JINX – A Premiere Source of Geek and Gaming Apparel

Playing games is something we all enjoy as we get to experience great stories, amazing gameplay, and moments of pure excellence that remains in our memories forever. We are fans of these games and we love to share our passion for them in many ways. And one of the best ways of showing off our delight for them is by obtaining collectible and wearable gear that best represents them.

J!NX provides us with that opportunity to collect gear from some of our favorite titles and show it off in many different ways. Someone like me who loves drinking coffee while writing about and playing games looks to the company to find new coffee mugs that I can use during those moments. Or maybe a person who often streams on Twitch is looking for a new t-shirt to wear while playing one of their favorite games. J!NX even has collectible items that can be added on a work desk or shelf for those who are looking to increase their collection. The point is that J!NX is a shop for gamers to look to when wanting to represent gear from their absolute favorite video games.

But before we start shopping, let’s find out more about J!NX. I recently spoke with J!NX’s Marking Warchief, Steve DeVries, to learn more about the company and what it offers for gamers. By the way, Marketing Warchief is his actual title. How cool is that?

Andrew Stevens (AS): What is J!NX and how did it begin?
Marketing Warchief (MW): J!NX is a clothing company dedicated to geek culture in all of its forms. We started in 1999 making hacker t-shirts and have grown into the premiere source of geek and gaming apparel, toys, and accessories on the Web.

AS: How has it evolved over its 16 years in business?
MW: We have partnered closely with many of the game companies we love most and greatly expanded our collection. We now create and feature official products from Minecraft, Blizzard Entertainment, RIOT Games, Valve, EA, DICE, Wargaming.net, HALO, CD PROJEKT RED and more. J!NX has also grown into making toys and expanded accessories including collectibles, plush, belts, hats, and mugs.

AS: What has J!NX done to ensure it offers top quality products for gamers?
MW: We employ geeks immersed in the culture and have a love for expanding gaming worlds into the real world. Making items that we would want has ensured we stay on top of what’s new and keep quality high. Because we only make products for games we love, we always put high priority on creating extensions of the game universe that’s worthy of the game itself.

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AS: Has Twitch had an effect on the number of people purchasing gear from your company to use during streams? Have you seen gamers showing off J!NX material during their streams?
MW: Definitely. Twitch has helped bring millions of gamers together and it’s only natural that J!NX gear would be a part of that. The gaming lifestyle has come out of the cave and is more mainstream than ever before. We were a part of it then and we’re still a part of it now. It makes us really happy to see someone else wear the shirts we love; especially considering there are so many options out there.

AS: What have been some of the more popular items over the years and what has surprised your company most?
MW: Minecraft has been a phenomenon for many years. Despite being created years ago, our Creeper Zip-up Hoodies are still a top seller and we see them everywhere. Minecraft continues to be a juggernaut and we don’t see that slowing any time soon. In more recent times, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been huge for J!NX. The dedication of that community for the world of The Witcher is enormous. Having put MANY hours into the game, it’s easy to see why.

AS: How do you stay up to date with the industry and making sure you have great items for the latest video game releases?
MW: We’re gamers. We obsess about gaming news and what’s coming out. We play pretty much everything and we can say it’s part of our job! The hard part is making enough time to get a product launch designed and available when you stay up to 3am every night playing whatever’s new. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to do it.

AS: What do you look for when creating new material and what is the process when deciding on what new items to create?
MW: We play the games during beta and schedule private play testing with the developers. Our design crew then figures out what items would best fit that particular game’s universe and helps expand it into the real world. We want to make products we would want. It’s not that hard developing products for an audience when you are part of that audience. Not much guesswork involved.

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AS: How often do you get new items and can gamers suggest new items for J!NX?
MW: We try to launch new items weekly. It generally depends on what events are going on, when games are being released, and how busy we are. We don’t want to launch product just to launch product, but we do like to have a consistent stream of new items available so that fans of each individual game will have new products to look at regularly. Gamers can always suggest new items. We take those suggestions to heart and do what we can to make them a reality.

AS: What makes J!NX different than other companies who offer similar material?
MW: All of our products are officially licensed. This means that the game company was directly involved in the artwork and design of the products. It also means that a portion of sales are going to support the game. We also have a stringent quality requirement for all of our products. We’re not trying to sell $5 t-shirts. We’re creating shirts that you would wear and enjoy for a long time with design work that J!NX and the developer stand behind.

AS: I notice a lot of gear for recent games, but not so much for older games. How often do you offer items for older games?
MW: Many of us are old school gamers and we try to launch retro designs as often as we can. Gaming moves fast though and the latest and greatest games tend to have the largest audiences. We only have so much time in the day, so we tend to lean towards supporting the latest game releases.

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AS: What else should we know about the company and can we expect any great new items this fall?
MW: J!NX has a lot of exciting new things coming this fall. Expect to see more for HALO leading up to the HALO 5 launch, brand new Heroes of the Storm tees and hoodies, all new items for The Witcher, a huge new Minecraft line, and lots of goodies for World of Warcraft.

That’s a wealth of great information about J!NX. I would like to thank Steve DeVries once again for his time and information about the company.

A lot of J!NX’s gear tends to be from the most popular of games, but that doesn’t leave any shortage on selection. There are many great items to select from, and there are even shirts that are created for the gaming culture rather than any specific video game. So, from clothing to collectible items, there is a wide selection for everyone to look through.

Of course, for me personally, I’m drooling over the hoodies and see many great options to select from including a Halo, Titanfall, Diablo III, and a sweet looking Starcraft hoodie. It wouldn’t take long to fully complete my Twitch streaming wardrobe.

Make sure to visit www.jinx.com to see all that they have to offer.

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