Wednesday, May 25, 2016

I Added Another Pair of Dukes Of Hazzard Shoes To The Collection! With Laces! And A Display!


I love my blog.  Sure, I have ebay to thank for the ability to buy so much of my collection, but this blog provides me opportunities that just wouldn't exist if I didn't start posting my collection online. Through this very blog, I was recently able to add another pair of Dukes of Hazzard Children's Tennis Shoes to my collection.  I just love them.


The other pair of shoes I added to the collection a couple of years ago were velcro tenners.  These bad boys are lace up shoes.  They are unused, but unlike the other ones, these are not still connected by a wire and have no tags.  They are in just perfect condition.  The colors are bright and the laces look like they've never been untied.


The General Lee is the main focus of these shoes.  The text is pretty close to the actual text on the car. The "G" is a movie font though, oddly enough.


The shoes are a little misshapen due to being stored.  That is probably the only condition issue.  And it can be easily fixed.


Even the insides of the shoes are "Duked" out.  The 01s are under the size and the shoes are lined with "The Dukes Of Hazzard."


The left shoe still has the original price tag inside.  Does $18 seem like a lot for children's shoes in 1982?  I'm not sure, I was still wearing onesies and footies (I was one.)   The inclusion of the price tag shows that the shoes were never worn.  While looking through old posts, I blogged about a newspaper ad for the Dukes shoes long before I had any and the price was $17-$18.  I guess that price does seem right.


The laces are plan white.  There are Dukes of Hazzard shoe laces that were sold individually.  They have "The Dukes of Hazzard" printed in blue and a tiny General Lee printed on them.  They would look really good on these shoes and I'm surprised they  didn't come with them.  I guess they were sold separately as an upgrade.  I'd like to think that one day I would lace these shoes up with the Dukes laces, but I won't.  Gotta keep them as original as possible.


I really like the bottom of the shoes.  It sure would have been cool to see the tracks left behind by a Dukes fan wearing these in the early '80s.


There is a lot of detail in this action shot.  They even colored the light bars.


Like my velcro pair, these shoes came with the shoe box.


Inside the shoe box is the wonderful piece of Dukes of Hazzard tissue paper.  This is one of my parts of the package, along with the shoes and box.  I just love this thin piece of paper with all those great words on it.  Those are some of my favorite words of all words.




The box is the same as the velcro pair.  You can read all about my thoughts on the box in the last shoes blog post.


Coincidentally, a few weeks before I was contacted about buying these shoes, I bought this awesome store display and hadn't blogged about it yet.  I'm glad I waited.


This large display is cardboard and was used in stores to advertise the shoes.  It was listed on ebay as an ad for the Dukes album, but that was a mistake.  The album uses the same artwork of the jumping Gen'ral, but it also has the cast above it.  The addition of the flag behind it makes this an ad for the shoes for sure.  I'm really happy when I can add rare store displays like this to the collection.


Another indication that this piece was used to promote the shoes is the trademark year.  The album came out in 1981, the same you as me, but the shoes and this piece came out in 1982.


The back is a little rougher than the front.  It seems there was another piece of cardboard attached that folded out and let it stand.  It must have been ripped off years ago.  I'm glad it didn't damage the front at all.


Comparing the velcro shoes I bought two years ago to these lace up shoes, there are quite a few differences.  The lace up shoes are two-toned blue.  The trim is darker whereas there is also a lighter blue.  The velcro shoes are all the lighter color.


The 01s on the velcro shoes are printed on a white plastic insert and the lace ups have them printed directly on the material of the shoe.  I like the look of the lace up 01s because of the outline.

The General Lee text and the sole color designs are the same on both shoes.


Not having the two shoes connected by a wire and tag makes them a little less fragile.  It will also make them easier to display.  Just a few years ago I was just dreaming about adding such a super rare item like the shoes to the collection, and now I have two different pairs.  I'm so excited.


The two Dukes of Hazzard shoes and the store display look great together.  I really love collecting Dukes of Hazzard stuff.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

The Dates Are Set! Hazzard Homecoming 2017: Cooter's Last Stand!

***Location change! The event will take place at the new Cooter's In The Country in Luray, VA!***



Oh man, this is exciting!  That date has been set for the next big Dukes of Hazzard event, Hazzard Homecoming 2017: Cooter's Last Stand!  We've been hearing rumblings about this event for a long time now.  It's finally official!  July 29 and 30 in Sperryville, VA.

