Dukes of Hazzard Slot Car Tracks and Cars

The Eletric Slot Racing Set had to be a no brainer when they were deciding which Dukes toys to produce.  The General Lee was always being chased by the police.  Perfect ingredients for a slot car set.  No wonder there have been three produced to date.

The original was first released in 1981.  I got mine a few years ago at the Steel City Con.  I have never put any of them together.  It featured a jump in the middle of the figure-eight track.  I bet that thing never landed right. 

The artwork on the box isn't used on that many products.  It is very well done in my opinion.  It should have been used more.  They never seemed to get Bo and Luke's shirts right on these kinds of things.

Ideal Toy Corporation out of Newark, NJ made this set.  I doubt the warranty is still good.  I should call the 800 number just for the heck of it.

The back of the box shows how to set up the track.

Auto World released a new 24 feet Electric Slot Car Race Track in 2006.  Yes, the same Auto World where our friend Gregg works, and who recently released the new 1/18 General Lee.  It has a longer track and more detailed cars.  These cars are Auto World's X-Traction Ultra-G Slot Cars.  I don't know what that means.  The box art design is similar to the 1/18s and 1/25s that Ertl and Johnny Lightning were releasing at the time, as well as the aformentioned Auto World 1/18.

The General Lee and Rosco's Patrol Car are included.  

The back of the box has the same design and logo as the front and shows which pieces are inside. 

Couldn't they have spelled it "Hazzard" just this once?

In 2008, AW released an even bigger set.  This time it was 38 feet of track. 

The General and Rosco's car are pointed in the oppisite direction in this one.  Rosco also has the correct duel colored light bar. 

The box art used a different design this time. It has the same logo but with new artwork of the General Lee and Rosco in action.  They did a great job with this art. 

The back of the box shows several different ways the track can be set up.  Both of these newer tracks can still be found at some hobby stores.  But they aren't cheap.  I paid around $65 for the smaller one in 2006 and around $100 for the big one.  Now they retail for around $120 each.  I haven't opened either of them.  Has anyone else ever opened and set these up?  How do they run?  Want to invite me over to play with them?

Around the same time, Auto World also released these slot cars.  They are the same X-Traction Ultra-G Slot Cars that came with the tracks, but in a variety of Duke cars.  Each one came standard and dirty.  I really like the dirty versions because you rarely saw clean cars in Hazzard County except Daisy's cars, and she always kept hers clean.  Here are the clean and dirty General Lee and Cooter's Camaro.

Daisy got twice the love in this series.  She deserves it.  Here are her Road Runner and Jeep. 

And rounding out the series is Rosco's Patrol Car and a State Police Car.  I'll have to be on the look out to see if this  State Police car ever actually appeared in the series.  AW also released varaint chase cars that were chrome like.  The General was a shiney orange, Rosco's car was silve,r etc.  I only have the General so far because they can get kind of pricey.

The back of the packages list the six cars available. 

Each one also came with these strange cardboard slips that can be folded so the packages stand taller in them.  I don't really get it.  I never folded any of mine. 

Seriously, anyone want to invite me over to play with their Dukes toys?   I'll travel.  It will be fun. 

 

Different versions of the Dukes of Hazzard movie

Flipping through the channels on Sunday, I came across the Dukes of Hazzard movie on TBS.  Its always a nice surprise when you don't expect to see it on the program guide.  I think this is the first time it was on TBS.  It mostly ran on USA Network.  I watched the last half hour and, like every time I watch it, paused it all the different times I can be seen during the final race scene.  I also recorded it with my DVR.  Not sure why I do this, because I have it on DVD.  Many versions on DVD.  

The movie is a polarizing topic within the Dukes of Hazzard fan community.  I like it.  I'm in it.  And I collect it.  This is the standard version of the DVD.  It is the theatrical cut.  This version was only released in "full-screen edition."  That was strange. 

