Friday, January 9, 2009

Meet the Residents tees and new ideas?


HI All
here's a photo of the new Meet the Residents tee, I think it looks quite nice. Rich black.

Besides tshirts (and new music, of course) what other items would YOU like to see Ralph carry?

Towels?

Boxers?

Jackets?

wristbands?

mousepads (anyone use those anymore?)

scarves?

polo shirts?

Any of yer ideas are welcome. Please, we don't really find a phrase such as "Well, I DON'T want you to make anymore of...." or "Well, I'll tell you what I DIDN'T like" cuz that won't be so helpful. And while we'd love to make a Residents Hockey jersey or Pez dispenser, we may not have the numbers to support such an item.

Thanks and be sure to stop by ralphamerica.com to pick up this new Meet the Residents tee, or Not Available tee - and they're both available on a nice hoody as well. AND we're throwing in free WHERE'S HARVEY bumper stickers in every order for these new shirts!

Happy New Year!

20 comments:

Unknown said...

A suggestion I've made before, I'll make again. How about a calendar with Residents related significant dates and trivia - and of course artwork?

Rev. Syung Myung Me said...

I like the calendar idea, but I really like the idea of polo/button/workshirts. Like the Icky Flix work shirt or the cryptic/eyeball long-sleeved denim shirts. Those were really nice, and I can always go for more of those! Those were some of my favorites.

Cobb said...

Agreed - I like the calendar idea as well. I realize I may very well be in the minority for this, but I would definitely go for a hockey jersey (classic eyeball?).
Also, would it be possible for us to choose the color of the shirts? I generally do not buy gray t's but if they were in black...
And lastly, I would love to see a Residents FF3 theme (I'd do it myself, but... you know...)

Chris said...

That's two for hockey jersey. My design (as always) is the Fingerprince scrawl Rz logo on the front, and the name RALPH and #44 on the back.

I lost my knitted cap thingie last year, and it was really warm and freaked out my boss. Mayhaps one with the Bunny Boy logo?

lastangelman said...

1.)An annual Residents calendar (with relevant dates significant to Residents fans)would be a sweet premium for Low Number Subscribers.
2.)For the rest of us, how about a high quality Residents perpetual calendar - one you never throw away or have to replenish, etc. made of blocks or tiles.
3.)Various skins with Residential designs for iPods/iTouchs/iPhones are pretty cool. Perhaps a special deal, an iTouch or Classic iPod loaded with the entire Residents audio and video catalog.
4.)A Santa Dog figurine or Christmas ornament (I've made homemade paper ornaments that resemble the famous eyeball heads with top hats for years).
5.)This may be off topic, but I was very much impressed by The Commercial DVD project. How about a new outside contributor DVD project for a Santa Dog video DVD. For a limited time, the tracks Fire, Lightning, Explosion and Aircraft Damage (and possibly some other select Santa Dog tracks) are made available as mp3 downloads for aspiring directors to use for their Santa Dog video. They can upload their completed projects with PDF of all details or send to RalphAmerica or to Big Brother at Residents.com
6.)A nice re-issue of Title In Limbo box set with Monkey and Bunny slippers.

Paulie said...

^ Number 6! Nicely done!

By the way, if I'm not mistaken, I believe this is the first time that a "Not Available" (the album) motif has been made available on something other than the album itself. Looks nice, I'm looking forward to ordering this one, just gotta scrape the capital together first.

I know it'd probably be an expensive venture, but I'm still dreaming of a Duck Stab letter opener. We can all engrave on them, "Ignorance of your culture is not considered cool" if they're big enough, ha!

Thank you Ralph America!

Unknown said...

Hockey jersey? Baseball jersey! Goatie's design would work fine. I think you could probably get baseball jerseys made in smaller batches than hockey jerseys too.

I've opined about a polo shirt many time before. 3 button, all cotton, please. Black with white scrawl.

Might be time for some nice ceramic-type pins again.

Finally, on the sarcastic front, residents snuggies.

