ST. PAUL, Minn. — Devoted ‘Stranger Things’ fans crashed a Minnesota museum’s website on Tuesday trying to get their hands on a vintage sweatshirt worn by one of the show’s characters, according to the Star Tribune.
Gaten Matarazzo, who play’s Dustin Henderson on the popular Netflix series, wore the purple sweatshirt featuring the skeleton of a Brontosaurus from the Science Museum of Minnesota on the first episode of season two.
“A social media follower tipped off the Science Museum to the sweatshirt’s appearance in the hugely popular TV show on Friday, October 27th, the day its second season was released. Since then, the museum has been flooded with phone calls, emails, and social media posts from fans who are anxious to get their hands on the vintage sweatshirt, which was first available in the museum’s Explore Store in the early 1980s,” the Science Museum of Minnesota said in a press release.
So how did the old Science Museum of Minnesota apparel wind up on a Netflix show?
“Stranger Things” costume designer Kim Wilcox told the Star Tribune in the show’s search for mid-1980s apparel, “we found a vintage one online.”
“I really loved the brontosaurus for Dusty,” Wilcox said. “So we bought the original, checked with legal, and made our purple hoodie with this great dinosaur art in Gaten Matarazzo’s size.”
Naturally, with such demand, the museum decided to bring back the retro design.
A selection of six items – all featuring the dinosaur print and offered in both adult and child sizes – are available for purchase at the museum’s website.
The museum sold more than $400,000 worth of Brontosaurus apparel by Tuesday afternoon, according to the Star Tribune.
