Every week is a good week in the pin and patch game. Despite Instagram beginning to roll out its controversial new updates, spirits remain high and people who are really good at what they do (usually not flavor-of-the-month celebs) don’t really seem to care about the implications of Instagram’s update. But that’s old news. People who do the most interesting work tend to navigate their way around barriers rather than whine about them. My hat’s off to you, pin and patch game. Keep on keepin’ on.
Here are my 5 favorite products of the week, all of which are about half the price of an artisanal Brooklyn cheeseburger and will help you reclaim the clothing you already own (that’s priceless). If your millennial brain has the attention span to read this whopping 600 words, you’ll be rewarded with a special 20% discount code to my shop, Strike Gently Co, at the bottom of the article. You can also just scroll—
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Dropped Pin
Thanks to the corporatized accessibility of rap, people who have nothing to do with it really love cultural symbols like Philly blunts, 40’s, purple drank, and street art. I’m including myself in this category. This “40” pin is guaranteed to make you look less lame and more like a cool hip-hop person—right, kids? Dropped Pin also have a Bowie lightning bolt pin and a Bart Simpson DEVO bootleg on their site.
$10 here.
Weirdo Weapons
One of the more obscure (and funny) bootleg pins I’ve seen in awhile, Weirdo Weapons brings us Kanye and his endearing South Park counterpart. There are two variants of this pin, presumably because the first one sold so well. Weirdo Weapons also sells a pin that says PODCASTS in the Metallica font, which I can get down with. Podcasts are way cooler than Metallica.
$8 here.
This Might Hurt
This is run by Isabella Rotman, an illustrator with a vast portfolio of non-pin work and a pretty respectable career under her belt. The cool thing about pins is that the overhead for those who create them is relatively low, so it’s a decent product for an artist who already has a store to add to their collection. Enjoy this fat toad mermaid from Rotman, perfectly designed.
$10 here.
Good Hustle Co.
It’s (almost) the first of the month. Get your legs snapped arm twist ribs cracked wig tapped. Got the inside right from the outside. The outside get inside, ya insides be outside. It don’t matter if you three feet or eight one, you’ll get eight from me, nine and straight blown. Front, back, side to side…
$12 for set (with pink Range Rover pin)
BONUS PATCH
Ziero Muko
Ziero Muko undoubtedly makes the best patches out of pretty much anyone on the internet. They elevate the form to actual art, producing products that are somehow both insanely high quality and low priced. I’m not quite sure how they do it, but I’m 100% for supporting what they’re doing, because they’re keeping patches legit. Instead of thinking of them as a passing trend, people like Muko remind us that any strange niche can be transformed into something actually interesting when done with care, creativity and a bit of benign psychosis.
$7.00 here.
This week’s discount code is DANGLE. Use it for 20% off ANY ORDER at www.strikegently.co, where I release new pins and patches every week. Thanks for reading. Check out the previous roundups below.
Related:
Our Favorite Enamel Pins of the Week: #8
Our Favorite Enamel Pins of the Week: #7
Our Favorite Enamel Pins Of The Week: #6
Our Favorite Pins of the Week: #5
Our Favorite Enamel Pins of the Week: #4
Lapel Luxuries: Pins of the Week #3
