Depeche Mode to release Manga T-shirts? Not exactly

A T-shirt with (badly drawn) manga like drawings of the 4 Depeche Mode (ex-)members, sold for just 9 US dollar. A clever bargain idea from Mute and the band to access the Japanese market? Or a grey rose T-shirt print being sold as official Depeche Mode designs? This delivers it all. And what to think of all those vintage shirts from bands such as Front 242, Nine Nails and other industrial bands including exotic designs assembled by some really cheap photoshop processing? or on eBay, you search and you find them. These are some of the many goods that are being sold on the eBay network by counterfeiters. And it doesn't look like it that things will change soon as it is impossible to actually verify if the goods offered are genuine for the eBay personnel.

But should you worry if you purchase these goods? Actually you should, because it is close to impossible that the items offered at such a low price can actually be good quality ones. And we are not just talking about the print (which is obviously low standard) but more precisely about the kind of t-shirts used which are more often than not crap quality. A while back for instance Side-Line was informed by a reader that he had purchased 'official' Front 242 t-shirts on eBay but after having washed the shirt once, the sleeves had fallen off... Side-Line checked it out and found that the official shirt was actually a very poorly assembled counterfeit T-shirt. So far the 'official' aspect of it.

After a complaint, the seller removed all of his goods, the Front 242 ones, from his website, but he is still selling Depeche Mode, Erasure, ... shirts on eBay. So, does this mean you should avoid eBay as a market place to get hold of official merchandise? Not really, but be sure that very cheap prices and exotic designs are most likely not official. Happy hunting!

Posted by B. Van Isacker