New Dukes Stuff - 2/11/2021 - Doodle Craft Kit, Visors, Gordy Pinball Game, John Schneider Belt Buckle and More

My most recent haul of new Dukes of Hazzard goodness is chock full of unique, rare, and hard to find items.  I'm really excited about these bad boys.  I love adding these collectibles to the collection, and I love sharing them with all of you blog readers.  Let's take a look.  

Sometimes items that are super rare lose their scarcity.  I've been chasing these visors for years. I got one last year that was a little beat up and I was happy.  I knew there were different versions but I was content to just have one.  Then, all of a sudden, almost like new ones started showing up on ebay.  The first few went for big money, just like the one I bought last year.  Then they just kept showing up.  I contacted the seller and he told me that magical story about discovering an unopened pallet from the golden era.  I would love to find unopened Dukes stuff by the crate, but I've made some pretty amazing discoveries over the years, so I'm not complaining.  I was able to get my hands on all four varieties of the visor in perfect condition.  As you can see there are two basic styles and two different colors, Bo and Luke in red and blue and General Lee in red and blue.  The tops are all a little crimped, but that came from the forty years of storage. 

 

The designs are nice.  The General Lee graphic is used on many items and the Bo and Luke image is taken from a popular photo.  The visors were made by Universal Industries from New Bedford Massachusetts.  

 

They even have original price tags on them.  The red ones were seventy cents more than the blue ones.  These are still on ebay and the price has come down considerably.  It's the age old concept of supply and demand.  It doesn't make me love them any less.  I'm so happy I have all four now.  Maybe I'll wear the beat up one to a poker game.  

Next up is another rare item.  This is a third pair of Toastee Sox by Dawnelle.   I have a couple still packaged and now three pairs out of the package.  

I first added some of these to the collection way back in the early days of the blog in 2013.  The original owners of those two pairs had bigger feet.  This new pair has two General Lees on each sock.  I wish they made Dukes slipper socks like this for feet my size.  But we all know I wouldn't actually wear them, just collect them.  

It's always exciting when I get to add new Gordy items to the collection.  A few years ago, Dave DeWitt and I put together a list of what we believe to be every Dukes of Hazzard Gordy item produced.  There are a few items neither of us have, and Dave has quite a few more items checked off his list than I do.  I love getting the opportunity to add more checks to my list.  Check check check.  

 

The first of the three is the compass and binocular set.  It's pretty standard fare for early '80s cheap toys.  There is a standalone compass in the Gordy Dukes line that is a little more substantial than this cheap little compass.  I've had that one for a while.  I'm guessing the Dukes Boys couldn't use these binoculars to spot Boss's goons using the abandoned coffin works as a hide out, but you could pretend they work just fine.  

Next up is a peculiar combination toy.  It's called the Whistle Flash and is basically a flashlight with a whistle on the end.  Funny how big the word "flash" is on the package and they didn't include a picture of the Dukes character with the name Flash!  Come on Gordy, you could have even included a dog whistle mention.  Missed opportunity there.  The flashlight has batteries included!  This was uncommon in the '80s.  So uncommon that the phrase "batteries not included" became a sort of jingle within toy commercials.  

I sort of wish the battery wasn't included because the forty year old little double A is corroding inside my rare, hard to find, unopened package.  In another forty years is might damage Boss Hogg's pretty face.  

 

There is already a noticeable discoloration on the back of the package.  Not good.  Not good at all.  

 

The final Gordy item in today's blog is a beast.  This is probably the rarest Gordy Dukes item there is.  It's not in the package, but it's so big and colorful, I'm still checking it off the list because I can't remember the last time I saw one in the package for sale.  This bad boy popped up on ebay with a moderate buy it now and I couldn't hit the button fast enough.  I thought someone else beat me too it for a second, but I just had my address screwed up on my ebay profile.  I'm sure glad it wasn't shipped to the UK by mistake.  This is the Gordy Dukes of Hazzard Pinball Game and I love it!

I had a few games like this when I was a wee'n (Derry Girls speak) but never the Dukes version.  Way before Gameboys, DSs, and of course cell phones, kids had handheld games with actual moving parts.  Games like this and those fun little water filled games with the rings and air bubbles were everywhere.  Gordy was slapping the Dukes license on everything they could so you know a pinball game had to make the cut.  The game is as big as most Gordy packages.  The top has an autoscore multiplier.  The concept that it had anything "auto" is funny.  You basically had to multiply this number by where the little ball landed to get your score.  I guess this is an educational math toy.  

Only a certain few Gordy Dukes toys have the "other Duke Boys" Coy and Vance.  This is one of them.  It sure must have been awkward for Byron and Chris, and for all the regular stars of the show.  But they did get their face plastered on a bunch of toys for only appearing on less than a season of the show.  

 

The back of the game is blank.  I'm so excited that I actually found this toy.  I can't wait to display all the Gordy items together.  And I keep adding checks to the list.  I'm catching up, Dave!

  

 

This is a fun, rare item that I didn't know existed until not long ago.  This is the General Lee Bump' N Go from Precision.  It looks just like the less rare Radio Controlled General Lee that Precision released, except it doesn't have the antenna hole in the hood.  The wheels are spot on, it just didn't come with a push-bar.  

This is a very good plastic replica of our favorite car.  

