New Dukes item alert! We have a new General Lee in the world, made by a French company called Norev. There's also a fully licensed Knight Rider and Transformers crossover KITT on the shelves. Let's take a look at both of them.
We'll start with KITT, actually his name is Agent Knight. We'll also start off with my unashamed jealousy. I love Knight Rider. When I was a kid it was my second favorite show. Knight Rider has been an evergreen license that Universal always goes back to, but never in a big way. KITT will pop up in a commercial talking about smart trains or they'll be a half-hearted reboot on NBC that you just know wouldn't last. I don't want to put KR down in any way, but it hasn't been used effectively since it went off the air originally. Comparing it to Dukes,
which isn't something I started, but is something Knight Rider has been doing itself since the beginning, it never had the lasting fanbase that we enjoy or the multiple resurgences. We got the movie, the reunions, the fests and homecomings and all the rest. KR just seems complacent as a memory. But that doesn't mean I'm not jealous when an item as cool as this appears. This is one of the best Transformers to be released since Dinobot, Optimus Primal, Rhinox, and Megatron started the Beast Wars!
I started this blog off bringing down Knight Rider a bit and don't want to continue down a negative path. I love this new toy but I have a few issues with it. The name. KITT is right there. I have no idea why this Transformer is named Agent Knight and not Knight Industries Two Thousand, or KITT if you prefer. Maybe it's a legal issue, or maybe this is a robot in disguise as KITT. But if there was an officially licensed Dukes of Hazzard Transformer and it wasn't named the General Lee, I would be flabbergasted.
The box art is great. It has a Transformers Generation One feel which fits KR perfectly. I'm sure there was a time when Optimus Prime was hanging on shelves right next to the Kenner Knight Rider Voice Car. I probably saw them both at Toy City and dreamed of a time when KITT and Optimus could go on adventures together. That time has come.
The collaboration logo is pretty cool. I like the use of the voice box behind the KR logo.
The outside of the box is more Transformers inspired, but the inner box has that classic, "One Man Can Make A Difference" feel to it. At first I was bummed the car was sealed to this package and I would have to cut it to get t out, but the designers made it so you only have to un-tape from the bottom and no cutting is required. This box is a keeper.
The transformed car itself is great. There is no question this is KITT.
Batteries are not included, which is a bummer because it requires specialty watch like batteries that I didn't have lying around so I'm not one hundred percent sure what it does. I'm guessing the scanner light moves but I don't know if the accompanying swooshy sound is also a part of the show.
KITT, or Agent Knight, is lacking the signature KNIGHT license plate, but does have the Knight Industries chess knight logo on the back.
Ok be honest, you knew I was going to compare this new KITT Transformer to my custom General Lee Transformer that I've had for over a decade an was
one of the first things I ever blogged about. Oddly enough, if you follow that link to the post about my General Lee in disguise, some of the pictures don't work. I should fix that.
The scale isn't perfect, KITT is a little bigger. An actual Charger is larger than a Trans Am, but they aren't too different here. It could be a totally different scale, but it works with these two cars.
Back to Agent Knight. Transforming the new car was not difficult at all. He comes with a couple guns and the doors act as shoulders.
Besides the name not being KITT, my only other gripe with this toy is the face. KITT has the iconic voice box. If not thinking about the car itself, when we think of talking to KITT, we think of the moving red lines that visualize his voice. I really think that should have incorporated that into this design. This face is kind of "Transformer generic" where it could be anybody. It doesn't resemble Michael Knight, it doesn't have the voice box, it's just kind of plain. The red "sunglasses" are kinda cool and give it an '80s look, but everything about it has an '80s look, it's a 1982 Trans Am. I wish it would have been more KITTy. Ok, I'm never using that adjective again.
There is a tiny accessory that straps to Agent Knight's wrist. I guess it's supposed to be the a version of Michael's Comlink watch that let him communicate with KITT, but it doesn't really land. Are those supposed to be the voice lines?
The figure has a great look to it. I really like the use of the doors as shoulders. The design reminds me of another Transformer...
Agent Knight is similar to my General Lee Transformer in it's form and transformation style. My custom is based on Autobot Downshift, and I guess most cars transform in similar fashion on Cybertron. KITT (I'm done calling him Agent Knight, this is a KITT toy!) is bigger than the General. KITT's doors are behind his shoulders where the 01 doors make up the shoulders of the General. I'm glad the 01s are not in the back like KITT's doors. These two make a great team and are ready to stop any interplanetary corruption. Two sentient beings can make a difference!
