Posted on: November 3rd, 2009 Wares, Wears & Werewolves: The Brilliant ‘Nakatomi Inc.’
Part of living this life, this geeky, culture-centric existence, is collecting. Like the cro-magnon man before us, we hunt and gather and ultimately hoard (substitute furs and herbs with phasers and variant covers). As a collector of all things nerdy, and with a scrutinizing eye no less, very rarely is the find worth the chase; this is not the case with the beautiful product offered at my new favorite website Nakatomi Inc.
Nakatomi Inc (located at www.nakatomiinc.com – notice the double i’s) is a fairly new online hub for posters, prints, shirts and other accessories aimed at those with their fingers on the pulse or the arts and entertainment (though to be fair, anyone who can appreciate anything on a visual level will find plenty to awe over). Started in January of this year by founder Tim Doyle, Nakatomi Inc. has already gained a reputation for quality, accessibility and a massive overall rad-factor.
If you’re like me, you’re no stranger to ordering prints online – reproductions or original pieces based on sci-fi movies, or quirky actors, things like that. While the majority of these are frame worthy (plenty adorn my wall in expensive mounting), you can’t help but shake that they are reproductions. Just this week I got my hands on some prints from Nakatomi Inc. and I kid you not I was taken aback – hands down, these cats win best in show for quality and presentation, let alone the gorgeousness of the product itself. The paper quality, matched with the inks (every grain a blind-man’s dream), scream original; though most of these prints are in very limited number, you would honestly think that you were holding a piece valued at hundreds of dollars. For all intents and purposes, they should be hundreds of dollars, though almost all of the pieces for sale are less than $60.
The designs themselves are amazing; though much of the subject material is based on or inspired by the nerdy with a retro flavor, the amount of talent in each piece is unfathomable. I’m having a couple prints framed next week, I guarantee you they will be the highlight of the room. Everything from My Little Pony to Planet of the Apes; nothing is sacred and everything is fodder for some of the most unique and accessible art you will find on the web today. You can even pick up some of your favorite gig posters, an area I find myself more and more interested in. Mr. Doyle’s own comic book, Amazing Adult Fantasy, can also be purchased through their store.
Here’s where I’m really going to go “buck wild”… get it… bucks.. as in “money”… hello? The t-shirts. Who isn’t flat out nutso for a killer tee? My heart fluttered and my credit card shook (though their prices are more than reasonable) when I hit the t-shirt page. Classic monsters transform into vibrant chest-warmers, and get this: some of them are sent to you in an old-school VHS tape case (yes, it depresses me to reference VHS as “old-school”). Brilliant. Genius. En route to my back. SPOILER ALERT: You’re all getting one for Christmas this year.
Nakatomi Inc. must be on your ‘watch’ list and in your bookmarks if you have any semblance of awesome. Alongside artist/founder Tim Doyle you will find incredible work from artists such as Paul Pope, Jacob Borshard, Nick Derington and other amazing artists. Nakatomi Inc. also features a really innovative way to get their work out with the “Nakatomi Invitational” – once a month Nakatomi Inc. invites an artist to create an art print and t-shirt, limited to 100 pieces and only available for that month. Check out this month’s invitational from artist Guy Burwell.
The Devil Dinosaur invades my cubicle!
Before I leave you to go and fill your cart, let me say this: I live in Calgary, AB, Canada, far from the aforementioned pulse. I don’t get cool screenings, there’s no real film/geek community, nor is there a “scene”. From the outside looking in, Austin, TX is the greatest place on earth. I’ve dreamed of visiting the world-famous Alamo Drafthouse theater (which coincidentally used to employ Tim, who also curated their equally world-famous merchandise) and setting up shop behind my laptop in this seemingly magical city, as many nerds before me have done. It is with these sentiments that I ask Mr. Doyle this very serious question:
Dear Tim, may I please have your life?
Head on over to www.nakatomiinc.com immediately. They also have a killer blog going on, The Stuff. Tim Doyle’s personal portfolio is also incredible.
Steve Zissou says ‘do it’.
One Response to “Wares, Wears & Werewolves: The Brilliant ‘Nakatomi Inc.’”
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Dalyn Says:
November 4th, 2009 at 11:23 pmThank you for this link. They were out of the Giant Squid print, but they had a link to another site that still had a few, and I managed to snag one. Between this and Mondotees.com (which is part of the Alamo Drafthouse), I will go broke and run out of wall space soon. I bookmarked Nakatomi and sent my girlfriend a link and a list of the prints I want for Christmas.
Thanks, Giant Squid!