MASON SHELBY said...

How about some poster sized versions of album covers? Or maybe even just posters that are the same size as the old record covers? Or publicity photos or live shots... or anything, really. Posters are great!

lastangelman said...

When I worked at WRKC-FM in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. in 1980-81, we got some excellent promo posters (and a lotta love) from Ralph Records of the Residents and their other artists . Perhaps a re-issue of some of those classic Residents (and R&TL) posters (i.e. Eskimo, The Commercial Album, Diskomo, Subterranean Modern, Songs For Swinging Larvae). Heck, the Diskomo poster could re-issued in dizzying 3-D graphics requiring those cheesy 3-D glasses. Bring back the black lightbulbs!LOL

Sliding puzzles with current 21rst C. Resident albums (Bunny Boy, Voice Of Midnight, Timmy[from YouTube] Animal Lover and Demons Dance Alone) would be a treat.

This is silly: white gloves with an official Residents product label (top hatted eyeball) printed on back of each glove.

Unknown said...

These are some good ideas!

A slider puzzle would be good, but an even better idea would be a Residents Rubik's Cube!!! I think the Residents did do this at one point in their career, so it would be fun to bring it back. Any other puzzle-type item would be great as well.

I also like small pictures for some reason. Mini-posters are awesome, and so are cards. Just having a Rez version of your standard deck of cards would be an excellent item as well. It would probably be asking too much to suggest an original card game from them, lol.

Oh, and how about some affordable figurines. ;-)

Thanks, Ralph America, for your fantastic merchandise, and for your willingness to accept suggestions from fans.

RalphAmerica said...

Hi folks
good ideas, all. Some more manageable than others. To make affordable figurines, unfortunately you have to make a buttload of them, and even more unfortunately the residents' fan numbers are not congruent to that buttload. That toy company that made the glow in the dark ones this year just charged us a lot for them. One of the reasons we stopped carrying them.

Goatie actually provided us with a very swell rubiks prototype, and we all liked the idea. It was the actual labor of pasting on all those little stickers that was going to be problematic. Maybe if we had a big enough party, you could all come and put stickers on these things.

lastangelman said...

1.)Well, you don't have to sell Santa Dog figurines to just Residents fans on Ralphamerica.com... a lot of civilians would snap 'em up if they were featured on eBay or Amazon.com (slight drawback being that those companies take a cut). Almost like a calling card introduction to The Residents.

2.)Wow! A Rubik's cube party! Don't invite me, the practical joker in me would be too tempted to switch stickers on a few cubes, frustrating many experts trying to solve their cubes.

3.)The Monkey and Bunny slippers would probably have to be finger puppet size to fit in a limited edition cardboard or wooden box version of Title In Limbo. A lot easier (and affordable?) than making grown-up human size versions.

Creeptastic said...

The question that springs to my mind is... "What could Ralph America manufacture that I couldn't put together myself?"

Posters... You can have a poster of any image you want these days by going to Kinko's and spending a few bucks.

T-shirts... the same deal, really. Places like Cafe Press will make any shirt you want. I could have an "N. Senada At The Snakeywake" t-shirt two days from now, if I wanted. (I don't; I never wear picture t-shirts.)

The most useful Rez swag I've ever bought was the Third Reich 'N' Roll Beer Stein. I drink five or six mugs of tea from that thing every single day. It has earned its keep a million times over by being capacious and fuctional, yet having esoteric Residents designs all over it.

But I suppose even mugs can be made-to-order these days.

So perhaps the most useful, non-musical Residents item that I cannot make myself would be.. the books. Uncle Willie's Guide. Eyeball To Eyeball. These are wonderful publications and, like the mug, worth every penny a million times over for their vast stores of knowledge and artwork.

I, for one, would sure like to read a tell-all written by The Residents. All the behind-the-scenes stories we've never heard, inspirations behind various projects, experiences in the studio and on tour... I'm sure such reminisces could fill multiple volumes and be a fascinating read from cover to cover.

