This week, in place of the usual triptych of found items and a T-Shirt of the Week, Merch Hunter is dedicated entirely to the mighty tee, the single most versatile member of the wardrobe family. Why 12? Well, science has proven that 12 is the magic number in terms of tee ownership (don’t look it up, it was published in a science journal you probably won’t know of…), allowing the owner to rotate nicely across two weeks, while taking a three day slot for whichever design is the Featured of the Week. After a few months of this rotation, throw in a few wild cards, thanks to supplemental purchase, and you’ll have a winning formula for T-shirt success. And yes, it really should be that mathematical. I seriously had to resist the urge to just make a list of the 100 Star Wars T-Shirts You Need To Own Now, but that will no doubt appear in the future, given how many incredibly impressive designs there are out there (and hardly any of them lining George Lucas’s pocket). For once, my inane wafflings are not needed at all to sell the inclusions below, just look at the pictures and see how many of them you can resist. I’d advise buying them all obviously: but try to only wear one at a time.

An awesome reader named JJ sent over a link to this video earlier today which was posted on the website of 42 Entertainment, the company responsible for the ridiculously successful “Why So Serious” alternate reality game that led up to the release of last year’s highest grossing film, The Dark Knight.

It’s been over a year since the viral marketing for The Dark Knight really got cranked up. In that time, people have learned second languages, taken first steps, and gotten promotions at work. I, on the other hand, have spent most of my time following the ad campaign and avoiding showers.

It seems that every time I start to get extremely excited about another movie, such as Iron Man, something from The Dark Knight pops up to remind me that this is going to be the definitive film of Summer 2008.

I can’t believe that it has gotten to a point where there are pre-orders on a movie t-shirt, but hey The Dark Knight is a pretty big deal.

Check out this very cool behind-the-scenes look at The Dark Knight in IMAX, courtesy of IMAX.com.

The extremely creative and intricate viral marketing campaign for Warner Brothers’ The Dark Knight took another big step forward over the past week or so.