Pioneer Slot Car's Brand New General Lee 1/32 is Amazing

I just got a package from the U.K. and inside is an amazing new representation of the General Lee!

This is Pioneer Slot Car's beautiful new 1/32 scale slot car General Lee.  This product has been in the works for years and our patience has finally paid off.  The detail put in by Pioneer shows why they are a leader in the Slot Car industry.  This car is amazing.

The design of the box is new and unique to Pioneer.  I love the standard red to brown box that most Dukes products come in, but this new design is a breath of fresh air to Dukes collectibles.  The package front includes Pioneer's logo as well as a logo for their "Screen Stars" line.  The General Lee in now the star of Screen Stars.

The back of the box has the entire Dukes of Hazzard theme song printed on it for good measure. There is also a note about "spare Dixie bits" included inside.

The box wraps around a plastic display case that lets you see the detail of the car.  I'll get to the "VDC" soon.

Ain't no hiding the flag on this beauty.  The top of the box includes some cool Dukes graphics and a Pioneer logo sticker on the display case.  I really love the packaging of this car.

The bottom of the box shows information about Pioneer and the types of tracks that the car can be used on.  It is compatible with all commercially available plastic sectional slot car tracks operating with a transformed voltage in the range of 10-16v DC.  I am not knowledgeable in slot car lingo, but that sounds pretty universal to me.  The car is also Digital Plug Ready.

Not only did my package include the great car, but I also got this wonderful leather 01 keychain. Underneath the 01 on the metal panel is Pioneer's website pioneerslotcars.com.  This is a really cool add-in that makes the package even better.

Inserted between the box and display case is a Vehicle Data Card pull out.

The card is filled with very accurate information about the show and car.  It even goes into detail about the different cars used throughout the series and how there is not a set standard for color, engine or other particulars of the General Lee.  I've talked to many people at Dukes events and car shows who should take a minute and read this info.  Pioneer really knows their Dukes history.

The opposite lists many facts about the car and acknowledges each Dukes production including the reunions and "the Beginning" prequel movie.  This is very in-depth information.  Great job Pioneer!

When you slip the display case out of the box, you get a clear view of the "Welcome to Hazzard County" background.  I really love it.  Below, where the car sits, is a weathered Pioneer logo that looks great next to the Hazzard sign.

The car also looks great inside the display case.

The "spare Dixie bits" are taped to the bottom of the case.  Included are spare braids and an optional deep guide blade.  There is also a spare aerial antenna included.  We can't have the Lost Sheep lose communication with Shepard and Bo Peep!

The car is incredible.  It truly is the best representation of the General Lee ever produced in plastic. This car has everything.

When on a flat surface, the front end is higher because the slot car mechanics are in the front.

The push bar looks great and Pioneer did not make the common error and include a front license plate on the car.  You might have read my rants on the inclusion of a front plate once or twice on this blog.

The CNH-320 Hazzard County license plate has been accurately replicated on the rear.  All of the Charger characteristics are correct and look great.

The flag is very detailed and has the correct darker blue bars.  The General Lee lettering is also the correct color.  Pioneer included the crossed flags behind the rear window to represent an early Georgia era car.  They are also very accurate to the originals.  Lee 1 fans will love this inclusion.

The 01s look perfect on the slot car.  Some models have the size wrong or the numbers don't have the correct dimensions, but these are spot on.  Pioneer included the driver's side rear view mirror.

And correctly did not include the passenger's side.  We know that only the movie car had mirrors on both sides.  Another great inclusion that we don't get very often is the Dukes themselves.  Bo and Luke are here!  More on them soon.

The only thing that stands out to me is the rear windows are rolled up.  I'm so used to seeing all the windows down because it took a little while for everyone to realize it was easier for Bo and Luke to get in the windows that way.  In earlier episodes, you see the back windows up quite often.  This is definitely an early episode car. Everything else on this car is impeccable.

