New Dukes things 2/29/2012

More Stuff!  This is going to be fun in like ten years to look back and see when exactly I added a particular piece to the collection.  These items are still coming off of the good closing I had a few weeks ago.  I don't buy this much stuff in a normal week.  The first thing to show off is this tiny Dukes of Hazzard tricycle. 

I got this bike from Jeremy at Pop Culture Connection in Greensburg, PA.  He is always looking out for Dukes items for me.  I have my original bike, just like this one, that I played with hard when I was a kid.  I used to ride that thing down my grandmother's driveway so fast.  Looking at it now, I can't believe its so small.  I remember it being the perfect size when I was young.  My original is not exactly a part of my collection though.  Being into Dukes as much as I am, my family also has a love for the show/hobby.  That little bike was such a part of my life growing up that my mom has it on display above the foyer of the house.  Here it is beside our carousel horse from Kennywood.

The one I got from Pop Culture Connection is in slightly less used condition.  It was certainly enjoyed by some small Dukes fan at some point, but not as much as my original.  It still has most of its decals intact and also has the streamers hanging from the handlebars.  I never remember my old one having those. 

I don't think I ever remember seeing one of these pop up on eBay.  As soon as Jeremy told me he had one, I jumped on the chance of adding it to my collection.

I also bought this perfect guitar from Pop Culture. 

I kind of already have one of these too.  Another original item of mine that I played with my entire childhood was my Dukes of Hazzard guitar.  I have old home movies of me, at about age four, playing with it endlessly.  My original has a white plastic front and a orange plastic base.  The one from Pop Culture is switched with orange in front and a white base.  Here is a picture of my old one, displayed in my collection on the top shelf. 

The original, again, is in rough shape.  You can't really tell a four year old to take care of his toys for posterity.  My grandmother, Dolly, didn't teach me that until I was about six.  It is missing the General Lee sticker, and at least one string.  The new one is in great shape.  The decals are all perfect and there is not a scratch on it.  I think there are two other versions of the Dukes of Hazzard guitar out there.  They are shaped like an electric guitar.  One has a black front, and one has a white front.  

Rounding out the items I bought from Pop Culture Connection last week are two '81 Ertl Generals, a wind-up wrist racer Rosco' Patrol Car, and a mint condition Dukes of Hazzard Punch-Out Fun book.  I plan on opening this Punch-Out book and actually punching out the contents to make all of the paper vehicles, buildings, and people one day.  The artwork in the book is really nice and I think it will be a fun activity.  I will take tons of pictures and post them all to the blog.  Don't worry, I have another that I will keep mint.  If anyone needs one of these Punch-Out books, contact me.  Jeremy has several.   The coloring book pictured is the very thick one.  It came in the coloring book activity set with a couple of other books, which I already have, and on its own.  The cover price for this book is $7.95.  I payed $8 for it on eBay.  Not all Dukes stuff prices go up I guess. 

I bought this set of party items just for the hats.  I have several sizes of paper party cups and plates still in the package.  I have been having trouble finding the paper party hats.  These ones were worn, apparently, by Tom, Tim, and Debby.  I hope they had fun at the Dukes themed party they attended.  I know I have enjoyed all of my Dukes themed parties.  Jeremy, of Pop Culture, (man, I am talking about him a lot in this post) tells me he has some of these hats in the package somewhere, I hope he finds them soon.

I also bought these three General Lees.  These ones didn't come from eBay.  I only wanted the 1/18 Ertl that is pictured in the back.  It is a fairly rarer one that is packaged with a 1/64 diecast General Lee in the box.  The seller told me he wanted to get rid of all three pieces.  So I also got a 1997 AMT model (the version without the rebel flag on the box) and a Mego General Lee.  Both of these are in pretty beat up shape.  But I got all three for well less than what this 1/18 goes for on eBay. 

Looking over this post, I really didn't buy anything I don't already have.  Just kind of different versions of things already in the collection.  Oh well.  As I mentioned the last post, I added a Dukes of Hazzard record player to my collection recently.  I surely didn't have that before.  I love my new record player!

The White Whale - The Dukes of Hazzard Record Player

Since I have been collecting Dukes of Hazzard for so long, I have had many white whales, or most sought after items.  Recently it seems I have captured my whales in pretty a timely fashion.

About two years ago I really wanted to get my hands on the Dukes of Hazzard Album in cassette form.  I already have a few versions of the original record and a couple of single 45s from it.  I also found the 8-track pretty easily.  I bought the re-release on CD the day it came out in 1997 as well as the re-re-release in 2005 when it came out with the movie soundtrack.  It just seemed like the cassette version was eluding me.  I finally found the cassette on eBay.  It turns out they also re-released the cassette in '97.  The original from 1982 has a white background and the '97 version has a blue one.  I have one of the white ones now, and about three blue ones.  I even found an Australian version that has a white background and different text.  Here is a pic of the blue version:

Sorry its so dark and blurry.

