# Too bad about The Wildside



## Zippy Doodah (Jul 10, 2011)

Today I received the bad news in my email. The Wildside, manufacter of heat transfers now owned by Stahls, is going out of business. Rather Stahls is shutting them down, from what I read in the email. I was around in the 70's and 80's when heat transfers were the big thing and Shirt Shops were more prevalent than coffee houses. It all imploded at the end of the 80's but was miraculously revived with the "slacker" generation shopping at thrift stores and priding themselves in wearing t-shirts with old dilapidated and distressed heat transfers. Then in the late 90's as people were looking for something unique to sell online, they turned to 20 year old stashes of heat transfers and lauding them as Vintage started a trend, again. Was anybody ever successful in applying one of those dried out Shawn Cassidy or David Hasselhoff transfers on a shirt? hahaha And The Wildside was there for the next 40 years innovating and creating some of the most Cool heat applied graphics around. Using new technology and some good 'ol plastisol ink, the heat transfer was re-born and introduced to an entire new generation of t-shirt wearers. Wow!! what a ride! And as things come around, so do they trend out of fashion. But, not entirely this time as the innovation of media to create custom on the spot t-shirts, is still alive and well. Honestly, I hope this isn't the last we hear of The Wildside.


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## PatWibble (Mar 7, 2014)

I remember the shirt shops of the 70's and 80's.


You would think that someone would have come up with a way to provide the range digitaly online, on a pay per use basis, for the DTG shops.


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## proworlded (Oct 3, 2006)

Being their largest customer, and only real distributor, for 40 +/- years has resulted in a major shock to us as well. We have been in communication and hope to have some resolution soon.


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## pippin decals (Aug 26, 2015)

proworlded said:


> Being their largest customer, and only real distributor, for 40 +/- years has resulted in a major shock to us as well. We have been in communication and hope to have some resolution soon. Stay tuned! BTW, we still have inventory on over 1000 of their designs.







I hope you are able to get their image library and continue . I loved the quality and color of the images. Even tho i did have a issue with one design that wasnt transferring a small section of the design which wasnt a real big deal to me but would raise concern to a customer. Hope to see a good outcome on this closure .


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## Zippy Doodah (Jul 10, 2011)

PatWibble said:


> I remember the shirt shops of the 70's and 80's.
> 
> 
> You would think that someone would have come up with a way to provide the range digitaly online, on a pay per use basis, for the DTG shops.


actually that would not have been a good idea. They were always battling the knockoff DTG printers from both China and the USA. Their business is the art and they are not about to give it away.


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## Zippy Doodah (Jul 10, 2011)

Today, I talked to my friend who worked at The Wildside for over 10 years and he said nobody saw it coming. It seems the employees were just dumped without any notice. Really strange to have this happen the way it did. Seems like Ted got pissed off at something and decided to sabotage the whole show. Rent on the building was going up and payroll in California is getting ridiculous, compared to Michigan or Arizona and we hypothesized about that. Most of the employees are looking for other jobs so they don't expect anything to happen. Also, I heard someone made sure all the art work was taken out of the building before anyone knew what was going on. So, you never know, the transfers could pop up on TransferXpress. You never know


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

Zippy Doodah said:


> actually that would not have been a good idea. They were always battling the knockoff DTG printers from both China and the USA. Their business is the art and they are not about to give it away.


That's exactly how it is. The art is what people are buying, and if you sell it in a digital form, DTG printers (including the Chinese) will buy it once and print as many copies as possible, for as low as possible. Selling the printed transfers is much safer.
By the way, from October 17 this year, Chinese sellers will be in big trouble as the US is withdrawing from the universal postal union. They were allowed to abuse the system for way too long. Get ready people... Demand should increase substantially this year.


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## Ademt (Nov 8, 2016)

I was shocked too. I was going to place a custom transfer order and about to send my layout. They also had several stock designs which I used to sell online and now I won't be able to sell them anymore. I tried to reach them to buy all of their stock for these designs but I couldn't get in touch with them. Their website says contact Jasmin but she doesn't respond. 
Now I'm looking for a place to order custom transfers but couldn't find any place close to Wildside in terms of pricing and customer service. They will be missed for sure!


