First, Elon Musk comes out with a logoed flamethrower for his Boring Company. Now, indie rock heroes Wilco are selling a band-branded axe as part of a merch collaboration with outdoor brand Best Made.

Wilco’s $448 Gray Ghost American Felling Axe is available here.

Is it too soon to say there’s a trend toward promotional products being made to double as weaponry and/or equipment for brush and forest clearing? Yes, of course it is. We’re joking, silly. But, ya’ know, kind of uncanny, eh?

The Wilco band name is laser-engraved on the axe.

Made in the USA from Appalachian hickory and American alloy steel, the Gray Ghost American Felling Axe is retailing for $448. The high price is, in part, down to exclusivity: Only 15 of these are being made. Wilco fans and indie rock enthusiasts will dig the product’s backstory. The album cover of Wilco’s 2004 album, “A Ghost is Born,” inspired the piece. Coolness: Best Made Founder Peter Buchanan-Smith also created that album cover, for which he won a 2005 Grammy. As Best Made explains, the axe's hand-painted motif is a “homage to the ghostly egg on a pale grey field” that appears on the album cover, while the hickory handle is laser-engraved with "Wilco" on the back.

The axe has its fans.

there's an ax for sale that's $500 and painted/engraved WILCO with a design based on one of their albums and it's the dumbest thing that i want

— or whatever (@limuluscannoli) October 15, 2018

Others are a bit bemused.

I've seen more and more of these in recent years, but when/why did boutique axes become a thing? https://t.co/Rk8NpDoDVf

— Matt Vasilogambros (@MattVas) October 15, 2018

Anyway, the axe is only one element of Wilco’s merch collaboration with Best Made. Like the axe, some of the offerings are commanding “Are-You-Kidding-Me-Jeff-Tweedy?” - level pricing. For instance, the Wilco Box Set is on sale for $1,198. Made in an “extremely limited quantity for die-hard fans,” the set features each of the band's 10 studio albums in vinyl format, individually signed by frontman Jeff Tweedy.” The collection comes in an album crate inspired by Best Made’s Audubon toolbox. The crate is built in Best Made’s axe workshop from fir ply, and hand-finished with marine spar varnish.

.@Wilco are selling a fancy wooden box set.

And an axe. https://t.co/qdA7lj5h5k pic.twitter.com/aj27BNC9qi

— treble (@treblezine) October 16, 2018

Additionally, there’s a pennant on sale for $178, as well 100% cotton Wilco bandanas and LPs too.

Image from Best Made. Pennant is here.

For Wilco fans with impressive investment portfolios, the collection should prove a hit. Alas, the more proletarian Yankee Hotel Foxtrotters like us will be left wondering what might have been had we only listened to dad and got the J.D. in corporate law. Water under the bridge, though. Water under the bridge. In our final assessment, the swag is high-quality in a thoughtful, rustic way that ties in perfectly with Wilco’s image. That’s cool, and we dig it. Plus, we can’t help noting once more how the collection is another sign of the increasing significance of promotional products to revenue streams in the music industry. There’s opportunity in that for promo distributors. Learn more here and here.