The "bump'n'go" feature makes the car roll around randomly until it bumps into something and goes in another direction.  I remember having a larger non-Dukes police car that had the similar feature when I was a kid.  It wasn't really that much of a fun toy, and had a horrible siren feature.  But, honestly, the Precision RC General Lee isn't all that much fun either.  It could only go forward or backward and not fast at all.  But I sure am glad to have the Bump' N Go in the collection.  

I've never seen a Bump' N Go for sale in the box.  This is only the second one I've ever seen, box or no box.  The box is similar to the RC boxes, just smaller.  Here are the two different Precision RC Gen'rals with their new BNG cousin.  

The next addition to the collection sure is a fun one.  You may remember that I had the great fortune to add the season 1 cast and crew belt buckle mold to the collection a few years ago.  This is one of the buckles that was made by that mold.  But not just any season 1 cast and crew belt buckle...

These buckles are numbered in a series of 200.  Where this one should have a number, it reads "AP" which stands for artist proof.  So this is one of the first to be created using my mold.  Not only is it an un-numbered early creation...

it just so happened to be dedicated to a cast and crew member named John.  One specific crew member named John immediately comes to mind.  Of course I'm talking about Bo Duke himself, John Schneider.  The very nice person I got this buckle from, Verna, told me a story about her relative that worked with John during filming of the Dukes.  She said that John gave him this buckle as a gift.  I bought the buckle knowing that the story had the possibility of being true, but buying it didn't depend on it.  

Unlike my proof that is still attached to the rod created when the metal was poured into to mold, this artist proof has the additional hardware added that attaches to the belt. 

 

Here is the "John" buckle on the left, the first proof with the attached rod that came with the mold in the middle, and the first buckle I added to the collection, the "Don" buckle that's number 186 and attached to a leather belt.  Below the buckles is the mold. 

The "John" buckle is a slightly different color than the other ones I have.  It's more gold in color.  Perhaps the buckle maker, or bucklist as I like to say, was experimenting with different colors before he landed on the the right one he used for the numbered 200 he produced.  Maybe that's why this one is marked AP and not a number, perhaps it's a reject.  Nevertheless, it was dedicated to a John.  Do I believe the John in question is actually John Schneider?  I know it is.  I spoke with John about it after I received the buckle.  

Turns out Verna's relative was named Gary.  She told me his last name.  John told me that Gary was his partner in a business venture called John Schneider's Celebrity Machine in Burbank, CA.  Doing some research I found out that John's exotic car shop was right across the street from Warner Bros. Studios where the Dukes was filmed and John opened the shop in 1982 when he and Tom left the show.  John confirmed the belt buckle was once his and he gave it to Gary.  It was really great of John to talk about the buckle with me.  And Verna is ecstatic that what she always believed turned out to be true.  This is a great addition and I'm very grateful to Verna and John!  

Back to the new Dukes stuff.  Speaking of John and Tom's time off the show, here's another Coy and Vance item.  This is a Canadian puzzle that's pretty hard to find.  

If I were Bo and Luke, I'd be pretty mad at Coy for sitting on the roof of the Gen'ral!

It's open and in average condition.  The box is bi-lingual in English and French.  The puzzle was made by Whitman Golden LTD.

I like checklists on items.  I got to figure out if I have any other Canadian Whitman puzzles.  Got to have all four!

The final piece in this blog post is something I've been after for a long time.  This is the Dukes of Hazzard Doodle Craft Kit.  It's also Canadian.  Canada loves the Dukes!

There are no indications of who made this set.  The top lists the contents in English.  The set includes eight posters, six felt pens, and six Dukes stickers.  That's a good bit of Dukes goodness for one package.  

The front poster is a beauty.  It's a coloring book like image of Luke and Bo jumping into the General.  Rosco is about to be in hot pursuit in the back.  I wonder what images the other seven posters include.

  

Two of the six stickers are visible.  Boss Hogg is at the podium in the Hazzard Square gazebo and the Dukes cousins are posing in front of the Gen'ral.  Again, I wonder what the other four stickers are.  The downside of having a super rare piece that's sealed is you can't see what else is in there without opening it.   

The bottom on the box has the title in French.  "Ensemble De Doodles Des Dukes De Hazzard."  Usually the Dukes items from France have the title Sherif Fais-Moi Peur.  I've never seen anything in French with Dukes De Hazzard.  That's a very literal translation.  

The six pens, or markers, say Super Doodles on them.  I'm guessing the orange one would run out before the rest.  

There's an image on the side of the front featuring the Dukes family as well as Boss and Rosco in the background.  This is a familiar image as it's used on the Mego toys packages.  I'm surprised to see it on this toy.  I thought it was Mego exclusive artwork.  

The sides of the box have the title in French and English. 

Along with the title, there is a doodle of Luke, Daisy, and Bo.  It's a rough sketch and gives me some real Growing Pains vibes.  Remember the drawings during the opening credits sequence?  It also reminds me of the most recent episode of WandaVision, the Avengers show on Disney+, whose opening sequence is a parody of the Growing Pains opening.

The back of this package is beautiful.  It's a great image of the General Lee jumping over some greenery.  I've seen this image at Cooter's Place in Nashville and never knew what the item was.  It's on display in an area that I can't get all that close to and I always wondered what was inside this box.  Even when I bought this Doodle Set, I didn't see any pictures of the back.  I was pleasantly surprised when I received the package and solved the mystery of the unknown Dukes item at Cooter's Place.  

This is quite a haul of Dukes goodness.  I hope you enjoy seeing it as much as I enjoy sharing it.  Keep it between the ditches.