The aerial antenna is a great addition that really adds to the realism of the car.  A lot of people are going to love the cross flags inclusion.

The wheels look great!  These might be the best vectors wheels I've seen on a model replica.  The depth and indentations are very accurately represented.  These wheels are perfect.  

One thing most every model lacks is "Them Dukes, Them Dukes!"  Pioneer took their model to the next level by adding Bo and Luke to their General Lee.  The car is meant to fly around a slot car track, and it might look a little silly zipping around with no one behind the wheel.  They didn't just add drivers and paint them, These are definitely scratch produced figures of our favorite cousins.  Bo looks great with his flowing blond hair and his signature yellow shirt with blue t-shirt underneath.  

Luke is riding shotgun with his early series light blue shirt.  I'm suddenly a little upset all my 1/18 diecast models don't have anyone behind the wheel.  This is the complete General Lee package.

The interior is even very detailed.  Bo is griping the wheels and the gauges are telling him he can make that jump over the creek. 

This car is very detailed.  It even has the radio and gear shift.

The bottom of the car has the connections to the slot car track as well as the mechanics.

The car alone would have made me happy.  The inclusion of Bo and Luke made it perfect and changed my perception of most of my other General Lees, the keychain is an awesome bonus, but Pioneer wasn't finished.  Pioneer Slot Cars went above and beyond and included Miss Hazzard County herself with their slot car!  Daisy Duke is here is her short shorts wearing glory!  What an addition!

Attached to the corner of the base is a figurine of everyone's favorite cousin.  The Daisy figure has great detail and strikes that classic Daisy Duke pose.  She is sporting her signature Daisy Dukes and a classic red shirt. Catherine Bach sure is going to love this.

As I said before, the 01s are perfect on this new slot car.

The 1/32 scale size puts it just smaller than the common 1/25 and twice as big as the 1/64.  Pictured is the standard release Ertl 1/25 diecast in the back and the Johnny Lightning JL 2.0 Series 8 General Lee in front.

Here is another of my signature scale shots that I take each time I get a new sized car.  You can see that the detail put into Pioneer's new General Lee is much higher that the standard 1/25.

Bo, Luke, Daisy, and the General Lee all in one bundle.  Every Dukes Collector should add at least one of this model to their collection.

Pioneer is based in the United Kingdom.  We all know that the Dukes of Hazzard is popular all over the world.  They have been trying to get this model into the hands of collectors for several years.  I'm so glad it finally came to be.  Pioneer is very passionate about this car and it really shows.  They have been teasing some aspects of production and really got slot car enthusiasts and collectors excited.  It just went on sale and with pre-orders and sales, according to my contact at Pioneer, it is the fastest selling slot car in the world.  The company has had to go into twenty four hour production just to get through current orders.  I can't recommend this slot car enough.  Pioneer has a list of dealers that sell their products worldwide.  The list can be found on their website Pioneerslotcars.com.  This is an amazing car that will be a great addition to your collection.

New Dukes Stuff - Rare Golden Era Items - Puffy Stickers, Stop Watch...

New additions to the collection include a bunch of great Golden Era items from the early '80s that are on the rarer side.  Not incredibly hard to find, but we'll calls these pieces medium rare.  They have a warm pink center.  Let's take a look.

First off is the Duncan General Lee Yo-yo.  Duncan released three different Dukes yo-yos and the General Lee is the most common.  There are a Rosco and Daisy Jeep version as well.  The features list says it's in the collector's series, but not a specialty.  Ok.  It's a pocket full of fun.

The back of the package explains some tricks you can do with it and it also comes with a mini trick book.

The center of this wheel yo-yo is a little different from another General Lee yo-yo I have as well as the one Dave DeWitt has in his mobile museum.  The center piece has less "spoke-like" details to it.
I love finding variants.

Next up is the 1981 1/16 MPC General Lee model.  Following the success of the first 1/25 model, the only place to go was up.  The completed model is very big, a little bigger than today's 1/18 diecasts. This model has become pretty hard to come by these days.  I really like the angle of the car on the box art.

