Greenlight Collectibles has an extensive list of Hollywood replicas that include titles such as The Walking Dead, the Fast and the Furious, A-Team, National Lampoon's Vacation, Supernatural, Smokey and the Bandit, The Terminator, Hunter, Starsky and Hutch, and Lost. They've used this particular Plymouth Fury/Dodge Monaco casting in many different lines and I have to believe they created it with the intention of releasing the most popular version of the car, Rosco's police car. If you want to be THE name in Hollywood replicas, you have to have THE license that's at the top of Hollywood cars, the Dukes of Hazzard.
This car is a part of Greenlight's Artisan Collection. I don't have any experience with Greenlight as this is their first Hazzard car, but it seems like the Artisan Collection is the cream of their crop and includes many of their Hollywood cars. Buckle up for safety, and let's take a look at Rosco's new car.
The first thing you might notice on the box is the lack of Dukes of Hazzard logos. This car does not appear to be licensed by Warner Bros. and is not a piece of official Dukes of Hazzard merchandise. I reached out to Greenlight before this car was released to discuss the car, but I never heard back. I'm not sure if Greenlight released this car without Warner Bros. knowledge or approval or if they tried to get the license and were denied. WB has been slowly releasing Dukes products lately so maybe they let Greenlight release this car to test the waters for future Dukes products. I have no actual information as to the reasoning behind this car being unlicensed because I have not spoken to anyone at Greenlight. If anyone at Greenlight would like to discuss this car, I'd love to talk.
The front of the box features a picture of the product, the large cursive "Fury" and a country road scene. Again, no Dukes of Hazzard logos or WB legal information.
The side of the box features the Fury design and another country road scene as well as a house that looks like it would fit more on the set of Gone with the Wind than in Hazzard County.
The top of the box is all green with the Artisan Collection logo.
The bottom of the box features Greenlight Collectible's legal information as well as legal information about Plymouth. We are used to seeing legal information about Dukes and Warner Bros. here, but there is none. It is mentioned that this is a limited edition.
Moving on the the actual car, this thing is a beauty. We finally have a 1/18 representation of Rosco's patrol car that is accurate to what we see on the show. I can see 1/18 scale Rosco P. Coltrane flying this car into a 1/18 scale pond trying to chase the 1/18 scale Duke Boys in 1/18 scale Hazzard County.
All the characteristics of Rosco's Patrol car are there; the Sheriff decals on the fenders and the badge decal on the doors.
The hood and trunk do not open as they do on previous Rosoc cars from Ertl/Johnny Lightning/Auto World.
The front end is the most memorable feature of the car and Greenlight nailed it. This is definitely Rosco's car. This is what Bo and Luke saw all the time in their rear view mirror. The front license plate is blank. On the show there is a rebel flag, but we didn't really expect Greenlight to add that detail.
The back plate is also blank. Greenlight didn't add the 83522 plate that Rosco's car wears or the 83502 seen on Enos and Cletus's car.
If Greenlight wanted to just make this a car police car that is inspired by the Dukes of Hazzard, they could not have included the Hazzard County decal below the badge on the doors. That still would have made Dukes fans happy and maybe stayed off of WB's radar, but this is 100% a Dukes of Hazzard car with the decal's inclusion.
The steering wheel doesn't move the wheels like previous Rosco 1/18 cars. There is a little detail to the instrument panel and petals.
A CB radio unit is present in the car. That is a nice little touch.
I'm not totally thrilled with the light bar. It looks mostly correct but is in no way as detailed as Auto World's light bar, which was their selling point. The light bar has pegs on the bottom that are placed into holes on the roof. It does not fit snug and falls out of place when the car is moved. I feel like it could have been a little tighter in the holes and not fallen out so easily. It might get damaged if you're not careful.
The antenna also isn't my favorite part. It is just a chrome rod that goes in a hole on the hood. It doesn't fit snug and could easily be lost.
When placed in the car it leans to the side and looks crooked. But we all know Rosco was a reckless driver and might have bent it when he was in hot pursuit!
I would definitely recommend this car to fellow Dukes Collectors. It's the best representation of Rosco's car in 1/18 scale. It may not have all the details of previous releases, but it is the most accurate. Maybe even get two because wherever Rosco went, Enos wasn't far behind.
