LincolnsOnline Merchandise

[Nick]

I know we have the decals, but have we moved on and planned for anything else? I'd really, really love a polo shirt to wear when I go to a car show or the road rally August 7th. I poked around cafepress.com and they look like what we would need. They make what we sell as we need it and provide all the tools to create what we want to sell. They even take car of all the financial stuff so people can pay however they like. We can even add a small price above cost to generate more funds for the site.

I goofed around with their software and I think their white polo with a LincolnsOnline logo on the left chest would look clean and elegant. They can also doo other things like T-Shirts, stickers, lunch boxes, sweatshirts, and anything in between. Any thoughts? Especially from DaKat?

[Hizhonor]

Hi Nick.... I was thinking the same thing. My wife had gotten the Lincoln logo wname off the internet and had made me some iron-on decals for my white golf shirts. Granted, it doesn't last as long as a pro job but people do take notice. I was thinking more along the "embroidered" logo. I'd be willing to pay 20.00-25.00 for a shirt like that. :cool:

[Nick]

I'm not sure about the Hanes software, but Cafe Press has a free store feature that lets a user collect profits. I am not sure how profits are collected though. I can ask my friend as he has made and sold shirts there.

[DaKat]

Ah, Nick – you chose a subject near and dear to my heart. smile.gif I would love to have some polo’s or hats, and I have done a little looking around cafepress as well as another place. However . . . . . . . .(you can hear it coming, huh?)

As a site owner, I frequent lots of other boards to try to keep up with things. A newer board than ours (but with an equal or greater membership) recently posted their information about the flyers, shirts, hats, etc. they were going to sell. I was absolutely floored by the quality of their stuff. Of course, when I found out they laid out over 3K for it, it made more sense, but still . . . . I have not always heard great things about cafepress and similar stores. I have always tried to portray Lincolns OnLine as a class act, and I’d hate to offer what might be substandard merchandise.

I am interested in doing this but I am leery of companies that may not give our members the quality that I think Lincolns OnLine stands for.

Discuss :D

[NYC LS8]

DustinImports on FvC made up a bunch of Lincoln-related shirts, hats, etc. IIRC, wasn't he told that he could NOT use the Lincoln name or logo without their permission? Or was that someone else? :confused:

[Nick]

Kat, I always felt this site and its members was much classier than any other and I have always preferred it for those reasons.

I agree with you and franco that an embroidered logo would do us the most justice. If you would like, I can inquire about getting some high quality, embroidered polos and what not for our little group. I can also order a one off polo from CafePress to test quality.

I'm rather jealous what gets offered at LLSOC. I understand they do have merbership dues and such, but I can't help but admire the quality products they offer with their logo. (It's another reason for me to get an LS sometime. :D ) Perhaps I can ask around where clubs got their merchandise made. A Victorinox knife with our logo would be so cool too or maybe some LincolnsOnline Mag Lites, but that's getting way ahead of the curve. :D It's too bad we don't have as wide a dedicated following as marques like BMW, Porsches, or even VWs. I guess the cars just haven't elicited the same passion and enthusiasm from as many owners.

So, I'll wait for the go ahead from the commander. :D

[Hizhonor]

NYC LSC said:

DustinImports on FvC made up a bunch of Lincoln-related shirts, hats, etc. IIRC, wasn't he told that he could NOT use the Lincoln name or logo without their permission? Or was that someone else? :confused:

--------------------------

If the image has the (R) , (C), (SM), or (TM) along with the logo, it's "generally" accepted to use the logo. I would think that an e-mail to Ford / Lincoln explaining that this is an international Lincoln owners 'club', and that the Lincoln Logo would like to be used on the club's "authorized" apparel, I wouldn't think there would be a problem.

If you look at some websites, there's the Lincoln Logo plastered all over them as backgrounds...

How about this: Kat takes the current Lincolns Online.com logo and instead of the 'dot' over the "i", she makes it the lincoln 4 pointed star ? Just thinking out loud ovah heah! tongue.gif

[Nick]

We should be OK as we do not have the actual Lincoln logo in our banner. Dustin was trying to use the star emblem. However, I am less sure about having Lincoln in our name. It is probably trademarked. We can always talk to Ford. It is also important to note that we are a non-profit owner driven group while Dustin was trying to make a personal profit.

[Hizhonor]

Nick said:

"Diagnosed with ALFS (Acute Lincoln Fanatic Syndrome)"

:D :D :D You know, I don't know if it's just me, but since I took posession of my Lincoln back in May, I have noticed more and more Lincolns on the road than I ever paid attention to before. It's become an obsession of sorts. I got a Lincoln hat on ebay, a Lincoln business card holder on ebay, a keyring with the Lincoln logo ....where does it stop???? AAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!! ;p

Oh, and I HAVE to blame my wife for getting me the Polished Stainless Steel Lincoln Licence Plate!

[Nick]

LOL! I was debating on whether or not to add "Completely Incurrable" to it. It's just such a nearly incapacitating disease. I stopped dead in my tracks and walked all the way around a rarer Mark VII at least 3 times while on my cell phone and while someone was sleeping inside. I was ranting and raving all about the car as I circled it. It was quite the sight. :D

[Hizhonor]

Hehehehehehe.... being a Physician Recruiter, specializing in Psychiatrists, I'm going to have to ask one of my favorite clients to explain this obsessive behavior over a car to me! :D Hmmmm, now that I think about it, I'm almost sure he drives a Lincoln. This will be an interesting conversation to say the least!

quote:Originally posted by Nick:
LOL! I was debating on whether or not to add "Completely Incurrable" to it. It's just such a nearly incapacitating disease. I stopped dead in my tracks and walked all the way around a rarer Mark VII at least 3 times while on my cell phone and while someone was sleeping inside. I was ranting and raving all about the car as I circled it. It was quite the sight. :D

[92 AZTC]

Yeah... embroidered would be very nice...