Plus, if The Residents don't publish their own memoirs... nobody will.

tinno66uk said...

how about Residents glove puppets? 3 eyes, 1 skull, cheap to produce and highly desirable. i'm sure they would fly off the shelves. . .

lastangelman said...

Creptastic wrote:I, for one, would sure like to read a tell-all written by The Residents. All the behind-the-scenes stories we've never heard, inspirations behind various projects, experiences in the studio and on tour... I'm sure such reminisces could fill multiple volumes and be a fascinating read from cover to cover.

Plus, if The Residents don't publish their own memoirs... nobody will.


If you have purchased the Deluxe version of Demons Dance Alone and also the recently deeply discounted Buckets Of Fish On The Outskirts Of Town, the booklets in both collections comes as close The Residents have ever come at telling the truth about themselves without revealing anything too obvious.

But a limited edition publication about The Residents story (from their perspective as being Residents) would be a great treat for end of year, with great graphics and numerous illustrations. It could even be presented as a graphic novel illustrated by Robert Crumb, Drew Friedman, Brian Bollin and Pornographix.

Paulie said...

While I'm also in agreement that there needs to be at least two new Rz books (one being all lyrics and art), that would take a long time in development, during which time RA is trying to keep afloat. I think the aim seems to be, what else would we buy if it said "The Residents" on it? :)

I have dozens of Rz shirts, and love them, and will continue to buy new ones as they come, but there's got to be other stuff... RA mentioned a scarf, I sure could use one. I also liked the idea of other however slightly higher-brow stuff like button-down shirts (I LOVE my eyeball and Cryptic-embroidered denim shirts!), maybe a polo?

I remember boxer shorts that came out around the time of Hunters. Cool! And I absolutely LOVE my embroidered 30-year work jacket, wear it all the time.

Sweatshirts are also great, though I tend to gravitate to zippered ones, easier to take off. Yeay!

My friend's band just started selling a bottle opener w their logo on it, nothing like encouraging your friends to drink... Who has their "This is not part III of the Mole Trilogy" hardnose pen?

lastangelman said...

Some of the older fans may remember the Ralph Records 10th Anniversary box - there was lots of strange things with Ralph and Residents logos - a pizza pie pan holder, a Santa Dog sponge, I forget the rest, but it was amazingly funny and if you ever manage to get the complete set on ebay or elsewhere, good luck.

One could contact the manufacturer or bottler of RC Cola have a custom imprint of Resident brand cola (in 2007 they created the Buzz Cola brand for The Simpsons Movie promotion in participating 7-Elevens).

A box of Residents pencils with top hatted eyeball erasers.

Residents brand condoms that glow.

Socks in four solid colors.

A special download you can buy from Ralph online for a dollar or three donation: Screensaver and desktop designs based on nearly forty years of Residential images (no Baby Sex, people, sorry!). The screensaver can be slideshows of tours like Wormwood, Icky Flix, CUBE-E, The Mole Show, Demons Dance Alone, etc., as well as some of the early iconic Pornographix art and photography, as well images from Vileness Fats. The only thing that costs is time to set up and create.

mm said...

A SCARF WITH ALL OF THE ICKY FLIX CUT SCENE ANIMATIONS. Wouldn't that be great?

Lance Newberry said...

I would love to see the clssic eyeball black hoodie available again.

I bought two when my first one wore out, and now both of those are worn to a frazzling.

I wear hoodies all the time and I always get comments when wearing my Rez.

Please birng 'em back!

Unknown said...

i know this isa bit after the battle...
the legebdary cryptic baseball bat, of course, and also: an ice cube thing? to make ice cubes shaped ike rz stuff... (eyeballs w top hats, skulls, whatever)
how about one of those toys that emit sound when you pres a button, some carry insults or weird sound effects, the rz one could output samples or whatever?
and a real complicated one, a board game, like a monopolyor cluedo or something.. or a brand new game that would be made up for it?