The "widescreen edition" was the also the unrated version.  I'm not sure why the theatrical cut wasn't released in widescreen.  The "unrated-ness" of this one added a few harsher cuss words and some more drug related humor. 

Remember the high definition format war?  That was fun.  HD DVD vs. Blu-ray.  Warner Bros. seemed to be on the Blu-ray side of the fight from the beginning but oddly only released Dukes on HD DVD.  That bummed me out when it was released because I have a PS3 which played Blu-ray.  And of course HD DVD lost the war and has since gone the way of Betamax.  I'm still waiting for the Blu-ray release. 

UMD was also a weird mid-2000s format.  It only worked on one little hand held game console, yet it was widely accepted by all major studios for...about six months.  I never owned a PSP so I never got to use this disc.  It seems to be the theatrical release. 

The United Kingdom saw the release of the "unseen" version on UMD.  There are a few versions from across the pond that are called "unseen" rather that "unrated."  Must be a legal issue having to do with the ratings.  This is the only "unseen" one I have picked up so far. 

This is the standard Region 3 release.  Any version released out side of the USA or UK got this box art.  They dropped the goofy "thrillbillies" tag line for an equally goofy "all speed no limit" line.  And Jessica thinks something is REALLY funny. 

I think this one is a Greek version.  I'm not as fluent in my southern European languages as I should be.  It works on a DVD-rom and only has subtitles.  I was hoping for a dubbed over soundtrack.  No luck. 

Wal-Mart released this version about two or three years after the movie came out.  Starsky & Hutch had a remake, a muscle car, and two dudes.  Might as well stick it on the back of the Dukes of Hazzard disc.  I don't like the fact that the Gran Torino made the cover and the General didn't.  There is a TV/Movie car hierarchy that is being disrespected here. 

This is the "Hog-Wild Edition."  They didn't even spell it Hogg.  This movie marked the only time I purchased the straight-to-dvd mess that was "The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning."  I feel about that movie the way some Dukes fans feel about the real movie.  It did not need to be made.  I caught "The Beginning" on ABC Family when it premiered.  It was horrible.  Willie Nelson reprised his role as Uncle Jesse and Shooter McGavin played Boss Hogg.  In the story, the Dukes didn't build the General, they found it in the bottom of a lake.  What did that mean?  That the show took place first?  It was just bad.  I resisted buying it until this version came out.  And I haven't watched it since ABC Family.

Then last year for my birthday, Jeff bought me both the widescreen and full screen versions of it. THANKS JEFF!  Is that how you portray sarcasm on a blog, with caps?  Who knows what debauchery the "unrated" version contains.  I do remember that this version had Lulu Hogg in it.  Her character was missed in the movie.  At least Daisy was a brunette. 

The poster in the first picture includes www.dukesofhazzard.com.  That link used to take you to a fun flash based site promoting both the movie and the show.  It had clips from all of the full season releases and a couple of games promoting the movie.  I went there recently and it takes you to the WBshop.com selling the show and movies now.  That's a shame.  Dukescollector.com is now better than dukesofhazzard.com.  So I got that going for me. 

New Dukes things 6/19/2012 - Store Ads,Cake Tops and Bo's Shirt

This week's batch of new goodies include a couple of rare items. 

I would like to have all of the movie related items out there.  I consider the movie items as one of the sub-collections inside my entire collection.  I have just about all of the commercial released items, expect for that darn Shiny Chrome 1/18 General Lee, and have quite a few display and promotional items.  Here are a few more.  These were released to movie stores to promote the DVD release.  The circle thing has adhesive on the top of the tab.  It would hang from a shelf.  The other is printed on both sides.  Maybe to hang from the ceiling or put on a glass door.  They are both unused.

This window cling it pretty big.  About a foot in diameter.  Larger than I expected.  It is unused as well.  I also have a poster for the DVD release.  I got it form a friend who's family business rents movies, and sells and fixes computers, and sells guns, and had a bar and pizza place in the basement, all of a former Synagogue. 