I couldn't possible describe it as good as Cooter himself, he is what the man has to say about it:

Hey Y’all,
This is an announcement of a very special event for Hazzard Nation, and it is an event that will be extra meaningful for Alma and me. On Saturday July 29th and Sunday July 30th of next year, 2017, we will be producing our last “big event”, Hazzard Homecoming 2017, which will be our last festival with the whole Hazzard gang.
Hazzard Homecoming 2017 will also be called “Cooter’s Last Stand”, since this show will also mark the end of my almost 60 years “on the road.” As many of you know, a debilitating and
progressive spinal condition has greatly restricted my movement and my travel in the last few years. After this event, I plan to “kick back” around our home here in the Blue Ridge Mountains,
and I’ll have to cut back on concerts and personal appearances. I’ll still make it to our Cooter’s Place stores when I can, and I’ll still get into the recording studio for our musical projects.
But we want to go out with a bang, and we want to make this event as special as our “Dukes” fans deserve. We plan to have the whole cast there, and it seems like something magical always happens when we are all in the same place at the same time. There will be personal appearances, great music, the Hazzard Car Show, a stunt show, wrestling, fine Southern cooking, fireworks, a Civil War re-enactment, kid activities, and plenty of surprises.
Hazzard Homecoming 2017 will be at Ben Venue Farm here in beautiful Rappahannock County, Virginia. As the date (July 29th and 30th, 2017) gets closer and we get more details, we’ll keep everybody posted!

I can't wait!  Ben Venue Farm was the location of the last Hazzard Homecoming in 2012.  The last time we had Hazzard Homecoming, it was in my opinion, the best Dukes of Hazzard event ever.  The stunt show was flawless, the autographs were accessible, the fireworks were great, the wrestling, starring the King Jerry Lawler, was awesome, the car show was so much fun, everything about the event was perfect.




This is going to be a magical event.  Especially since it will be the last one of this caliber Ben and Alma will produce.  I'll be posting updates about the event for over a year as we get ready.  I really can't wait.  It's going to be so much fun!


Tuesday, May 3, 2016

I Was A Guest On the 80's Reboot Overdrive Podcast


I had the pleasure of appearing as a guest on the podcast 80's Reboot Overdrive recently.  Man, was it fun.  Host Dave White is all about the '80s and it was great talking to him.  The link to the podcast is:




We covered a lot of Hazzard County ground.  If you heard me on the podcast and this is your first trip to Dukes Collector, welcome!  Hope you enjoy your stay.

I wanted to highlight a couple of the blog posts that were discussed during the podcast.


Dave asked me about my rarest Dukes item and I discussed the Dukes of Hazzard swimming pool quite a bit. To read all about the pool, check out this The Mythical Dukes of Hazzard Swimming Pool!!!


I also talked about the Archery Set that is incredibly rare as well.  It is in this post: New Dukes Stuff - 1/13/2016 - Holy Grail Archery Set!


I brought up the "Eras of Dukes of Hazzard Collecting."  In this blog post, I laid out the different eras, Gold, Silver, and Modern, and highlighted some of the Dukes items that came out during each.


We spoke a lot about Daisy Country and Cooter's Place.  I have a lot posted about my favorite Dukes of Hazzard Destinations.  Check some of them out here:

The Grand Opening of Daisy Country Was So Much Fun
Grand Opening of Cooter's in the Country in Sperryville, VA
Brad Miller Takes Us To Cooter's Place in Gatlinburg
Dukes of Hazzard Fan Fair - Autographs, film crews and concerts


Speaking of Cooter's Place and personal appearances, our good buddy Tom Wopat is heading to Cooter's in Nashville real soon.  Cooter's is hosting a special weekend with Tom May 21 and 22.  He will be at Cooter's signing autographs and will have a special concert next door at the Texas Troubadour Theater.  Get more info and tickets here.


We also discussed some of the unbelievable experiences I've had in the Dukes world.  I told Dave about having the opportunity to interview John Schneider and Tom Wopat for this blog.  You can see that interview here:

Interview with John Schneider and Tom Wopat (Bo and Luke Duke)


Dave was really interested when I told him that Quentin Tarentino had connections to the Dukes.  I wrote a Dukes of Hazzard review of Django Unchained that connected some dots between Mr. Tarentino's career and the Dukes and I also talked to Dave about one of the greatest days of my life:


I gave a quick recap of my trip to Hollywood to attend the Dukes of Hazzard Premiere.  I love talking about that day.


Dave asked about @EvilLarryFranks.  I explained to him the madness that is Jeff McClelland.  I gave Jeff a few plugs and talked about The Tick.  This weekend is Free Comic Book Day and Jeff has a new Tick issue available.  Get to your local comic book store on Saturday and pick up the new issue!  I also plugged Franks and Beans.  Gotta love F&B!


80's Reboot Overdrive Podcast is a great show that you should check out.  There are discussions on so many '80s topics like music, icons, and the Incredible Hulk.  It was a really fun experience and I hope to do it again.  Check out the 80's Reboot Overdrive Podcast site at http://80srebootoverdrive.libsyn.com/  and check them out on Twitter @80sReboot.