[clouderold]

I'd be willing to buy a shirt, or multiple for that matter =D

[DaKat]

So far, all we seem to have come up with is that we think embroidered would be the way to go?

Discuss :D

[LSC SS]

I'm thinking Lincolnsonline T-Backs and boxers would be cool !! ;)

[pro-five-oh]

I'm thinking we need to find someone RELIABLE, affordable, and reputable to make this stuff.

Dakat, LSC SS, and myself know what a nightmare it was to make those LoL stickers...can you imagine the pain of other merchandise if the vendor turns out to be an asshole???

Keep that in mind...

[ndforspeedlincoln]

quote:Originally posted by DaKat:
So far, all we seem to have come up with is that we think embroidered would be the way to go?

Discuss :D

i have been running embroidery machines for 7 years and if this had come up @ a year ago i could have had them made...but the company that i work for has become very,very strict on having things made for personal use..... :-/...that sucks....

[LSC SS]

I still have one of that hats you made !!

[OneWayStreet]

Embroidered stuff would be nice, but probably expensive. Most of my car-theme shirts have prints of some type on them. I have 1 embroidered shirt that was pretty expensive.

I'd probably buy at least one embroidered-type shirt.

If prints are gonna be considered, how about the LoL logo with a different model Lincoln featured in the design.

For instance, LoL with a Garnet Red M7 LSC SE. :D Or more than 1 M7.

Another shirt could feature the LoL logo with a M8, another with a M5 ....etc......

Just an idea to throw in with the rest. smile.gif

[Nick]

If we went with any car on a shirt, it would have to be one in completely stock form to represent all the cars. It just looks weird and is misleading otherwise.

That said, perhaps we could offer screen printed T shirts and embroidered polos. I think this will offer the best of what we want. If there is enough interest, perhaps we could offer a hat. If we go ahead with this, maybe we can go with a preorder and prepay system, at least for the initial batch.

I wonder how much enamel pics cost. I would love one on my foul weather hat.

[ndforspeedlincoln]

quote:Originally posted by LSC SS:
I still have one of that hats you made !!

nice!!!! i had that design made and the guy who made it for me got fired soon after he made it... oh well
...

[Nick]

So what's the status of this? I want my embroidered polo! :D

[LSC SS]

I think we need to sell off the decals before we take on another project !!

[DaKat]

Guys, it takes a lot of work, and a lot of planning, and a lot of follow-through for this stuff to get it done right. Someone might have to step up to the plate on this.

Ideas are nice but they're just that until you've got some info/facts/data to back 'em up.

Discuss :D

[Nick]

I have more posts than the web master. :D

I was just seeing if we had a consensus that we should move forward at some point. I can act as the point man for this since I started it. I'll start looking into this if everyone is OK with it.

[JoshMcMadMac]

More power to ya, Nick. I love the idea. I would give a few dollars for LoL merchandise. But I can tell you now, it isn't going to pan out well. Karl is still fighting to ditch the second set of decals, and this is after the first batch that took forever to sell. I hate to be a pessimist, but unless you can get them made one at a time, I imagine you'll be in the hole for the cost of the stuff for quite some time.

[Nick]

If this works out, I think I will have to take prepaid orders.

[RJ Sclafani]

Ok Ok, hows this, I'll set up the account with cafe press and make the graphics. I believe I am more than qualified for the job and I don't think anyone will have a problem with any of the logos. I can even make car specific shirts with a LSC or TC on it. Also Turbine wheel shirts for dereck. I've done this before, owning my own t-shirt business in high school. I've also used cafe press so I know how the checks work and all that. To make any kind of profit for the site (~$1.00 a shirt) the prices will probably be around 18 bones on a regular tee.

[JoshMcMadMac]

quote:Originally posted by RJ Sclafani:
Ok Ok, hows this, I'll set up the account with cafe press and make the graphics. I believe I am more than qualified for the job and I don't think anyone will have a problem with any of the logos. I can even make car specific shirts with a LSC or TC on it. Also Turbine wheel shirts for dereck. I've done this before, owning my own t-shirt business in high school. I've also used cafe press so I know how the checks work and all that. To make any kind of profit for the site (~$1.00 a shirt) the prices will probably be around 18 bones on a regular tee.

But I think their quality is in question. I know the shirts from Dustin were not worth $20. :rolleyes:

[RJ Sclafani]

true... tro0

[92 AZTC]

How many different logo ideas are there going to be? is it just going to be one logo or more?
I would do a pre-order, I like the embroidered look and am willing to pay a few extra bucks for a quality shirt... Not the kind you sell to tourists, but t he heavy well made cotton ones...

[LSC SS]

I think Kat is concerned with the quality of the items that are going to be made and she should also approve any logo's that will be used.

[Nick]

quote:Originally posted by LSC SS:
I think Kat is concerned with the quality of the items that are going to be made and she should also approve any logo's that will be used.

Agreed. I was thinking of a simple LincolnsOnline logo like we have in the header of all the pages or the logo from the index page, minus background graphics. However, a combination of the red and white logos with a .com added may also be quite nice and will advertise the site better.

[SUMOBOY]

Love to have an embroidered or tastefully done airbrushed or screened shirt. BUT! GOTTA HAVE A 5X! (where do you think my name comes from)