The bottom side of the box shows several details including the engine, wheels, and the accurate decals.

In 2010, the model was re-released.  The box is very similar to the original, but the flag was hidden on the car.  This re-release is still available at Hobby Lobby and other hobby stores.

Some of the sides are the same on the new and old boxes...

But they didn't reproduce the shots with the flag.

The bottom has most of the same shots, but the 01 takes the place of the roof.  It's funny that they added Dodge to the new one instead of just Charger like on the original.

The back of the box is blank on the original, but the re-release has a parts diagram.  The flag is included on the back as well as the actual decal inside.

Next up is a very rare item.  It's the Dukes of Hazzard Stop Watch.  I've never seen one carded before.  It works by winding the top.  It was made by Durham Industries and came out in 1981.

The card isn't perfect, but it is in really nice condition.  Durham Industries also made the Dukes play watches that taught kids to tell time, but didn't actually tell time.  They use similar graphics as the stop watch.

Moving on, we have the Dukes of Hazzard Puffi-Stickers.  These bad boys are tough to find.  They pop up on ebay from time to time, but demand pretty high prices.  I'm not sure if I've ever seen a complete set sold together.  This is the complete set.   It's glorious.

The back of the cards show each other available sticker set.

The first set is the red card top.  It includes our three cousins, the Gen'ral, Cletus, and labels.

The blue card top has head shots of Bo, Luke, and Daisy as well as Daisy leaning on Dixe, Cooter, and Rosco and Flash.

The yellow card top again has our three cousins together, a bigger General Lee, another Dixie, a close up of Boss Hogg, a badge, and two flags.  The General in front of the rebel flag is very similar to the graphics used on the stop watch above.

The final sticker set is the blue card top.  It has a very big sticker of Bo and Luke getting out of the car, Uncle Jesse, Boss Hogg, and a Hazzard County rebel flag.  This is the only set that doesn't include Daisy.

Though different colors, the tops of the cards have the same graphic.  These were released in 1982.  Most Dukes stuff released in '82 was Coy and Vance-centric.  We are lucky these little beauties feature Bo and Luke.  Hey look, these are the "Collector Series."

I love when items like this mention the collector series.  It's almost like they knew some crazies like me would be collecting them over thirty-five years later.  The back tells you about the different sets and to be sure to look for the "Collector Series" stripe in the corner.  I wonder if there is a "non-collector series?"

Well I know the answer, and there is.  You can also find the same stickers on a generic car.  The generic card just says "puffy sticker" on it and doesn't mention the Dukes.  Notice that "puffy" is spelled differently on the generic version. The generic ones don't have anything on the back.  Both sets are made in Taiwan.  I wonder if they were released by the same company.  Probably just an overstock release sort of thing.

The last item today is not a licensed Dukes of Hazzard item.  This is the John Schneider toy guitar. John did some of his own marketing during the boom of Dukes collectibles and put out his own products.  The addition of the rebel flag clearly associates the product with the Dukes.

This toy guitar was released in 1981 by South Star Productions, Inc.  Google doesn't have any info on that name.  John and Tom left the show in early '82, so this predates their strike.  But maybe it didn't come out until after they left and was John's attempt to recoup some of the merchandise money that was owed by WB.

Maybe it had nothing to do with the issue with Warner Bros.  John's music career was booming in 1981.  His single "Now or Never" was a huge hit that year.  Maybe this guitar was sold at concerts and appearances along with his music.  However it came to be, I'm glad it was made, and more glad I finally have an opportunity to add it to the collection.  It is very rare and when they do appear, they usually aren't in such good condition.  Mine even has the guitar pick still attached.  This is a great piece.

It's the same size as the two different licensed Dukes guitars.  It fits in great with them.  This blog post is full of great hard to find items.  I'm really fortunate to have found them all in such great condition.