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

Ademt said:


> I was shocked too. I was going to place a custom transfer order and about to send my layout. They also had several stock designs which I used to sell online and now I won't be able to sell them anymore. I tried to reach them to buy all of their stock for these designs but I couldn't get in touch with them. Their website says contact Jasmin but she doesn't respond.
> Now I'm looking for a place to order custom transfers but couldn't find any place close to Wildside in terms of pricing and customer service. They will be missed for sure!


Maybe I should start selling transfers. They are really easy to make. I'll think about it...


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## Zippy Doodah (Jul 10, 2011)

TABOB said:


> That's exactly how it is. The art is what people are buying, and if you sell it in a digital form, DTG printers (including the Chinese) will buy it once and print as many copies as possible, for as low as possible. Selling the printed transfers is much safer.
> By the way, from October 17 this year, Chinese sellers will be in big trouble as the US is withdrawing from the universal postal union. They were allowed to abuse the system for way too long. Get ready people... Demand should increase substantially this year.


A long time over due. Glad to see it happen. Even a little company like us were getting ripped off on Amazon. They even stole our UPC codes. They have no shame!! hahaha


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

I was in downtown LA today to pick up some rhinestones and the owner of Nio Apparel said WildSide was her biggest customer. The rhinestone designs all came from her. If you are looking for those you can find her at 1224 S. San Julian St #3, Los Angeles CA 90015 or www.nioapparel.com and email neoapparel.com 213-765-3499.


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## Zippy Doodah (Jul 10, 2011)

binki said:


> I was in downtown LA today to pick up some rhinestones and the owner of Nio Apparel said WildSide was her biggest customer. The rhinestone designs all came from her. If you are looking for those you can find her at 1224 S. San Julian St #3, Los Angeles CA 90015 or www.nioapparel.com and email neoapparel.com 213-765-3499.


Well, The Wildside may have purchased rhinestone designs from them, but the majority of their rhinestone transfer inventory came direct from China. I have seen the containers.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Zippy Doodah said:


> Well, The Wildside may have purchased rhinestone designs from them, but the majority of their rhinestone transfer inventory came direct from China. I have seen the containers.



Yes they are.


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## greymike (Jun 22, 2011)

Was shocked as everyone else. Had my order ready to go and there it is an email saying so sorry. I miss talking to Jenifer, Great lady to deal with always helpfull and looked forward to seeing her at the iss in january. Now i have a shop full of graphics that I guess i'll use until I run out. In the begining I used Pro World it had a good selection. I am always happy about using Art Brands the staff there is helpful and the pricing is similar to Wildside.


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## proworlded (Oct 3, 2006)

Michael. Just curious. How is AB pricing similar?


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## strghtlin (Jul 30, 2019)

proworlded said:


> Michael. Just curious. How is AB pricing similar?


ab have artist to make new designs. i'm interested in the biker designs an as i was told on the phone not 5 minutes ago from proworld once the designs are gone they are gone no new biker designs.. sad


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## Kntry5 (Sep 17, 2008)

I have always loved their designs. I love the dog mug shots and finally found the perfect venue for them. I went to order all the different breeds only to see the sad message. Does anyone know if these can be found anywhere? I was asked to do some dog events and I need to find dog breed stuff now. Ugh, so sad.


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## into the T (Aug 22, 2015)

Kntry5 said:


> I have always loved their designs. I love the dog mug shots and finally found the perfect venue for them. I went to order all the different breeds only to see the sad message. Does anyone know if these can be found anywhere? I was asked to do some dog events and I need to find dog breed stuff now. Ugh, so sad.



if only there was some sort of clue hidden deep within this thread.......

french bulldog mug shot transfer


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## strghtlin (Jul 30, 2019)

Have you tried artbrands?


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## proworlded (Oct 3, 2006)

Edward. We are adding their designs everyday. If you email us with their number we can let you know if it is available. [email protected]


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