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For the first time in over 30 years!
"ALL OVER" ORIGINAL BELT PRINT RE-ISSUE!
No two are exactly alike!
THE HISTORY OF THE PUFFED LAVA FOREVER GECKO "ALL-OVER" TEE
The Puffed Lava Forever Gecko "All Over" Tee is created with an original, retro, monster of a 'belt-print' machine -- It's as authentic 1980s as possible without actually being made in the 1980s!
We Remade these for black Friday using the 3 original colors -- White/Black, Neon Green/Black & Neon Pink/Black!
Belt Printing Machines are a relic of the past and there are only a few working ones left in existence. There are not many (or any) working belt print machines in the US -- let alone the world.
Between 1988 and 1989, Gecko sold A Quarter of a Million "Forever Gecko" tees in these 3 colors. It was a tee design that was almost impossible to keep on the shelves at stores due to high demand -- as it was the very first popular tee to combine BOTH an all-over belt print AND a Textured, puffed ink print. Prior to Gecko releasing this, brands would never combine the two, because it was too expensive of a shirt to create with 2 printing jobs -- but in the end, that was one of the features that made it so popular and iconic.
Without a doubt, it will teleport you back in time to 1988 & 1989 and remains a fun, epic tee for daily wear, or to look cool as hell & authentic at any 80s/90s party!
A perfect gift for any Gecko Hawaii Fan consistently searching for that missing, nostalgic & authentic 1980s throwback/retro look & feel.
The puff ink is designed to look like molten lava rock -- and it is so on point!
HISTORY OF GECKO WALL ALL-OVER BELT PRINT
Gecko Hawaii was THE VERY FIRST brand to make a Belt Print tee with a graphic printed on top of it! And this exact tee -- "Gecko Wall" -- was one of our most popular belt print designs EVER. The hand-drawn art was so popular that for the next decade, we used the design on all sorts of awesome apparel.
Originally released in 1988, "Forever Gecko" was about 3 years ahead of the curve in fashion for the time. Belt printing really started gaining traction and increasing in popularity in the early 90s -- around 1991.
Today, there are VERY FEW Belt Printing machines left in the ENTIRE country -- so these tees are extremely hard to make, and rare to find.
Each one is hand screened - a lengthy and time consuming process.
Until Gecko's "Forever Gecko" and "Gecko Wall" belt printed tees (with graphics stamped on them) were released in '86, '87 & '88 -- many brands did not want to create such a shirt for two main reasons:
1. The design was so different, that they were not sure how people would react to it, or if it would sell.
2. It uses 4X the amount of ink and took twice as long to make (because the design was on both sides -- plus the additional printed graphic).
But Gecko Hawaii was all about risk taking -- and the White, Neon Green & Pink "Forever Gecko" Tees sold out so fast, that at first it was tough to keep up with the demand. Then, of course, other brands took notice and jumped on board once the concept turned out to be a success.
For this special Black Friday 2023 re-issue, we made the tees as close as possible to the original. The White tee with black ink is printed on a 100% cotton Hanes Beefy Tee (which we used back then). The Beefy Tee is slightly longer and made with a super soft, but thicker cotton and a slightly larger collar -- just like back in the 80s!
The Neon Green and Neon Pink tees are a classic fit, but in order to get the colors as bright and close to the 1980's original colors as possible, we needed to use a 50 cotton/50 poly tee. It's still super soft and the fit is GREAT! It's a classic fit, so pick your actual size on those.
We are super stoked to bring it back -- but we will know that it will sell out quickly. These are really rare tees, as we mentioned, belt printing machines are almost non-existent these days with the expense, the advent of digital printers -- and it takes a specialist to make them.
Get yours while you can!
