The Grand Opening of Cooter's in Luray is May 6 & 7 Featuring Tom Wopat in Concert!

This is gong to be one great Dukes-filled summer!  In July we have the big event, Hazzard Homecoming: Cooter's Last Stand, but before that we got all kinds of great activities, starting with the Grand Opening of Cooter's In The Valley in Luray, VA on May 6 and 7.  

I visited the new store a few weeks ago and helped out with a few things.  Believe me when I say that this place is special.  Ben and Alma have put their years of experience running great Dukes of Hazzard locations toward building the perfect destination.

The Grand Opening is set for Saturday May 6 and Sunday May 7.  Along with Cooter, Luke Duke himself, Tom Wopat will be there to cut the ribbon.  You don't want to miss this event.  The ribbon cutting with Ben Jones and Tom Wopat is at 10am on Saturday.  After the meet and greets during the day on Saturday, Tom will be the first guest of the Shenandoah Jamboree concert series that will take place inside the new Cooter's Place.  Tom will be performing some well known classics as well as music from his upcoming album.

Tom's concerts are always a wonderful time.  He loves performing and it really shows when he's on stage.  The concert starts at 7 on Saturday evening and the doors open at 6.  This event requires a purchased ticket and there are only a limited number left.  Tickets are $20.  To get your tickets, you can call the Luray store at 540-843-2515 or follow this link to the Eventbrite page.

I can't wait for the Grand Opening weekend.  The new store is going to be so amazing with the museum, the cars, the new Cooter's Garage display, Cooter and Luke Duke!  Make your plans now and I'll see you May 6 and 7 in Luray, VA!

The Elusive Arco Dukes of Hazzard Playhouse Cooter's Garage Tent

Behold!  I've added another Holy Grail to the Collection!  Gaze upon the esteemed Hazzard County Garage Tent, officially known as the Dukes of Hazzard Playhouse tent.  Though it did not come with the box, it is in perfect condition with all pieces present and not a single flaw on the tent.

The Playhouse tent was released in 1982 by Arco Industries, LTD.  Arco is the same company that produced the Inflatable General Lee and Boss Hogg Bop Bag.  I never had a bed tent when I was a kid, but I remember seeing them in all those great toy catalogs from the '80s.  This Dukes of Hazzard tent is very similar to those bed tents in that it is constructed to have no bottom and is very lightweight.

The top of the tent has a huge graphic of the General Lee jumping over the logo and also includes a rebel flag.  The "roof" shies away from the theme of the tent and kind of reminds me of the Ben Cooper Halloween costumes that included the show logo in the middle of the costume; even though you are using your imagination, we still want you to know what show this toy comes from.

The rest of the tent is styled to look like Cooter's Hazzard County Garage.  What a perfect theme for the Dukes tent.  I'm glad it wasn't made to look like a more generic farmhouse.

The Gen'ral was probably parked inside Cooter's Garage getting repaired just as much as it was parked outside the Duke farm.  The only other theme Arco could have used that would have worked as well for the tent would have been the Boar's Nest, but I bet parents wouldn't be too happy about buying their tiny Dukes fans a make believe bar, though it would have been funny to see the miniature "Cold Beer Good Eats" printed on the side.

The playhouse is a good representation of the Hazzard County Garage in tent form.  Arco used the correct font for the word "Service" and the color and lines really remind you of the iconic scene from Hazzard County.

The "door" on one side of the tent lifts up so you can either get in or drive your Gen'ral in.  There is just enough space for a General Lee pedal car in there, or about one full grown Dukes Collector.

The door features good ol' Flash waggin his tail.  (There is a debate as to whether Flash was a girl or boy.  Rosco refers to him as both on several occasions, but my favorite Flash mention is the song "Flash" on the Dukes of Hazzard album where the lyrics go "My old dog, his name is Flash, I don't know why cause he ain't too fast."  So my go-to reference is to call Flash a "he.")  I really like this artwork and enjoy the fact the toy manufactures in the '80s were inclined to include Flash in their products.  The plush Flash toy is a great addition to the Dukes of Hazzard array of toys and I'm surprised no Rosco action figure ever came with a tiny Flash.

Each side of the tent has the same image of the General Lee parked under the Service sign.  The artwork is very nice and mostly accurate, except for the blue 01s.  Blue 01s show up on a lot of golden era products and don't look that bad.  I like that they even took the time to include a roll bar inside the Gen'ral.