Let's move on to the Norev General Lee. This car came out of nowhere. A few friends sent me word that it was coming out in Europe, but didn't have much info on it. It looked decent enough from the very few images I'd seen so I bought a few. I didn't even know if it was diecast of plastic when I first ordered it. When it arrived, I was blown away by the detail. So much so that I order a few more right away. Before we get to the car, let's look at the box. It's plain as heck. This is obviously an unlicensed replica, and using "The Dukes of Hazzard" or "General Lee" might get Norev in hot water, but they made a replica of the most famous TV car ever, so the liability concerns were thrown out the window. But instead of Dukes or Gen'ral on the box, it simply says "Charger."
The back has some legal information from Ford Motor Company which makes no sense at all. Norev is really pushing the legal limits here.
The bottom and sides are plain too. They are relying on the box window to sell this bad boy, because the box isn't giving us anything.
Good thing the box window shows the top of the car. There is no question that the General Lee is in full uniform.
The car itself is fantastic! The only issue with it is the interior is black, not tan, but we've let that (hood) slide before and we can do it again. This is a beautiful rendition of our favorite car in 1:43 scale.
The 01s are a little on the skinny side, but they still look good. The wheels are pretty spot on vectors.
We know the General looks just fine with black interior, just ask your pal and mine,
Jim Dahlman.
This replica looks good from every angle. The flag looks great and the push bar is perfect.
The CNH 320 plate lacks a little bit of detail, like the "Hazzard County" bottom line, but it does the job.
The bottom of the car mentions that it is a Dodge Charger, not just a Charger like on the box, but has no mention of WB or Dukes.
Hey, KITT is back! Norev also released Knight Industries Two Thousand along side the General Lee. I had to get one of those as well. The box is basically the same but the text matches the color of the car. It's orange on the Gen'ral and black on KITT. KITT is simply referred to as Firebird on this box. Not even a Trans Am, sheesh.
The back of KITT's box is the same, with Ford mentioned, as well as Renault and Mercedes, but not Stellantis who owns Dodge, or GM who owns Pontiac.
KITT is also very well done. There is no light up feature which most versions of him have, but he still looks just about perfect.
It's fun to have our two favorite cars appear in the same line, even if the line is unlicensed. I like your work Norev, keep it up!
No question, the box for the AW release is better than the Norev. It has the brown box design we loved pre-2015 that was on everything WB released at that time.
The AW I used for comparison shots was unopened as I couldn't locate the opened one. The 01s look better on the AW, but everything else is about the same. Norev really made something that can compete with the established king of the 1:43 scale.
The CNH is a little more polished on the AW, but the push bars are similar on both cars.
You might have noticed that Greenlight released a ton of unlicensed Dukes vehicles as part of their Hazzardous Collection over that last six or so years. The scales ranged from 1/64 to 1/18. There were a few 1:43s released as well. One thing Greenlight hasn't done at all was attempted to make a General Lee. Where the Norev Lee fits perfectly would be for collectors who missed out on the AW release from over a decade ago, but picked up some of Greenlight's offerings and wanted the main car from the show to go with all the secondary cars. Wish granted.
This General Lee goes great with the Greenlight police cars and Dixie Jeep. And who can forget the unlicensed
JDH Caddy released by Matrix, from the Netherlands. We have quite the 1:43 scale Hazzard County going here.
You know I love comparison shots. Here is the Norev General Lee with the king of Dukes diecasts,
the AW Silver Screen Machines 1/18 General Lee. The orange of the Norev is a little lighter, but you don't really notice until you start to compare.
I love these scale shots. The Racing Champions 1/144 is in the front, with the best
Johnny Lightning 1/64 next, and then the Norev and the AW.
Ok, now it gets a little crazy. I usually stick to diecast cars for the scale shots, but I went all out for these pictures. Here we have the Racing Champions 1/44, then the
Shuco Piccolo 1/90 General Lee that was another unlicensed European release that came from Germany in 2016. Next is the JL 1/64 and the Norev, then the Bump "N Go. Behind that is the AW 1/18 followed by a built 1/16 model from 1981 and at the top is none other than the
General Lee from the WMS Slot Machine! This is a very eclectic group of General Lees. Did I use eclectic right?
Just take in all this General Lee goodness!
I snapped a bunch of pictures of this set up, so why not share them with the world?
The slot machine General was always bald. Isn't it interesting all the little variations of the uniform?
I can't decide which picture I like the best.
Which one is your favorite?
I let KITT join the party with the Norev, Transformer, and the Rough Rider General Lee. I didn't get out the ERTL 1/18 KITT, cause it's put away pretty deep somewhere.
Fun, but not as fun as the General Lee scale shots.
It's always great when we get to add a brand new General Lee release to the collection. The Norev General Lee is rather unexpensive and can be found from a few overseas retailers and on ebay. I am very happy I grabbed a few. I wonder if Norev will venture any deeper into Hazzard County cars.
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