In the past decade or so geek culture has expanded into the mainstream with more inclusive ways to express your fandom love. Once only marketed through black t-shirts with logos slapped on them or collectible toys, merch has undergone a massive shift.
In 2024, repping your fandom became even easier than ever before, thanks to collections inspired by sci-fi and fantasy worlds in nearly every conceivable fashion and lifestyle arena. Between all the bold casual cosplay, subtle streetwear, and even luxury makeup and perfume, there was constantly a collaboration in the wings waiting to go viral. That’s not even mentioning movie popcorn buckets which were also insane this year—so much so they warranted their own post.
This year also had some more daring moments with its mountains of fandom merch. Keep reading to see how things got way more experiential and experimental thanks to the stream of unhinged products and social media-driven events.
There was a whole month of Nickelodeon celebrating SpongeBob SquarePants by doing “Krabby Patty Kollabs” at burger destinations nationwide, timed to the show’s 25th anniversary. But the Wendy’s version felt the most authentic to the show’s depiction of the type of burger you’d get in a fast food place under the sea, especially compared to the elevated foodie stunt versions (they were cool, but Mr. Krabs would never).
Wendy’s brought back the square meat patty for the occasion, and that was genius; it hit double the nostalgia factor so I found myself ordering this one more often. Speaking of food, Deadpool & Wolverine did a pizza line (which is on brand for the merc with the mouth) with DiGiorno’s that had mixed results. It wasn’t the wildest of the Deadpool placements; there were also those Heinz ketchup and mustard bottles, and the bonkers bootylicious Xbox controllers.
On the cuter side of things around Halloween, we got the Universal Monsters x Care Bears collection which mashed up the adorable bears with a spooky twist through classic bear plushes, Funkos, and makeup. The plushes are hard to find at their regular price points now, with third party sellers shilling them for questionable prices. I still covet the Creature From the Black Lagoon Bear.
For Gen Z goths, Pottery Barn came out with a creepy cute Wednesday collection featuring a Nevermore dorm vibe. We were particularly tickled by the thought of the Thing shaped pillow, which sold out in a snap.
While the above collection is very limited at this point, Dr. Martens still has some of its Wednesday capsule available online. Docs and The Addams family? The perfect match for any goth kid’s (and kids at heart) shoe collection.
In the realm of beauty products, our favorite clever match came in the form of Rihanna’s Fenty x Arcane line inspired by the characters on the Netflix show. The very in-depth collection drew from the leads’ sense of style and power with a quality makeup capsule from our sci-fi dreams.
Anime and fellow Netflix fave One Piece has been featured in a number of fun collections inspired by the Straw Hat Crew, but the most uniquely unhinged was the Casetify collab that turned tech accessory covers into the Devil Fruits from the show. Particularly fun were the Gum Gum fruit headphone cases.
And for Cowboy Bebop fans, Logic dropped a collab with Crunchyroll featuring streetwear fits inspired by the looks of the anime’s characters and their signature iconography to make you feel like you fit into the world of the classic cartoon.
While Deadpool & Wolverine dominated the shelves for the first half of the year, Wicked took over fall. There was an incredible range of pink and green at every price point, much of it seemingly aimed at Wicked fans who’ve been waiting 20 years for merch that goes beyond any online theater shop.
Eighth grade me with the grey shirt that read “Defy Gravity” in the tiniest of green-printed letters would be shocked at how many Wicked things adult me got this year, and she’d also be very proud. Did I really need the Wicked x Con-Air hair rollers? Yes. Did I really drop an undisclosed amount of change for the Beis x Wicked luggage? Yes, I can use it for work travel. Do I stay up at night haunted by the fact that I was not able to get the Elphaba Stanley tumbler from Target? Yes, and I foolishly check at random hours for a re-stock because goodness knows the wicked’s lives are lonely.
More Wicked merch is guaranteed to come thanks to 2025’s Wicked: For Good—though we’re all still waiting for some sort of official meta “Holding Space for ‘Defying Gravity’” release.
The end of the year has brought a few notable collabs that have left me intrigued at what 2025 will bring. Nosferatu came with the most absurd of all, including a vampire coffin bed that was more expensive than a limited edition Nosferatu coffin-coffin to be buried in. Plus, there’s also a Nosferatu fragrance collab with Heretic, for those who care to give off the scent of a ghost wandering through a flower-filled funeral parlor.
Speaking of bats and the winter chill of the end of year holidays. Uno continues to release unhinged versions of the card game including a Batman: The Animated Series version with chaotic “Joker” cards for more card-slamming across the table.
And Walton Goggins has pulled a Baby Billy Bible Bonkers with his own “Walton Goggins Goggle Glasses,” perfect for hitting the slopes despite the head-scratching reasons behind just why he came up with this, because the official commercial feels like performance art. (To be honest, we can’t wait for an official Fallout collab called “Walton Goggins Ghoul Goggle Glasses”).
And Squid Game season two gets some deeply eyebrow raising collabs with McDonald’s in Australia. If fans buy an adult Squid Game Happy Meal they’ll get a shot at an exclusive McDonald’s Squid Game Green Player Tracksuit or $100,000 if they can carve out their very own Dalgona candy and scan it into the MyMacca’s App.
Audiences stateside were a little baffled by the Domino’s Emergency pizza ad during their binges of the show because that’s some chilling late-stage capitalism tone deafness. There’s also official collabs with Puma with new track suits as well as shoes and a tech accessory drop through Casetify. At least with the former you can don gear that will identify your vote to end or continue the games if you were in it, but lets be real—we’re all in the game.
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