Oh man, do I love new Dukes of Hazzard items! Lately we haven't had much new Dukes stuff but our friends at Pioneer Slot Cars are not taking their foot off the gas and they continue to release new Dukes cars for us to enjoy. I received, not just one, but three new cars from Pioneer and they are unbelievable! Let's take a look at the Dealer Special Promo Edition Black General Lee, the Moonshine Run General Lee, and the #65 General Grant!
We'll start off with this beauty, the Dealer Special Promo Edition Black General Lee. This car is awesome.
Front and center you are greeted with the special decal on the box that lets the world know this is not a standard edition. Pioneer Slot Cars dealers are sent incentives like this version of the Gen'ral if they sell or order enough cars. The dealer can then reward loyal buyers or make an extra profit selling them. It's a great program to ensure a large number of cars are ordered and bought. This type of incentive program is very big in the comic book world and it works great with slot cars too. As soon as this car was released, it started going for a pretty penny. It immediately became a tough Dukes item to find.
The General looks great in black. The black numbers against the black paint really have a unique appearance. Pioneer chose a very cool design for their Dealer Special. Bo and Luke are behind the wheel of the Black Gen'ral.
Daisy is also included with the car. This time she is wearing a white top with purple Daisy Dukes. This is a different figure than the one included with the standard General Lee as this one has one hand up. I am not opening these versions so if you want to see better pictures of the figures, take a look at the
post about the standard version.
One difference from the standard version and this black version is the Vector wheels. The inserts between the fins are not painted and the center piece is painted. I have seen Vectors look like this and the newer re-releases do not come painted. Pioneer chose this design and it stands out nicely against the mostly black car. Nice job Pioneer.
The box is a different design than the standard release. The "Welcome to Hazzard County" sign behind the car is replaced by a wooded scene with Rosco in Hot Pursuit in the background. The outer box has a closer shot of the passenger side of the Gen'ral where the original has a flying "orange clunker car." The labels are the same.
The back and bottom of the boxes are the same and the inclusion of the "spare dixie bits" once again appears. I love that line. The bottom does have an identifier sticker that reads "Ref: P015 DS Black General Lee Dealer Special Promo." That's the official name.
Next up is a new standard edition of the General Lee. This is the Moonshine Run General Lee. It is a variant, but it won't be as hard to find as the Black Dealer Special. What makes this version different is the glorious mud splattered all over it. Most models and diecasts replicate the General in perfect condition, but we all know that the image of the General we fell in love with is the muddy car jumping the pond. This is a perfect likeness of the Gen'ral from the show. This is how we remember him. The Moonshine Run General Lee comes in the same box as the Black Dealer Special. While there is no special edition sticker on the top right, we see that Rosco is in hot pursuit above the bootleg turning General Lee. I really like that artwork.
Bo and Luke are gonna have a tough time getting the Gen'ral clean. That mud got everywhere. It's inside the Vector wheels, splattered on the 01s, It even got on the side view mirror.
Pioneer's artists did a great job and made the mud look authentic. This is definitely what the General would look like if I took him out for a ride through the country. If
I brought Neal's General Lee back like this, I'm sure he'd have something to say about it.
This time Daisy is featured with a yellow top and classic blue Daisy Dukes. She doesn't have any mud on her.
Bo and Luke may have gotten splashed a little. They do always tend to drive with the windows down.
Again, the back and bottom of the box are the same. Waylon's theme song is on the back and Pioneer's info is on the bottom. The official name for this car is "Ref: P017 General Lee Moonshine Run."
The final entry from Pioneer is a whooper. This is the 1968 Hemi Charger General Grant!
Let's go straight to the back of the box for a little background on this car. Pioneer has created their own nemesis for the General Lee and the Duke Boys and even included a backstory for him. The back of the box tells the story of Yankee Doodle Danger and an imaginary eighth season premiere episode titled "The Four Star General." In the synopsis, a gangster from the north is trying to pick up where probation forced the Duke family to leave off the moonshine business. Elmore "Four Star" Froggett is introduced along with his car that looks a little too familiar for the Dukes. It's a fun story and Pioneer really captured the essence of Dukes storytelling. The synopsis ends with "Ain't this fun?" We all hear Waylon Jennings in our head while we read this.
The owner of Pioneer Slot Cars asked me to read an early draft of the story about Elmore Froggett and the General Grant. I made a few suggestions and I'm very pleased that they were included in the final product. The General Grant as a nemesis to the General Lee as a concept has been around for a while. Mostly it was just someone photoshoping an American flag on top of the General. Pioneer has done what nobody else has and created an actual product of the General Grant. This is big. This car may go down as being as well known an adversary to the Gen'ral as the Double Zero. Pioneer told me they have a few more ideas up their sleeve like the General Grant and that we haven't heard the last of ol' Elmore "Four Star" Froggett. This IS fun! Let's take a look at the details of the General Grant.
The box is similar to the General Lee boxes, but has different artwork. Instead of "Screen Stars" it says "Street Muscle" (The General Grant never actually appeared on screen). There is an image of the General Lee beating the General Grant in a race on the box.
Other iterations of the General Grant had 10 instead of 01 or some had 76. Pioneer chose 65 as a nod to the year the Civil War ended and kept with that theme.
The front end and tail lights give away the fact that Froggett is driving a '68 Charger. His license plate goes along with the Civil War theme and reads GG1865.
The car has an American Flag on the roof that has 35 stars on it. That's how many stars there were after West Virginia joined the Union (thanks Google). The Pioneer logo is on the box, not the flag. The hood has Elmore Froggett's crest on it, two Civil War sabers and a G for Grant. The rear quarter panels have four star logos on top. The General Grant lettering is in the familiar General Lee text, but in red.
Elmore continues his theme by dressing the part of a Union general. He even has the beard. I could see him stirring up trouble in Hazzard County.
The back of the box of the General Grant mentions that "Spare Yankee Bits are located under the box base." I love the bits line.
The bottom of the box is the same as the other Dukes cars and the official name is "Ref: P094 General Grant Crazy Blue."
Like the
original Pioneer General Lee, the General Grant comes with a leather key chain, this time sporting the beautiful stars and stripes.
These little additions from Pioneer make the package all that more special. The key chains only come with early purchases, so get one fast if you want the add-in.
It's really fun to have a nemesis car to display along with the Pioneer General Lee. Pioneer did a great job creating the General Grant, and put in the extra effort to give it a background story. This is a special edition to the Dukes of Hazzard world.
The back of the boxes counteract each other nicely with the front of the General Lee highlighted and the back of the General Grant shown. Pioneer put a lot of effort into bringing their addition of the Dukes of Hazzard legacy to light, and it shows.
The four cars look great displayed together. I really love Pioneer's Dukes of Hazzard slot cars. I wonder what they have planned next....
Actually I know what they have planned next. This is a pre-production prototype of Rosco's patrol car that Pioneer is working on. I'd say they nailed it. It will also be a 1/32 scale slot car and fit in quite nicely with all those Chargers. The General Grant is a nice addition, but Rosoc's Patrol car is the true nemesis of the General Lee. The Patrol Car will come complete with Rosco P. Coltrane behind the wheel...
And ol' Velvet Ears herself, Flash riding shotgun. No release date has been announced for this car and I will keep you posted when I hear anything. Keep up the great work Pioneer!!
