I'm not wasting any time getting to the next batch of Dukes items here at DukesCollector HQ. I'm off the deep end, watch as I dive in.
This is the Dukes of Hazzard Paint A Plaque craft set. I have only seen one picture of it online, I've never seen one sell, and saw one at Cooter's in Nashville. Until now, I have never seen another. I had it filled under "unknown item" in my archives. I am so excited to add this impossible to find set to the collection.
This hobby and craft product was created by Dekkertoys in 1983. Dekkertoys is a British company now known as Cesar UK. They currently specialize in costumes and playhouses, similar to the Dukes of Hazzard tent, but had a long history of licensed crafts toys such as this item. The Paint A Plaque set was not sold in America.
D Dekker LTD, the parent company to Dekkertoys was based in London.
The box features the finished product. There are two plaques included. The first one features our cousins over the General Lee and a big Dukes of Hazzard road sign. The second plaque has Boss Hogg, Flash, the County Sheriff badge and some car wrecks. You get a good guy plaque and a bad guy plaque. The images used were previously seen on other items such as the lunchboxes, and that image of Flash was used on the Arco tent.
The box also features two spiffy dressed young Dukes fans hard at work painting their plaques. Aside from being a Dukes devotee, the young lad is also a big fan of Robin Williams, judging from his suspenders. An instruction sheet is pictured, but my set did not come with one.
The plaques themselves are quite thin. My guess is they would become more substantial when the included paint is applied. They are clear and I think you are supposed to paint the reverse side. There are eight little paint tubes included.
There is a lot of action on each plaque. I really like the artwork. It would take a skilled painter to finish these off as perfect as the ones pictured on the box. I'm sure glad mine are unpainted. This incredibly rare item came to me by way of our pal, Bernd Tiemann. I'm so glad Bernd gave me the opportunity to add this unique piece to the collection. Thank you again my friend!
Next up are two Cast and Crew belt buckles. These buckles were given out by the producers each year the show was on the air. I have been meaning to track some down, but when they appear on ebay they usually go for high prices. These two made their way to me within the same week, and I really wasn't even looking for them.
The 1984 buckle comes from the collection of Rosco P. Coltrane himself, the late James Best. It is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by James' wife, Dorothy Best. Our good buddy JR Garrett acquired it from Dorothy and then sold it to me. Thanks JR!
It has James' autograph inscribed on the back.
The front is flawless. This is a really nice example of these buckles and it is obvious it was never worn.
The other one has a little wear to it. It is the 1983 version and was probably worn on a belt before. It still displays very well though. I picked it up online for a very good price.
They are both marked Trophy King on the back.
Cooter tried one on for size and really liked it.
Another super rare item I added to the collection is the hardcover version of the Dukes of Hazzard novel Gone Racin' by Eric Alter. I had no idea this existed.
You may remember that I did a book report on Gone Racin' last summer. It is a novel that takes place between seasons 4 and 5 and explains why Bo and Luke left the farm, how they got on the NASCAR circuit, and tells about how Coy and Vance took their place. It is a fascinating read as it discusses things that are never mentioned on the show. I recommend tracking down the paperback and checking it out. This hardcover, on the other hand, won't be as easy to track down as this is the only one I have ever seen. It was released by Severn House in 1982, the same year as the two paperback versions.
This particular copy of the hardcover is in excellent condition. It has a plastic sleeve on it that has protected it over the last three decades.
Stunningly it was a library book that was actually checked out. It was in the Stockport Libraries in the United Kingdom and seems to have been last checked out in 2000. I appears it was withdrawn from circulation in 2016 and stored in the basement. Now it's a part of my library and stored in my collection. It will never be checked out again. I sure am glad the library goers took such good care of it when they checked it out. I'm glad they treated it better than Jerry treated Tropic of Cancer, and really happy Bookman didn't have to come looking for it.
It really is in perfect condition. It does not include the picture pages the American version of the paperback has. This version was only released in the United Kingdom and I am very fortunate to have found it.
The American version, left, was released by Warner Books, the British paperback, right, was released by Armada Books. The hardcover has the most complete version of the artwork on it. This artwork is used on several other items, most recognizably on the shoe box and album. It seems the unedited piece of art is on the hardcover with differently edited versions used on the two different paperbacks.
Eric Alter wrote a fun story that is very surprising and different from what you would expect. Dukes fans would be doing themselves a favor by reading it. The paperback version isn't all that hard to find.
Cooter took my advice and dove in right away. He is having a blast reading it. His favorite parts are about the Hazzard County mechanic. Imagine that.
Finally, I picked up a few packaged slide puzzles. There are four different slide puzzles and I have them all out of package. Slowly I have been getting them all in the package and I almost have them all. But I just found out they came in different packages. Items like this that were licensed out by WB were slapped into whatever package the manufacturers had at the time. They are not specific to the license and I am sure this manufacturer used the same package for Strawberry Shortcake, A-Team, Smurfs, and a bunch of other puzzles.
There are a few differences to the actual puzzle in addition to being in different packages. Notice the road is concrete colored on the left and more dirt road looking on the right. The left actually has Dukes of Hazzard printed on the package, though there is a sticker covering most of it. I love finding these kinds of different packages. Oddly enough, the slide puzzle I played with most as a kid, so much so that I think I could hold my own pretty well on Survivor, is the only one that I haven't yet found in package.
There are four different ones and I guess I have variations of three of those. They one I played with endlessly as a kid is the red one on the left.
The blue one features the entire cast. I have a blue one and a sort of greenish blue one. The discoloration might come from age, but they might have been in different packages.
The green one is the color of money. It features Boss Hogg. I noticed a tiny difference in the two as the one on the right has small green lines on the underside of Boss's hat. The left one doesn't have these lines. I am guessing these two came in different packaging.
I have these two in the package and out. The same differences as a discussed above.
And finally my favorite one. Now I had a good bit of Dukes stuff when I was a kid, obviously nothing compared to what I have now, but this piece was special. I would play with this slide puzzle for hours. My sister would too. My mom helped me solve it so many times. I always thought it was funny the Gen'ral's tires were yellow. I'm going to have to move the pieces and take another stab at solving this puzzle. Yeehaw!!!!
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