If you know just one Stranger Thingsfan, then you won't be surprised to hear that thousands of them crashed a science museum's website in an attempt to buy replicas of a sweatshirt worn by Gaten Matarazzo on the show.
Per a report from Newsweek, folks at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul were delighted to see Matarazzo's character Dustin donning a sweatshirt featuring one of the museum's vintage merchandise designs – a print of a Brontosaurus skeleton. "Yes, we want one too," a museum representative wrote in a Facebook post from October 27. "Working on it!"
SEE ALSO:These 'Stranger Things' waffles are super easy to makeBy Nov. 1, it was official. "We're rereleasing our '80s Brontosaurus apparel in a few days," a Facebook post from the museum read. "Say no to knockoffs!"
In a press release, the museum said demand for the sweatshirt came quickly.
A social media follower tipped off the Science Museum to the sweatshirt’s appearance in the hugely popular TV show on Friday, October 27, the day its second season was released. Since then, the museum has been flooded with phone calls, emails, and social media posts from fans who are anxious to get their hands on the vintage sweatshirt, which was first available in the museum’s Explore Store in the early 1980s.
But how, exactly, did old Science Museum of Minnesota apparel end up on a major Netflix show? As Stranger Thingscostume designer Kim Wilcox told the Star Tribune, she spotted the original design on an old sweatshirt while searching for '80s apparel online. She purchased the sweatshirt and had a smaller size printed to fit Matarazzo. His character Dustin wears the design in the first episode of Season 2.
When the Science Museum of Minnesota finally put new sweatshirts up for sale on Tuesday, thousands of fans rushed online to buy merch for themselves, crashing the museum's website in the process.
"Orders are thundering in for Brontosaurus apparel," a museum Facebook post from Tuesday reads. "Due to demand, our website is slow. We have an unlimited supply online -- be patient!"
But despite the all-out chaos – including a few snippy Facebook comments from eager prospective buyers – the Star Tribunereports the museum had sold a whopping $400,000 worth of merchandise by Tuesday afternoon.
A selection of six items – all featuring the dinosaur print and offered in both adult and child sizes – are available for purchase at the museum's website, and range in price from $14.95 to $36.95.
Now, if we could just get our hands on Nancy's amazing collection of sweaters...
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