Soon I'll do a post dedicated to all the different versions of the movie I have on different formats.  I have a bunch, but surprisingly, no Blu-ray.

This View-Master reel is number 1 in a series of 2.  The package designer sure thought Bo and Daisy were attractive people, but didn't give Luke as much love.  The boy on the package looks like he is wearing the shirt at the bottom of this post.  Weird. 

This piece is super rare.  It is candy cake decorations.  The only other edible Dukes of Hazzard items I can think of are the Boss Hogg Bubble Gum Cigars and the Dukes of Hazzard Choco-covered Dipsticks.  I have one Bubble Gum Cigar package that is un-opened and one empty box.  I have never seen the Dipsticks.  These cake toppers are nearly perfect.  There seems to be candy under the General Lee cardboard piece as well.  It follows the same theme as the rest of the party supplies, like the hats, plates, and table cloths. 

The directions seems rather complicated to get the candy off of the paper and on to the cake.  You have to wet the paper and wait for them to separate and they mention doilies and moistness and dimensional looks.  I really didn't think it would be that involved.  I think I'll keep mine sealed.  

And finally we have this Hazzard County shirt.  It is not licensed, pretty old, and seems quite homemade.  But the reason I bought it is because is supposedly belonged to none other than John Schneider.  I don't have a certificate of authenticity or anything, and don't really care.  I do know that John had an estate auction not long ago.  And the seller on eBay had quite a few of his items and was from the Aurora Hills area.  He had some shirts with John's name embroidered on them and a few that are recognizable crew shirts.  Some went for big money.  I like the design of this one and it didn't skyrocket so I picked it up.  I believe it once belong to Bo, but it won't keep me up at night that I can't prove it.  Maybe one day I'll ask John if he remembers it.  It's a fun shirt. 

Newspaper article about my Dukes of Hazzard collection

A few years ago, well...seven...WOW...its been seven years since the movie...anyway.  The local newspaper did an article on my collection.  It also tells the story about how I got to be an extra in the movie.  I have included a link to download the article in PDF format.  Check it out:

Larry's newspaper article

Looking back over that article, that was probably my entire collection that I had spread out on my bed and on those shelves.  There are two more walls not shown covered with shelves full of items.  But since then I would saw my collection has grown four times bigger.  At least.  Fun to look back. 

Barn Bustin' with the Dukes of Hazzard

I recently bought a couple of Dukes items that had a Barn Busting theme. 

After posting about the different Speed Jumper sets, and discussing it with James, aka Uncle Jesse, the Dukes Knickerbocker playset aficionado, I decided I needed another Dukes of Hazzard Barnbuster set.  I have one that I bought at a flea market when I was about eleven, but I lost the box.  I saw this one on eBay.  The set isn't in perfect shape, but the box looked great.  Just what I needed. 

The General doesn't have any stickers, and the crates and barrels are missing, but I have those from my original set, and I have quite a few of these Generals.
 

The box is very nice and colorful.  The back has the same artwork but with fewer colors.  I like how the General Lee is referred to as the "The Super General Lee Stunt Charger."  They added a spoiler to the General to help it with wheel stands.  They also added it to the General on the box.  It never comes out of the barn "skiing" though, like it is on the box.  It always busts through the barn doing a wheelie.

I also grabbed these children's pajamas on eBay at a good price.  I didn't notice until they were delivered that the art on them is almost identical to the Barnbuster box. 

They took the spoiler off the back of the General, but it was obviously created from the same artwork. I got these two items about a day or two apart.  Quite the coincidence. 

This promotional picture from the movie always reminded me of the artwork for the Barnbuster.  Makes me think that the cinematographer or director of photography shot this scene as an homage to the popular toy set.  "Let's bust through a barn and come out on two wheels like that old toy."  Yep, I bet that's what they said. 

I couldn't help but play with my new toys.  I set up the Barnbuster and also got out the Speed Jumper sets I got recently.  I figured might as well do a little video blogging for the  "DukesCollector" readers. 