Opposite the "door" is another wall of the tent that includes another Hazzard County Garage sign and an office door.

This side is the most accurate representation of the Garage we all know and love.  It even has different colored panels of "glass" above the office door.  Nice detail!

There is a window above the sign that would be nice for parents to keep an eye on their little Dukes fans or for full grown collectors to make sure no one is hiding inside with plans to poach any holy grails.

I really like the inclusion of the candy machine beside the office door.  When you're waiting for your General Lee to be fixed, grabbing a pretend Reese's Peanut Butter Cup is a great way to pass the time.

The tent is easy to construct.  There are 10 larger poles and 16 smaller poles.  There are also 21 yellow connectors.  If one pole or connector were missing, the tent would not stand.  I'm lucky that every piece is there.  This tent made it to my collection after a nearly three year conversation.  I came close to buying one from a friend of the blog, Adam, in 2014 but it didn't work out.  Adam contacted me again recently and we were able to make a deal.  Thanks, Adam!

There are two different Dukes of Hazzard tents from the golden era.  Besides Arco's Dukes of Hazzard Playhouse, there is also the Dukes of Hazzard Fun Tunnel from Outdoor Venture Corp.  I added that one to the collection in 2012, just a few months after I started blogging.

The Fun Tunnel is complete and I have the box.  It has a very different construction format.  You have to insert the poles through the liner of the tent and connect them in the middle.  I planned on putting it together to feature the two tents together, but then I remembered that putting the fun tunnel together meant bending 35 year old plastic poles and that might not be the best idea.  I think if I do ever put the fun tunnel together, I will get some replacement poles for it and keep the originals in the box.  Here is a picture of the constructed Arco Playhouse and the deconstructed Outdoor Venture Fun Tunnel for your viewing pleasure.

Sitting beside the empty apartment bedroom above my office happened to be the rarest, most wonderful Dukes of Hazzard Holy Grail in existence, the Dukes pool.  I thought maybe placing the super rare Arco Hazzard County Garage Playhouse Tent inside the super super rare Coleco Dukes of Hazzard Children's Swimming Pool might conjure up the Ghost of General Lee.  I think maybe I need to have the Leadworks Pencil Cup and Children's Tennis Shoes involved and say a special incantation containing both Waylon and Johnny Cash lyrics for that to work.  Oh well.

Adding holy grail items to the collection is so special.  I would never have had an opportunity to find either tent, the pencil cup, one of the pairs of shoes, and so many other items if it weren't for this blog and the great people who read and share my posts.  Thank you to everyone who reads my Dukes inspired ramblings and contacts me about items.  I've said it before so many times and it is so true, I've been collecting Dukes of Hazzard stuff my whole life, but it's been so much more fun once I started sharing everything with the world through DukesCollector!

Fun With the Dukes of Hazzard Punch-Out Fun and the Ertl Playset

Remember way back in March of 2012 when I wrote about actually shrinking a package of Dukes of Hazzard Shirnky Dinks?  That was a lot of fun and I promised in that post that I would soon play with a Dukes Punch-Out Fun set.  Well, it took a while, but I'm finally fulfilling that promise.  Here is a punched-out set of Punch-Out Dukes of Hazzard fun.  And I built all of the Hazzard County buildings in an Ertl 1/64 Playset.

Full disclosure: I haven't lost my mind and decided to open my valuable Dukes toys.  When I was in Sperryville in April before the grand opening of Cooter's in the Country, I did some museum curating.  I got to set up the Dukes displays and play with Dukes toys for two days.  It was incredible. I shared a little bit of the experience with the world on a blog post, but the store hadn't opened yet so I didn't want to share too much.  

I spent the weekend hanging with Ben and Alma and playing with Dukes toys.  Wow.

I wanted to do a few displays that are different from the ones at the Nashville and Gatlinburg Cooters. Alma had a few extra Punch-Out Fun books so I talked her into letting me punch-out one.  For the next few hours, a couple of other workers were building shelves, hanging pictures, painting, and I was on the floor folding together a little Hazzard County.  I am so lucky!

The book has thick cardboard pages and everything is perforated.  There are instructions on each page.  Some of the interior pieces, like the base of the General Lee have little perforated holes that can be very tedious to puncture.  This isn't a project you can do quickly.

