I love my blog. Sure, I have ebay to thank for the ability to buy so much of my collection, but this blog provides me opportunities that just wouldn't exist if I didn't start posting my collection online. Through this very blog, I was recently able to add another pair of Dukes of Hazzard Children's Tennis Shoes to my collection. I just love them.
The other pair of shoes I added to the collection a couple of years ago were velcro tenners. These bad boys are lace up shoes. They are unused, but unlike the other ones, these are not still connected by a wire and have no tags. They are in just perfect condition. The colors are bright and the laces look like they've never been untied.
The General Lee is the main focus of these shoes. The text is pretty close to the actual text on the car. The "G" is a movie font though, oddly enough.
The shoes are a little misshapen due to being stored. That is probably the only condition issue. And it can be easily fixed.
Even the insides of the shoes are "Duked" out. The 01s are under the size and the shoes are lined with "The Dukes Of Hazzard."
The left shoe still has the original price tag inside. Does $18 seem like a lot for children's shoes in 1982? I'm not sure, I was still wearing onesies and footies (I was one.) The inclusion of the price tag shows that the shoes were never worn. While looking through old posts, I blogged about a newspaper ad for the Dukes shoes long before I had any and the price was $17-$18. I guess that price does seem right.
The laces are plan white. There are Dukes of Hazzard shoe laces that were sold individually. They have "The Dukes of Hazzard" printed in blue and a tiny General Lee printed on them. They would look really good on these shoes and I'm surprised they didn't come with them. I guess they were sold separately as an upgrade. I'd like to think that one day I would lace these shoes up with the Dukes laces, but I won't. Gotta keep them as original as possible.
I really like the bottom of the shoes. It sure would have been cool to see the tracks left behind by a Dukes fan wearing these in the early '80s.
There is a lot of detail in this action shot. They even colored the light bars.
Like my velcro pair, these shoes came with the shoe box.
Inside the shoe box is the wonderful piece of Dukes of Hazzard tissue paper. This is one of my parts of the package, along with the shoes and box. I just love this thin piece of paper with all those great words on it. Those are some of my favorite words of all words.
The box is the same as the velcro pair. You can read all about my thoughts on the box in the last shoes blog post.
Coincidentally, a few weeks before I was contacted about buying these shoes, I bought this awesome store display and hadn't blogged about it yet. I'm glad I waited.
This large display is cardboard and was used in stores to advertise the shoes. It was listed on ebay as an ad for the Dukes album, but that was a mistake. The album uses the same artwork of the jumping Gen'ral, but it also has the cast above it. The addition of the flag behind it makes this an ad for the shoes for sure. I'm really happy when I can add rare store displays like this to the collection.
Another indication that this piece was used to promote the shoes is the trademark year. The album came out in 1981, the same you as me, but the shoes and this piece came out in 1982.
The back is a little rougher than the front. It seems there was another piece of cardboard attached that folded out and let it stand. It must have been ripped off years ago. I'm glad it didn't damage the front at all.
Comparing the velcro shoes I bought two years ago to these lace up shoes, there are quite a few differences. The lace up shoes are two-toned blue. The trim is darker whereas there is also a lighter blue. The velcro shoes are all the lighter color.
The 01s on the velcro shoes are printed on a white plastic insert and the lace ups have them printed directly on the material of the shoe. I like the look of the lace up 01s because of the outline.
The General Lee text and the sole color designs are the same on both shoes.
Not having the two shoes connected by a wire and tag makes them a little less fragile. It will also make them easier to display. Just a few years ago I was just dreaming about adding such a super rare item like the shoes to the collection, and now I have two different pairs. I'm so excited.
The two Dukes of Hazzard shoes and the store display look great together. I really love collecting Dukes of Hazzard stuff.