Let's compare it to the former title holder of "best 1/18 Rosco car" Auto World's Hazzard County 1975 Dodge Monaco Police Car. If only looking at the box, I would have to go with AW's release because of the Dukes of Hazzard material shown. The Greenlight car doesn't match the theme.
But when comparing the actual cars, the Greenlight wins. The AW car has opening hood and trunk, steerable wheels, and a super detailed light bar, but it is not the model car we associate with Rosco and the Hazzard County Sheriff Department. Greenlight's car looks like the car we know from the Dukes of Hazzard. There is a new king in town. Greenlight's Hazzard County 1977 Plymouth Fury is the new title holder of "best 1/18 Rosco car." Long live the king.
Greenlight's car is a darker than AW's. It's almost off-white compared to the super bright white of the AW. The front end of Greenlight's car definitely says Rosco P. Coltrane.
The badge decal is also more detailed on the Greennlight car, on the bottom. It is brighter and shows off more of the intricacies of the design.
Auto Word's coupe de gras is their light bar. They made it incredibly detailed and the Greenlight car can't compete with that.
Not being as detailed as the Auto World car is reflected in the price of the Greenlight. The Greenlight car retails for much less than the Auto World.
I wanted to include this fun picture. I took off the Greenlight light bar and placed the AW car on top for the above picture comparing the badge decals. This shot reminds me of the times Enos followed the General Lee off a jump and landed on Rosco's car and he just kept on following them Dukes Boys. I love it, I love it! Kew Kew Kew!
Speaking of the General Lee. I had to bring out the reigning king of all 1/18 Dukes of Hazzard diecasts, Auto World's Silver Screen Machine 1/18 General Lee. Since Greenlight's Hazzard County 1977 Plymouth Fury was recently crowned as king of the 1/18 Rosco cars I had to have a royal summit between the two.
These two cars look perfect together. They would look better with the General Lee flying over Rosco's car but I wasn't in the mood for action photography and I didn't really feel like launching the AW Gen'ral through the air.
Rosco's car hasn't been accurately represented throughout all the eras of Dukes Collecting. When the show was on the air, Ertl released a Rosco car in 1/64 that was a Pontiac Bonneville. That same car was rereleased in both the silver and modern eras. In Johnny Lightning's huge Dukes of Hazzard 1/64 line, Rosco's car was an incorrect earlier model Monaco. It wasn't until after the line ended that JL released a correct Dodge Monaco Rosco car, shown on the top left above. The first accurate diecast Rosco car came in the 1997 Racing Champions 1/144 line, one of my favorite toy lines in all of the Dukes toys. Another accurate Rosco car came from an unusual place, the Netherlands. A company from the Netherlands, called Neo Scale Models, produced an incredibly accurate 1/43 car in 2013. The car, that has become quite rare is one of the best representations of Rosco's car, and is in no way licensed or authorized. I got these three cars out to compare them to the new release from Greenlight.
You know I love these scale pictures. 1/18, 1/43, 1/64, and 1/144. Rosco would be proud.
The Neo 1/43 is similar in color to the Greenlight. The AW 1/64 is a little brighter and the 1/144 is super bright white. Finally the second most prominent car in Hazzard, Rosco P. Coltrane's patrol car, is accurately represented in the most popular scales.
Greenlight Collectibles has plans to release this car in 1/43 scale in June and I have to believe a 1/64 model isn't far off. I hope this car's popularity shows WB that we Dukes fans are hungry for more Dukes products. It seems WB is dipping a toe into the Dukes of Hazzard waters, but I want them to dive in! Open the Dukes of Hazzard floodgates and give us more! I would love to see Greenlight's take on the most popular Hollywood car of all time, the General Lee!
There are rumors that Greenlight has plans to produce Uncle Jesse's Pickup as there is a similar truck in their The Walking Dead line. Hey Greenlight, how about creating Cooter's Tow Truck, Daisy's Dixie Jeep and, of course, Boss Hogg's Caddy. We could be on the precipice of an entire 1/18 scale Hazzard County. Bring it on Greenlight! We are hungry for more Dukes of Hazzard products!
