I’m not saying we would never do this. However:
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We don’t sell a huge amount of merchandise, never have. Currently we gross a few thousand a year, and that’s for everything - books, mugs, shirts. It’d take me a while to figure out the net, but it’s probably under $1,000 per year.
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What with setup charges, price breaks for bulk quantities, etc., we’d have to invest maybe $500 to make this worthwhile, basically on a hunch that there’s a significant untapped market of T-shirt buyers out there who really hate Slug’s art. Say we sell 50 shirts at a profit of $6 each (we’re due to raise the price). We net $300. The company owes - I’m not telling you anything that isn’t in the public record - $31 million. The honchos want me to make them some money. This investment won’t strike them as shrewd.
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Slug’s art has attained a certain iconic stature. I realize not everybody likes it. However, to request a Straight Dope shirt without it … it’s like going into the Vatican and saying, “Your Holiness, I love that Sistine Chapel. But can you redo the ceiling in flat white?”