Hot Topic: Making it Fashionable to Be a Geek
Sunday, December 30th, 2007
There’s no denying it: nostalgia is in. I think it’s been that way since the beginning of this decade, but it’s a fad that only seems to be building momentum. It seems that my generation (the early twenty-somethings) are starving for all the cool stuff we had in the 90’s, when we were kids– Super Nintendo, pogs, comics, Power Rangers, etc. I think it’s safe to say that most of us think the world of entertainment back then was more fresh and frankly, more entertaining. So naturally a lot of companies have been capitalizing on this, and I can’t say I mind. When I was fourteen and still watching Power Rangers (by then it was Zeo, by far the best season for the series) I had to hide it from my friends because it was too childish and too geeky. Sure, I fought my little brother with a Gold Ranger staff and a Red Ranger sword in the back yard but I wasn’t going to let anyone know about it.
But now, the original Power Rangers is old enough to achieve this nostalgia status that Pac-Man and Mario have had for the last several years. I went shopping last week with some of my Christmas money and was quite surprised to find a brand new line of faded Power Rangers T-shirts at a Hot Topic in the mall.
Six years ago, Hot Topic wasn’t really my store. It was all about punk rock music and gear and goth clothes. That stuff is still there, but now it’s mixed with a wide array of clothes and other accessories designed to make your mouth water for things of the past. In just the last couple years, I’ve found myself making several purchases there, including a Batman wristband and a Batman shoulder bag, complete with a small flashlight that shines the bat symbol (which, unfortunately, they no longer carry). This stuff makes it look cool to be a geek! It doesn’t seem to matter what they put on a shirt or a hoodie, it looks good. When I was there last week, I bought a Marvel Zombies hoodie, which looks fantastic. Some of the people I work with saw me wear it once and even though they had no idea what they were looking at (apparently they’ve never read Marvel Zombies) they were impressed with it. And no, the guy in the picture below isn’t me; that’s a picture from Hot Topic’s website.
Hot Topic’s slogan is “Everything About the Music,” and yet they’ve really gotten away from that. I happen to love that, because I’ve been finding myself shopping there more and more. They are a little over priced, but it’s on par with what you would expect for a retail store in a mall. Some music fans might wish they were more like they were a few years ago, but they haven’t abandoned their original store concept, they’ve just expanded on it. They’ve discovered several more “hot topics.” Now they have something for everyone, or at least, for every kind of geek. They haven’t just embraced comics. They have a huge line of Nightmare Before Christmas items, another huge nostalgia property. They have a lot of items devoted to movies from the 70s and 80s and tons of video game stuff (especially Mario). They also have a lot of T-shirts with funny, geek in-jokes. My fiance’s favorite was, “I beat my boyfriend at Guitar Hero.” She almost bought it because, sadly, it’s true. (That’s not her in the picture below, either).
But being such a comic book fan, I’m most impressed with how in-tune Hot Topic is to the comic book world. There are some current properties that seem to fit into this world of nostalgia because of their connection to the past. Marvel Zombies is one such example, but a better one is the new Dark Knight film coming out this summer. The movie is several months away but Hot Topic has already released a T-shirt with the already famous, creepy close-up of the Joker’s face. It’s unusual to see something like this so soon before a movie is released, but Hot Topic is on top of their game. I really wanted that shirt, by the way, but I went for the Zombie hoodie instead. Maybe next time.
Take a minute to browse their web catalog if you don’t have a store nearby. If you’re a big geek like myself, chances are you haven’t realized Hot Topic has actually become our kind of store. And if you have a little Christmas money to splurge, buy one of those cool shirts. Take the opportunity to sport Power Rangers or Spider-Man while it’s actually fashionable. We’ve been waiting for this moment since we were kids.
LLAP
-Cap’n Logan