My next white whale was the Dukes of Hazzard washcloth.  I had seen one go on eBay for a pretty penny before and thought it might have been out of my league.  But if you look long enough, you find what you want at the right price.  It seems very quickly after I bought the washcloth, I was after another whale that I didn't even know existed: The Dukes bathmat.  I had to complete the set.  The super-rare bathmat is now in my collection with the matching washcloth and hand towel.  I even have the General Lee soap.  The only bath-oriented item I don't have is the ultra rare wash-mittens....one day.

Collecting all all 150 Racing Champions 1/144 cards was a challenge I'm glad I only had to do once.  In the beginning it was easy.  Buy all of the ones that pop up on eBay.  About 100 of them in, it got a bit harder.  Toward the end, I thought I would never get them all.  Card #95 became my new white whale.  I seemed to have 149 of those little guys for ever.  Wouldn't you know it that when #95 showed its face on eBay, two of them were listed at the same time.  I completed the collection of 1/144 cars around the end of November of 2011.

Which leads us to my newest White Whale.  The record player has been on the hit list for quite some time.  I have been after it forever and after I got the cassette, washcloth, and #95 my sights were set.  It amazed me when one popped up on eBay that still had the box.  I knew it was going to be pricey, but I decided it would be mine.  I got it in the mail about a week ago, and it is better than I expected. 

Because I had never seen the box before, I didn't know that it originally came with a microphone.  The few that were on eBay before didn't have theirs.  

Unfortunately the original 5 year limited warranty has expired.  Darn.  I still love it. 

The record player is definitely one of top items.  But now I don't have a White Whale.  I'm sure I'll figure out a new one soon. 

Newest Dukes things 2/22/12

Let me try this again. I have a message board on my site and have been posting a few messages about new Dukes of Hazzard things I have added to my collection. I put the following message on there the other day. I figured why not post it to this blog thing too. So here goes.

I recently had a good run of closings at work, so I did what any Dukes of Hazzard addict would do, buy lots of Dukes stuff.

Here is part one of the latest haul.

This is the famous Dukes of Hazzard playset. It came in a retail box and also in this mail-away box. It’s nice to have the mail-away version. The retail version is fetching a lot of money on ebay these days. I have a lead on one. I hope it works out. This mail-away is complete and in great shape.

This spiral pinball game is in amazing shape. The box and the contents are perfect. It suprises me the some of these items have survived this long in condition like this.

This Slam Shifter set is something I have been after for a while. The box is in great shape. It came all wrapped in plastic wrap and I haven't unwrapped it yet. I got it for a great price too.

Part two.

These little finger bicycles sure are odd. I think it was weird that the maker of the full size bike was able to get away with naming it after the General. Then these things are produced. Its like a authorized tribute to and product that is an unauthorized tribute to the General Lee. Does that make sense? Anyway, I got them. I also recently bought the last of the four TV Guides I didn't have. Now I have all four.

I got this display box of trading cards, which is awesome, and this very nice school folder. I still need several other school supplies. This belt racer thing seemed like a ripoff Dukes car, so my buddy Jeremy (of Pop Culture Connection in Greensburg, PA) gave it to me. Great guy.

These pants drive me nuts. There were several different ones put out in 2005 for the movie. Apparently they were available at Wal-Mart. I didn't know about them (somehow) and I didn't buy any of them. Now they are near impossible to find. If they were at Wal-Mart, WHY DOESN'T ANYONE SELL THEM NOW??? They never show up on ebay. Crazy.

All of these cars were mine as a kid and I recently found them at my uncle's house. The one with the American flag on top is great. I always wanted a General Lee that had opening doors. My mom searched everywhere and she came pretty darn close when she found this one. Great job Mom. The one with the V on it explodes apart when it hits a wall.

I have since aquired quite a few more items, so expect another post like this soon.  I got something I have been after for a long time.  I'm very excited about it.

Monumental day! The first Dukes Collector blog.

Hello world. I'm Larry the Dukes of Hazzard Collector. Today is monumental, for two reasons. I have taken the advice (insistence?) of buddy and fellow blogger, Jeff, and decided to give the blog thing a try to get my collection out there. That's the first reason.

The other reason is awesome. Someone was actually searching the web with the intention of finding someone to buy their Dukes memorabilia, found my site, and contacted me. I don't think I could have refused the item no matter what it was. It just so happened to be an uncut 144 racing champion poster. I happen to be in need of another. That is awesome. Thanks for finding me (other) Jeff.

My intentions for DukesCollector.com is to show off my collection, bring fellow collectors together, and help people like Jeff, the seller not the blogger, find a place for their unwanted Dukes of Hazzard things. Namely in my possession. I hope to post often with pictures of my new stuff and enjoyable anecdotes. Hope you enjoy.