Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Pre-Production Shots of Auto World's New Hazzard County Pursuit Police Car

Following up on the previous post with all kinds of insider info about Auto World's upcoming Rosco car, my good friend in the know has shared some pictures and I've been given the green light to post them.  This car looks amazing.  


This car will be the best ever 1975 Rosco's Monaco, without question.


I've seen many life-size replicas of Hazzard County Patrol Cars at all the Dukes events I've been to.  This light bar looks just like it should.  AW nailed it.



The interior and the engine look great too.  This is going to be an awesome diecast.  I can't wait until it can chase Auto World's beautiful 1/18 General Lee around the collection.  I am so thankful that I can do things like share these pre-production pictures.  I have wonderful friends in this Dukes of Hazzard hobby.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Little Orange Cars

Gearing up the big Dukes festival season of 2013, the organizers of the Louisiana Dukes Event, the Dukes of Hazzard Family Reunion & Car Show, contacted me and asked if I would write an article about collecting for a magazine they release.  I never wrote an article for a magazine before, so I jumped on the opportunity.  They gave me a word limit which I blew past pretty quickly.  The magazine is called Hug, and this particular issue was given out during their event.  I got early prints at the Dukes Fan Fair in Nashville.  I was really pleased with the article and the magazine in general (lee).  I wanted to share it right away, but I figured I would wait until people had a chance to read it in print before it was online.  I think enough time has passed.  Here is my article "Little Orange Cars" from the summer issue of Hug Magazine.


I also have the article as a pdf if reading the jpg above doesn't work out.
Little Orange Cars.pdf

Jeff isn't the only published author around these parts.  Only one on the New York Times Best Seller list, though...for now.  What do you think?


Friday, November 15, 2013

Got a New Moto X by Motorola - and I Duked It Out



I am the kind of person who really loves his cellphone.  I really like to make it my own.  I have never had another phone brand, it's been Motorola since the beginning for me.  When Moto announced their new phone was all about customization, I knew it would be my next phone.  And I would make it all Dukes of Hazzard.  


They didn't have an all orange back option, but I think that would have been too much anyway.  I decided with the black back with orange accents.  I think it came out really nice.  I also added my own "signature" to the bottom.  


The buttons and the camera rim are the accents that are made of metallic orange.


The option to put an inscription is great, and my little tribute to Dukes is so subtle, but I think I like the standard inscription even better.  "Designed and Assembled in the USA."  That is awesome.  


I have been using the same background on each of my phones since 2005.  It is one of my favorite Dukes images.  It was fun firing up the old phones, especially the flip phones.  Unfortunately, the one on the left, the V710 didn't have any juice in the battery and it didn't have a standard charger.  The V750, on the right, had a nearly full battery.  Along with the Moto X in front is the Droid X in the back left and the Droid Bionic in the back right.  I actually broke the antennae off the V710 while filming the Dukes movie in 2005.  I forgot about that until I noticed the glue today while taking these pictures.


Customization, and "Duking" out a phone is something I've been doing for years.  It was a big deal that I could "hack" the front screen and put my own picture there when the phone is open.  I got a lot of comments about that back in the day.



I also added an animated gif to the front.  I said recently that I wanted to add more Dukes related videos to the blog.  This is merely a video of an animated gif, but hey, it's something.

All of my phones have had the Dixie horn notify me when I get a text message.  It usually raises some eyebrows, except when I'm at a Dukes event.  At Dukesfest 2004, though, I was the only one who had that feature.

A day and a half in, I really like my new Moto X.  It has really cool features like touchless voice control, and active display.  I could talk phones for a long time, but this is a Dukes of Hazzard blog, and this is a Dukes of Hazzard phone.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

New Dukes Stuff - 11/14/2013 - Folders, Blankets, KITT, It's a Doozy


Did some Dukes shopping, got a whole bunch of stuff.


I bought so much that I even got to take home the bin.  When is the last time I bought a bin full of stuff?  You can only do that at Pop Culture Connection.  That place is better each time I go there.  I see big things in the future for our pal Jeremy, trust me.  This load of Dukes came mostly from Pop Culture, but I made a few other stops nearby as well.  