It seems to me that a lot of engineering went into the creation of the Dukes toy.  Each car has over ten pieces and the instructions are very intricate.

The General Lee and Rosco's Patrol Car are built similarly.  There is a lot of correct detail on both cars.  The Gen'ral has vector wheels and the CNH-320 plate.  I can't think of too many other Golden Era toys that include the CNH-320.  The completed cars really look like the actual cars.  This is probably the most correct Rosco's Patrol Car toy that was available during the Golden Era of Dukes. I guess the AMT model was pretty accurate.

There is one building in the book and it takes up a bunch of pages.  I thought it was really cool to build a paper replica of Cooter's Garage while I was in Cooter's Place.

The Cooter's Garage consists of the front of the building, with a working garage door, a soda cooler, and office.  It's made up of of only four pieces of paper, but stands very nicely.

It's incredibly accurate! It really surprises me how much detail was put into this set.

It's also a perfect scale when compared to the cars and figures.

Oh, you didn't know there were also figures in this set?  We'll get to those bad boys.

The Jeep model is the most detailed and difficult item to put together.  Unlike the police car and General, it has a detailed interior.  It has a tiny steering wheel, gear shift, and steering column.  They were kind of tough to get punched-out without damaging them.  But I managed.  The seats and roll bar along with the spare tire all add to the detail of Dixie.

Along with the cars, figures, and building, you also get props!  You get to build hay bales, a road closed sign, and a ramp.  There is so much going on in this book!

How cool is all this stuff?

This figures are all one piece that gets folded on the bottom so they stand.  The fold is even angled so the lean perfectly.  Daisy doesn't have a base and is meant to be folded to sit in her Jeep.  You even get a tiny Flash.  Bo, Luke, Cooter, Uncle Jesse, Daisy, Rosco, Flash, and Boss Hogg are included. My only complaint with this set is that it didn't include Enos (or Cletus depending on when it was released.)

Here is the entire completed set.  It takes a good bit of work, but when completed, you get a really cool display piece.  I bet young Dukes fans back in the early '80s had a blast playing with this set.

Daisy looks great behind the wheel of her beloved Dixie.  Uncle Jesse approves.

It is so cool that Flash is includes in the set.  The ramp makes jumping over Rosco a breeze.

I put the set inside a glass case at Cooter's in the Country.  It was a perfect fit.

You can see the set anytime you visit the newest Cooter's Place.  I've been back several times and each time I see people checking out the Punch-Out Fun set.  I've had even the most seasoned Dukes fans, *cough Billy Lambing* ask me what it was.  A lot of people have the book in their collection but wouldn't dare open it and put it together.  I have a few in my collection and when I'm ready to display more, you better believe I'm punching-out another set.  It was a lot of fun, and people love seeing such a unique and detailed item.

This is a picture of one of my 1/64 Ertl Playsets.  It is nearly mint and is a Corvette variant.  I'll never open it.

Alma, on the other hand, found one in her collection in this condition.  The cars were missing but everything else was there.  When I came across it, I said I had to build it.  She agreed.

The first thing I came across were the amazing instructions.  Though a little damaged, they are just so cool.  After I used it to construct the playset, I framed it.

Inside the set are several buildings, signs, and trees.  They are similar to the Punch-out Fun set, but more simplistic in their design.

The walls are individual pieces that have inserts that go into holes on the connecting pieces and get folded inside.  It was a little more difficult to get these little buildings to stay together than it was the cars and buildings in the other set.  I'll admit that I used a little tape.

The playset includes Cooter's Garage, but it has a more generic look.

The Hazzard County Court House is a fun little building.

Somehow I ended up with two court houses.

You get the Boar's Nest, Cooter's Garage, The Duke Farm, and the Court House (or two.)  I wish they resembled the actual buildings more like the Cooter's Garage in the Punch-Out Fun set.

You also get a few trees, a tiny bridge, and a place mat that has a highway and a dirt road.  This is a fun set and the 1/64 cars fit nicely on it.  It is a highly sought after collectible piece that, again, a lot of people have, but will never open .  I'm glad I got a chance to play with one.  We kept the box and all the extra material.  I even put the used Punch-Out Fun book in the playset box.  I couldn't bring myself to throw that stuff away.  

The completed playset is on display in the child's bedroom area of Cooter's in the Country.  I placed most of it  where it is in the faux bedroom.  Man, I have a fun life.