My sticker-less General does a pretty good job through the barn.  It even "popped a wheelie on one wheel" like it says on the box. 

What a jump! The General Lee really flew when it kicked into second gear.  I could have moved the landing ramp another foot away but my table just wasn't big enough.  I put the little traffic cones on the edge of the jump ramp, and the General didn't even knock them off.  It was flying before it left the edge of the ramp.  Good stuff.  From now on, I'm going to play with my new Dukes toys and video it before I put them with the rest of the stuff.   

Electric Tiki "Tooned Up" Dukes of Hazzard Maquettes

I haven't received anything new in the mail lately, but that doesn't mean I don't have Dukes things to show off.  Some of the most unique Dukes of Hazzard items to come out in the last decade have to be "Tooned Up" Marquettes released by Electric Tiki.  The Bo and Luke resin statues came out in 2002 while Daisy had a little trouble getting produced and didn't get released until 2003.  I got them all when they came out.

They are part of Eletric Tiki's "Tooned Up" Television line.  They are "an animated look to classic television."  Other shows in the line include I Dream of Jeanie, Bewitched, Sanford & Son, Married With Children, and Greatest American Hero.  The creators really payed attention to detail with them.  Bo has lighter blue jeans and the blue t-shirt under his yellow shirt that rarely makes it onto products.  I would say he looks slightly more like John Schneider than the Luke looks like Tom Wopat.

Each piece is numbered.  My Bo is number 31 of 1500.  Pretty low number.  The 5 represents the number in the product line.  I like that they used the classic Dukes font.  It also has the designer's and sculptor's names on it.  Tracy Mark Lee designed it and James Lopez sculpted it.  Good job guys.

Luke has darker jeans and has a solid blue shirt.  Most commercialized versions of Luke have the standard blue plaid shirt.  He wore this one early in the series run.  My favorite part of all of the statues is Luke's belt buckle.  It is a nicely done rendition of the "bear claw" buckle that Luke wore throughout the entire series.  Tom Wopat still owns the buckle today.  I would love to find a similar one. 

This one is number 93 of 1500.  I scored two under 100!  Tracy and James created this one too.  It is number 7 in the line. 

After doing a quick search of Electric Tiki, I found that they are known for "sexy" statues.  They have some Disney princesses and other characters done this way.  They went the same direction with Daisy.  Bo and Luke's legs are thin, but Daisy's waist is THIN.  It appears the top of her body should fall off.  Really doesn't capture Catherine Bach's beauty, just kind of a generic face.  But it has those shorts.  Is that the Dukes' biggest contribution to pop culture?  Daisy Dukes?  Daisy didn't have a standard "costume" like Bo and Luke did on the show, but she never wore a tank top with a Daisy on it.  Maybe a nod to the Boars Nest would have worked better.  

They planned on releasing all three together, but Daisy got delayed and then cancelled.  It was later released as a Previews Exclusive limited to 500 pieces in 2003.  Previews is a comic book catalog by Diamond Comic Distributors that's had a...let's say interesting...relationship with our friends.  I didn't get as low a number with Daisy as I did the Duke  Boys.  I got number 402.  She was designed by Tracy Mark Lee and sculpted by Schu. It doesn't have a product line number.

The boxes are as displayable as the statues.  They have vibrant colors and nice artwork.  I'm not too sure if anyone would actually cut out the art on the back to display, but it's a nice addition.  According to the box, Tracy, James, and Schu are professional animators. 

There are not too many Dukes of Hazzard items produced these days that aren't the standard diecasts, models, and t-shirts.  I love the standards, but I really enjoy seeing out of the box items like these marquettes.  Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, and even Knight Rider are feeling the love right now with all kinds of products such as MiniMates, plush toys, statues, and even replica Hover Boards.  I would love to see some new Dukes items that are out of the ordinary like these statues.  Give me some new action figures, busts, prop replicas, or bobble heads.  I'm talking to you,  Diamond Select Toys.  You too, Warner Bros.  Let's make this happen!