest t-shirt on earth?

Determining how rare a t-shirt is, has several factors. Rarity is always tied to value because of demand, not just being unique.

In order to determine the rarest t-shirt on earth, several of the following factors must be satisfied.

How many were initially produced? (scarcity)
What is the back story?
Is there a demand for the item?
How popular is the related affiliation?
Who previously owned it?
Is there provenance?
Can it be authenticated by a credible source?

Why don’t we just ask what the most expensive t-shirt on earth is?

Simply put, price doesn’t have to do with rarity or actual value even. If you google “most expensive t-shirt” an image is going to pop up of a guy wearing a gold plated shirt, or some rapper with a diamond-encrusted tee. This may be interesting to some people but in the vintage t-shirt world, we want a good back story. Not just some dude with a lot of money sticking jewels on a shirt.

We’re looking for something that could potentially be displayed in a museum or be interesting to read about. I’ll give you an example.

Here’s an extremely rare shirt I sold to the Smithsonian.

This is a bonafide RARE shirt. Legitimately one of the rarest on earth. It was worn by John Belushi in the 1973 National Lampoons off-Broadway production of Lemmings. The show launched the careers of several famous actors including Belushi and Chevy Chase. It debuted 2 years before Saturday Night Live began. Other notable contributors were Christopher Guest and Harold Ramis. I purchased this shirt directly from Bob Hoban, a cast member who verified the story and provided appropriate authentication.

I ended up selling the shirt to the Smithsonian, as they were assembling items for a comedy exhibit. The rarity of this item is evident. First of all, it’s an actual vintage tee, that can be objectively verified by an expert. Next, it has provenance through documentation and an association with a cast member who can verify it’s authenticity. This is an actual rare and valuable garment. No question about it.

Introduction.

Now, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Matt, this is my first blog post in my new store. I’m the guy who creates all the crazy, weird, occasionally offensive (hopefully funny) t-shirts you see in my shop. I’ve been selling online for over 20 years.

It started with musical instruments but eventually led me to clothing and other vintage items…..sunglasses, posters, flags, banners, etc. But mainly tees. I opened my first eBay store in 2000. I remember thinking I was late to the game cause they’d been around since 1995. So after 2 flagship eBay stores and over 100 thousand items sold we’re here with a new venture but always tied to our vintage roots.

Buying and selling online has put me in some interesting positions and provided a fun career with tons of great stories….many of which I’ll share with you. If you like treasure hunting or the idea of flipping items for profit I suggest you give it a try. I remember JUMPING out of bed in the morning to check if I’d sold anything. Or getting really creative with my inventory ideas….like buying stuff that was only available in Canada and selling to Americans and taking advantage of a favorable exchange rate. It can be tons of fun. The hard work will pay off….sometimes even years later at unexpected times.

Sourcing Rare T-shirts.

Most vintage clothing dealers have several ways of procuring inventory. Some go to thrift shops, swap meets, flea markets, others scour yard and garage sales or buy bulk lots online.

I started thrift shopping at Value Village in 1994 (it’s called Savers in the USA). Back then you could buy a shirt for 49 cents. But there was no internet so there was no place to re-sell. So I just sort of collected things in earnest for a few years. Other than impressing your friend there wasn’t really any way to earn money from used clothing. I think the sweet spot for thrifting was between 2000 and 2008.

I used to shop in lower-income areas of Detroit and find amazing stuff. Also rural and small towns had great finds. It was amazing back in the day. It’s a great feeling when you buy something for $5 and sell it for $25 or $50 or $100. When you get good it happens all the time.

Although driving around, handpicking items is time-consuming and tends to be feast or famine. It never seemed like there was a consistent inventory source. Several years into my business I linked up with a clothing recycler near Toronto. That made a major shift in my inventory volume. Instead of listing 50 items a month I was able to list 200 or more a week.

eBay is an algorithm like any website. The more you list, the more money you make….the more they make…then they’re more inclined to promote your listing…which makes you more profitable, etc, etc. In the beginning, I auctioned all of my stuff. Later on, I switched to fixed-price listings as I learned the value of items. This also increased my profits substantially.

Ontario Canada was a mecca for used clothing for back in the day. Suppliers would buy truckloads of used rag (that’s what they’d call it) from the states. Sort it and resell to East African countries or India. I arranged contracts with several recyclers. I taught their pickers to look for specific tags or items and put them aside for me. Once a month I would visit their facility and buy from them. It’s like if you went into a bakery and said you’d pay $100 a week for the crumbs on the floor. The owner would be a fool not to agree. This was the same idea.

They were making so much from buying and selling in bulk that they had no problem when I’d visit monthly and pay 2 or 3 thousand for some hand-picked gems. Their girls were sorting anyway. It was easy to put items aside for me. The recyclers themselves didn’t mind because they had no time or interest to sell individual items. They had bigger fish to fry.

Buying Rare T-shirts Online.

I talked about how I acquired the majority of my inventory. I did have other buying sources. One of which was online auctions. By the mid 2000s, there was amazing bid sniping software and I got really good at it. Basically, you’d find an auction of interest, enter your max bid amount and set a timer. My bid would be placed in the final 5 seconds. I won ALL THE TIME. I think I had a 98% win rate.