I go a ton of WriteRight folders and two notebooks.  Some are duplicates and they are all in great shape. These things get pretty rare.  I know I have several of these already, but it never hurts to have more.  If you are in dire need of one, let me know.





Three Boss Hoggs!!




These notebooks are the smaller versions.


They are quite small compared to the folder.  There is a larger notebook that is the standard school tablet size.  I have a bunch of these bad boys now.



This watch is the same one I already have in package.  Funny story, someone contacted me through the site and said they make their living buying storage lockers.  They found this watch in it and didn't know what to do with it.  I said send it my way and they did.  I bet they found some interesting things.  I asked them what their most interesting find was and they said they paid $100 for a locker that contained a baby grand piano. They sold the piano for two grand.  Pretty cool.


This item came with the haul from Pop Culture.  I didn't really want it, but it was a package deal.  These are fan made beads from a Dukes event.  I have seen several versions at different fests.


This is the General Lee Finger Racer.  It is rare to find one with the launcher.  It's in very good shape.



Along with the finger racer, I picked up a two Wrist Racers, a General and a Rosco.  I have a bunch of these, but only one or two launchers.  These are also in great shape.



I like that the mold was made specifically for Rosco's Police Car.  It looks just like his car from the show. We haven't had too many great representations of his car in the Modern Era.


I stopped at another toy store in Greensburg that specializes in mostly video games and picked up this lunchbox cheap.  That was the third Toy/Antique store we visited in Greensburg that day.  Why are there so many great stores in that town?  I got a heck of a deal on this thing.  Couldn't pass it up.


I got this belt buckle at Jeremy's.  These buckles have eluded me in the past.  Not sure why.  I like them, and I'll have to get the others.


It has the copyright info and year on a sticker on the back.  1980 huh?  A year earlier than most items.



I got this footie pajama thing online.  Not 100% certain it isn't just a pajama set that someone sewed a Dukes patch onto.  I have seen similar Dukes one though.  Any thoughts fellow Dukes Collectors?


I told Jeremy that I already had all the Dukes trays and he might want to keep this one in store for another Dukes enthusiast that may wonder in, but he insisted I take it.  That's nice of him.  Anyone need a Dukes tray?  Nearly perfect shape.


This is an odd piece that he pulled out of the back.  It is an unlicensed shirt that was autographed by John Schneider at some point.  Then framed.  Package deal and all...it came home with me.  Ok dokey.


It is definitely John's signature.  I'd recognize that anywhere.


Now the majority of that bin was filled with Dukes bedding.  I got a ton of it.  Pictured here is a beadspread, fitted sheet, sheet, pillow cases, and several window curtains.  Once the museum is up and running, all this stuff will come in very handy.  I can't wait.


This is the cream of the crop.  It is a very rare Dukes fleece.  The only other ones I have seen have been incredibly faded.  Jeremy told me about this over the phone and I was hoping it was this one.  I lucked out.
It is pretty big and would keep you quite warm.  The colors are vibrant and it's in great shape.  I am very happy to add it to the collection.  It has five different designs that have been used on other items.  I really like this blanket.






I like that Rosco and the Hazzard County Police get as much love as the Dukes.


And finally I picked up the 2013 Hallmark Keepsake Knight Rider KITT ornament.  I saw it in the store a while ago and decided not to buy it.  But once the 2014 General Lee ornament was announced, I knew I had to get this one so I could compare them next year.  The package is similar to all the other ornaments and not Knight Rider specific.


I think this is an item specific blurb about KITT.  I wonder if they will write something new next year for the best TV car.


The car has nice detail, and it seems they really worked hard to make it right.


I like the little Hallmark crown symbol on the bottom.  This really gets me excited for next year's General Lee.


The car is almost twice the size as a 1/64 car.  Here it is with the standard Hot Wheels KITT.



The ornament features lights and sounds.  It has the standard "I am the voice of Knight Industries Two Thousand..." that has been used on the 2012 SDCC Exclusive, the Diamond Select Voice Car, and a few other items.   The scanner light feature is only made up of two little lights, but they do fade and I think it does the effect nicely.  How come most of my videos on this blog have to do with Knight Rider?  I need to do more Dukes videos...hmmm, what can I video around here?