not that my opinion will be very respected, as ever, but here goes:
MrWeds already mentions in this thread the lack of quality that seems to be inherent in the current selections. This is ever a concern of mine, but quality is such a fickle concept. If it's not cats and bunnies, it will be pop culture thefts framed as parodies. If it's not pop culture thefts, it will be wholly unattractive tees which sell because they have some unfunny math joke on them. If it's not unfunny math jokes, it'll go back to cats. And really, once something sells, quality stops being something people can measure. So let's ignore the obvious for a moment and focus on things we CAN alter.
I have not spent a lot of time browsing the special weeks because the ones I have browsed haven't really done much to make me feel that I should browse more, but the fact is this thread proves a lot. There have been numerous recent shirts brought back on new formats, many current shirts brought onto new formats that can sell concurrently, many themes which fit into the same wheelhouses we see triumph regularly... The most important and fixable part of this is, simply, age. The thing that excited me during the first classics program (and I own two remastered tees from that run, some of the last tees I've bought from woot) was that there were legitimately old tees showing up. I already know I don't shop like most people do. I don't go in looking for a North Face jacket because everyone has one. I go in looking for a jacket that looks good to me, because I need one, and I hope to be surprised by something awesome. This is how I approached tees as well: if it gave me a visceral reaction of positive surprise, I respected it, even when I wouldn't wear it. When something honest inside me triggered an appreciation deeper than this, I'd buy it. I didn't sit up waiting for my favorite derby shirt to print (because they never hit the fog) nor did I sit up on daily days hoping that I'd get a Doctor Who shirt (or even a property I actually cared about) because I was looking for an actual stimulus from the art. So I realize what I'm about to say probably doesn't apply to most people, but here it goes.
Artulo is right about BATS, and not just because I'd be happy to go in on a copy even now. It is because it is a shirt people have actually asked for, but not a shirt people probably have. "You've got to try this, guys," for all its other flaws, is first and foremost well distributed, but secondly it is far fresher. How many first year tees have been reprinted through these weeks? Almost none (I'm wagering Sore Thumbs and Cake are exceptions, as well as Scurvy, but the motivation here is obvious). The fact is, even without voting, it still is a popularity contest. The stuff people remember get more sales (the difference between the second album from a one-hit wonder with lots of talent hidden behind that one hit, and the second album from Justin Bieber), and the stuff that is untested and was unpopular never gets a second chance.
There's something telling in the penguin v. bunnies stats. A Ramy "design", in a group of penguins, did not manage to crack 200 items sold, yet was the highest seller among them. Given that all the reboots in the first classics run hovered around 100 copies, despite being less popular or not at all popular the first time, I'm not really sure what the con would be to taking more risks on the obscure, but even more so, the old. Would I buy a "the Rustic" that actually fits me? I'm not sure, but I'd actually consider it. As always, my argument stands: if you can get similar results from better or at least more diverse product, and there is no one standing in the way (read: voters) of your decision to do that, why wouldn't you try to forge your own path?
Obviously I can't weigh in on print quality or blank issues because I haven't bought one, though it should be concerning to see a site raise its profit margin by $2 a tee while also decreasing its blank quality and possibly its print quality (as suggested by the other quotes in this thread). But the other thing I can definitely say is, there shouldn't be a single shirt brought back without it being brought back also as a t-shirt. That is what shirt.woot sells. I have not seen much evidence to state that the people who claim tees would be better as art are then buying those tees as art instead. People come here to buy shirts. So if you want to bring back Crooked Couch as a print (which I know you did), maybe bring it back as a shirt too, because people come here looking for shirts. Will it sell well as a shirt? I bet it didn't sell well as a print (more's the pity), so who cares? Once you select a design to come back, it should be on a tee first, and other product second. Not every design makes a good tote or apron or even poster. Granted, I don't think every design has made a good shirt. But they were made AS shirts, and they should return that way.
I know long messages with explanations aren't taken well 'round these tharr parts, so for those of you who have skimmed, the main two points are: 1) consider bringing back shirts that might have a new audience, not just ones with a safe audience, especially older ones that newer wooters might not have ever seen, and 2) print shirts because people go to shirt sites for shirts and if they missed a shirt they probably want to buy the design as a shirt.
