New Dukes Stuff - 06/17/206 - Locally Unearthed Treasures

I recently did a little prospecting around my own corner of Hazzard County and found a few gems. Let's take a look at the treasures I found around the Pittsburgh area lately.

First off I scored another DK General Lee BMX Bicycle.  When I started this blog years ago, I had no idea about the storied history of the DK General Lee.  Now I have two in my collection.  I got my first one for my birthday in 2012.  That was the Walmart version that was a re-release for a more budget friendly crowd.  It worked out great for me because I was able to save money on a new one and keep it factory fresh.  I knew I wanted to try to find an original at some point.  The first versions came in General Lee orange, but as the bike became more popular, DK released different versions of it.  This is an original 16 inch black DK General Lee.

I've written quite a few posts about the DK General Lee in the past.  You can check out a few here, here, and here.  The best part about the DK company borrowing the name General Lee to associate their bike with jumping is they honored our favorite car.  They respected the General Lee text and also plastered the bike with 01s.  The addition of the orange really looks great on this black bike.

My new black DK General Lee has definitely been loved hard by its former owner, but I see the scuffs as battle scars worn with pride.  The bars have the DK 01 logo on it.

The seat has a lone 01 on each side.

The fork has an 01 on each side as well and are probably the most beat up stickers.  I'm really happy that the condition of this bike is nice enough to still display.  It was loved hard, but well taken care of.

The stem has a DK logo on it and it is really nice.  I am asked often to sell my DK General Lee stickers that my friend Jesse, from DK, sent me as a gift.  Many people are restoring a DK General Lee and want to use my stickers on their bike.  I, of course, haven't sold them.  I'm glad my locally found DK General Lee is in good enough condition not to need a restoration.

I had to bust out my other DK General Lee for a photo shoot.  The orange one is a 20 inch bicycle.

They belong together.  Once I put some air in the front tire, these two bicycles will look great together in the collection.

Next up is a poster of Bo and Luke.  It has been folded since the Golden Era, but is still in decent shape.

The same image was used on this framed picture from National Picture and Frame.  It's my guess that the framed picture was a store display to sell the individual posters.

The poster is marked with the Western Graphics Corporation logo.  It also has their number and address.

Along side the logo is the subject of the poster.  Luke and Bo are Cat. No. 26.  No. 01 would have been better.

Next we have a shelf that I bought from my new friend Mike.  Mike is a local toy seller and I went to his house to pick up the shelf.  His garage sure was cool.  Though he only had two Dukes items, he had loads of other great 80s and 90s toys to check out.  It was really fun.  In 2013 I described the Dukes of Hazzard shelf as a holy grail item and I stand my that statement.  These bad boys are nearly impossible to find.

This one is a little rough and the bottom panel is very damaged.  The best part about these shelves is they are built to have things put on them, so covering the damage with other Dukes of Hazzard items wont't be difficult for me.  The top two panels are in quite good shape.

Condition wise, it is on par with the other one I bought a few years ago which has a dented leg, and this new one has the damaged bottom.  I could take them both apart and construct a one nice one, but I don't think that's necessary.  They will serve nicely as collectibles and shelves in the collection.

I'm very happy to have two of these to show off and store on.

I didn't go crazy and buy a bunch of copies of the Dukes of Hazzard DVD Box Set that was released last year.

I did go crazy and buy a bunch of empty boxes that once housed the Dukes of Hazzad DVD Box Set that was released last year.  A seller on ebay was selling empty boxes for a reasonable price.  I contacted him and it turned out he had a bunch more and would sell them at a much more reasonable price if I bought a bunch.  Also turns out he was from the Pittsburgh area so I could save on shipping.  A bunch ended up being all that he had and I now have way more empty DVD boxes than what's pictured.  I have no idea what I am going to do with them.  Maybe use them as building blocks or something.  Regardless, they are awesome Dukes of Hazzard boxes and I'm happy to have them.

If you're wondering why the dude had so many, like I was, he happened to buy cases of the sets right when they were released last year.  You may remember that they were released at the same time the show was taken off the air and prices were through the roof so he sold the individual seasons on their own and made quite a profit.  He said he got stuck with a lot of Season 5 DVDs which is pretty funny.  (Coy and Vance starred in Season 5)

Finally, I bought an additional Dukes record player from our new pal Mike when I bought the shelf. In 2012, I blogged about the record player being my white whale, an item that eluded me for some time.  Since then I've found the archery set, pencil cup, tennis shoes, bath mitt, rain coat, and of course the mythical swimming pool.  The record player is on the rarer side, but not at all as rare as some items in my collection.

Mike had it with all his other awesome toys, so I couldn't leave without it.  It really has great graphics on it.  My other one still has the box, but this one is in great shape.  A very nice addition to the collection.

Mike included a copy of "Here Come The Dukes of Hazzard" read along book.  You can hear the complete story on this post.

Buying items from ebay is great and all, but it's a lot of fun meeting someone face to face to purchase Dukes of Hazzard stuff.  It's just as much fun talking about Dukes as it is buying Dukes.