My winnings would ship to a warehouse in Detroit and I would visit once a month and bring them back to Canada. In the 90s I used to import/export fabric and leather goods between Canada and the US so I knew how to do a proper customs entry.

Buying on eBay was more expensive than my supplier ($3 CDN per shirt vs $15-$20 USD online) but I was able to stock my store with showcase items that I knew would attract customers. Plus buying is fun. Especially when you’re winning auctions that you know will be profitable. My store was stocked and loaded.

Finding a VERY rare t-shirt on eBay.

Sometime in 2009 I was surfing eBay and found an auction for an original 1981 Dragon Slayer shirt. It was a movie produced by ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) George Lucas’ production company. They were pioneers in realistic stop motion photography. Stuff that would be used heavily in The Empire Strikes Back film. So I placed a bid on the shirt. It was fairly rare but I felt there was a good chance of winning the auction.

In the meantime, I always look at sellers other items. If they have one cool thing they may have good stuff for sale. This particular seller had another listing. Vintage Lucasfilm ILM Star Wars Working Title T Shirt. So I put in a bid. If I recall the auctions ended at a weird time so I ended up winning both. They were inexpensive as well (Under $30). When the items arrived I contacted the seller curious about the back story of the tee. This is a portion of the reply verbatim.

The trancelestians is Super rare cultish. I kept one. The dudes that were the original special effects guys working on star wars came up with the working name while creating the creatures for the film.

I was excited, to say the least. Oh and by the way. The seller claimed to be dear friends with Ben Burtt and lived next door to George Lucas. Most people would find this statement fishy but I’ll explain why I didn’t as we proceed.

Listing the Shirt on eBay.

After owning the tee for a year or so I decided to list in my eBay store. Not necessarily to sell but to attract traffic to my other listings. First I needed provenance to give the item legitimacy. I tried contacting Ben Burtt…the Academy award-winning sound designer. Supposedly the items were part of his archive given to the eBay seller when he moved out of Skywalker Ranch and headed to Pixar to make Wall-E. I made several attempts to get a hold of him…..to no avail. I decided to list anyway.

Now I’ll explain why I believed the woman’s story regarding the shirt. Not only was she polite and friendly. Her story was just way too out there to even make up. IF she were trying to scam me she wouldn’t have had the listing priced so low. Also, there wasn’t any info about the product in the actual auction description. I only got details when I emailed after the auction end. Also, who would make up a story about living next to George Lucas or knowing Ben Burtt?? You’d at least say Harrison Ford or Carrie Fisher or Chewbacca or something.

The Backlash.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Star Wars fans it’s they will defend that fictional universe TO THE DEATH…AND they know their stuff. Considering there were zero online resources regarding the origin of the shirt…..no duplicates….no pics, no stories…NOTHING!! I could only regurgitate what I was told by the eBay seller for my item description…..without embellishment. Still, no one believed me. I got dozens of people calling me names and insults from hardcore fans. Some of the rips were pretty comical in fact….but in the end, I decided to cancel the listing. And so the Transcelestians tee returned to the padded envelope and sat in my office for nearly a decade.

The Resurgence.

Earlier this year I started helping with wardrobe on a popular Netflix program. One in which vintage fashion is integral to the characters and theme. I thought “Wow the Transcelestians tee would be perfect.” But I still needed provenance. So I joined IMDB and found Ben Burtt’s contact info and emailed him.

Initially, I just inquired about the shirt. I sent him a pic and asked if he recognized it. He did not although he was familiar with the small write up I had posted online years earlier. Then in another email, I inquired if he knew the woman who claimed to be his dear friend and lived next to Lucas. He did and spoke very highly of her. Also stating that she was a local legend in Marin county California. An antiquities dealer who had passed away a few years earlier. He said “she would have absolutely no motive to con anyone or falsely represent what she believed to be true. She was undoubtedly naive about the shirt and I cannot account for the information as you got it.”

SO….initially I thought maybe this was an authentic item and she knew more about it than Ben. Maybe he simply forgot? But then I remembered this is the guy who can tell you exactly how he made every single beep, boop, swoosh on a movie he made 5 decades ago……with detailed accuracy. The transcelestians shirt didn’t just slip his mind. NOW, WHAT?!

The Mystery.

After that interaction, I felt like we were coming closer to a resolution. Several of my questions had been answered. But something still irked me. The main character (the shirt) still needed an origin and identity. Who printed it? When? Why? Making and designing a t-shirt in the mid-70s was an arduous undertaking. That’s a silkscreened logo, not just iron-on lettering. The old Russell tag dates from the proper era too. Even slightly earlier frankly. Why would it be bundled with the unworn Dragon Slayer shirt? Who was the lady who sold it to me? Was it even Star Wars related? IS THERE ANY VALUE!! AHHHH!

Since the correspondence with Ben, I’ve attempted to contact George Lucas as well as another prominent crew member for any validation or origin. I haven’t had a reply yet. If ANYONE has information regarding this please contact me. I will share my findings as soon as they’re available. FULL transparency too. If the shirt is worthless, we’ll find out together. I just want the truth. It’s already taken on a strange cool life of its own anyway……and there may be more to come.