Funding the Junkyard - Patreon and Merch Announcement!

We have one big double whammy update coming your way today: All systems are go on our brand new Patreon, and we have an awesome new range of Dreamcast Junkyard merchandise launching too!

We are frequently asked by fans of the blog and podcast how they can help support The Dreamcast Junkyard with its operating costs, and for a while now, you've had two options: a BuyMeACoffee page for one-off donations, and a small collection of merchandise that’s been available since 2015. The Junkyard team have rocked these classic tees at their fair share of gaming conventions, but the roster of available designs hasn’t been updated for quite some time. 

Tom Yukawa modelling one of our original t-shirt designs. Timeless.

With our production values improving all the time on the website and podcast alike, and the persistence of that pesky phenomenon called "inflation", our monthly operating costs have increased too. So, to help keep the lights on whilst also ensuring that the Junkyard remains a 100% independent, not-for-profit, ad-free initiative, we thought it was high time to get a Patreon set up to allow for donations on a monthly recurring basis, and give our merchandise a refresh ahead of the site's 20th anniversary in 2025.

Patreon

I won't rabbit on too much here about the Patreon, as I'm certain you are more than aware of what one is; not to mention Lozz has gone to a lot of effort to summarise the ins-and-outs of it in a new dedicated section of the website (which is linked to below!) 

What’s important to stress, however, is that our aim with this Patreon is to solely cover our operating costs, and we will manage our Patreon in a way that is in accordance with this. This means we won't be producing any exclusive content for patrons, as we don't wish for anyone to be excluded from anything that the Junkyard produces. However, we are planning to have a semi-regular Q&A for patrons to take part in, and our answers will be presented on future episodes of the DreamPod.

Click here to go to our Patreon.

Click here for more information and a FAQ on our Patreon.

Merch

We decided it was time to break our merchandise dry-spell and do so in style. That's why we chose to collaborate with one of our favourite artists from the SEGA fan community, Kopke, and his illustration/graphic design studio "From Ashes to Fire", to produce some truly epic new designs. 

The first of the two new designs available features a colourful cast of iconic Dreamcast characters, while the other is a clean new re-design of the Junkyard's logo. If my ADHD allows me enough executive function to do so, I endeavour to update our website and socials to incorporate this new design. For now though, you can enjoy rocking this new art on t-shirts, hoodies and long-sleeve shirts. There's even mugs and stickers available too. Buy a DCJY mug for work and watch your colleague's eyes glaze over as you answer the question "what is The Dreamcast Junkyard?"

We also opted to change our merch provider to Fourthwall, which means higher-quality products for all. We tried quite a few providers before landing on Fourthwall, and a big thanks goes out to KC of The Sega Lounge for pointing us in the right direction.

You can find our new merch range here.

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So there you have it, new Patreon and merch! If you can't commit to monthly payments, the Buy me a Coffee page will remain up for one-off donations. We will also keep the old merch page up for those who still want to grab some of those classic Junkyard designs Tom put together.

That's all now. As always, we are grateful to everyone who supports the Junkyard, regardless of whether that is monetarily, or just reading our articles and listening to the podcast. The dream never dies!

We're On Patreon!

Yes, yes. I know it's only one step up from standing outside the local supermarket dressed in little else than a heavily soiled pair of trousers and a 1997 Manchester United shirt covered in dubious stains, and asking shoppers if they can "spare some change," but we're now on Patreon.

To be honest, I've seen some fucking terrible personal blogs asking for money from readers, and those only update once a month! We've got a podcast, a YouTube channel, update at least three times a week...and we've got a cease and desist from Sega! Who else can claim to bring you such entertainment for nowt? Anyway, this Patreon is only really designed to help us pay for the DreamPod hosting so it's not set at an astronomical sum; and I promise I won't blow it all on a Maserati and cocaine before riding a race horse off the top floor of a skyscraper in a drug-fuelled haze, believing I (and Pegasus - that's the horse) can fly.

In all seriousness though, if you want to donate or pledge or whatever it's called then please feel free. If not, that's totally cool - there's no obligation whatsoever. Once we get a few pledgers though, I'll put a little link on the right so I can name-check and personally thank everyone who does. We've been doing this for over a decade now, and while nothing will change as we head into year 11 and beyond, it'd be really cool if we could somehow get a little help moving the Junkyard forward.

Here's the link: The Dreamcast Junkyard Patreon