New Item Alert: Johnny Lightning Barn Finds Dodge Charger "General Lee"

Well would you look at this.  Johnny Lightning snuck a General Lee onto the market!  This is the brand new (just released this week) Barn Finds Lost Legends 1969 Dodge Charger.  That's the official name, but we all know it as General Lee!  Anyone else read that like Johnny Cash sang it in the General Lee song?  You know I love new Dukes products, even if they aren't officially Dukes products.  Let's dive in and take a look at the newest Dukes 1/164!

I grabbed two so I could keep one in the package and really examine the other.  Let's start by seeing just how close to a Gen'ral this new JL is.

Not only do you get the car, you also get a barn!  That's a new one to me, but very cool.  It does not resemble anything we've seen on Uncle Jesse's farm, but I think the theme of this car isn't to represent an actual dirty General Lee in the fictional Hazzard County, but a replica that has seen better days and was lost in an old barn.  You know, a barn find.

So does it just resemble a General Lee, but is mostly an orange Charger?  Nope, this is definitely nothing but a General Lee.  If you look closely, and I have a closer picture below, there is even remnants of the 01s on the door.  All the marks are checked.  The vector wheels, the push bar, it's all here.  It just seems the car had decals that didn't last and chipped away.

There is no question that those are the remains of once proud 01s.  This is a very cool 1/64.  There is even a roll cage inside!

Both sides have  01 fragments.  I was wondering if the side you couldn't see when the car is still in the package would have more 01, but they are both about the same.

The wheels are great.  They are probably the best representation of vector wheels ever produced in 1/64 scale.  Do they look familiar?  More on that below.

The push bar is also dead on.  It is the later season wider push bar and JL nailed it.  If this car didn't have the push bar and vector wheels, it might only resemble a General Lee and just be a fun 1/64, but those additions make this 100% a Barn Find General Lee.

The package is a lot of fun.  There are Dukes hints all over it.

Come on, this is all of our dream.  To stumble upon a once glorious General Lee just waiting to be brought back.  Johnny Lightning got it so right, "Oh, one can imagine."  It's actually another Dukes reference, Oh, one - 01!

The line is called Barn Finds Lost Legends.  The General Lee is a legend without question.

The car features a die-cast metal body and chassis and the effects replicate years of neglect.  Who could possible neglect the General Lee?!?

This quote says "once a showstopper, this dilapidated 1969 Dodge Charger has left its history of glitz and glory in the dust.  A good restoration could return it to the spotlight."  It also mentions a real life barn find of a Charger Daytona that sold for $90K at auction.  I know of few General Lees that sold for more than that. 

Also included in this line is a 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback, that happens to be from the movie Bullet.  Another legend for sure.  Johnny Lightning has a history of these types of hidden star cars.  They released Hogg's Hellcat in their standard Forever 64 line in 2011 and other cars like Joker's goon car and cars from Deathproof have been added to lines with no mention of their properties on the package. 

There is no mention of Warner Bros. at all on the package.  It's not officially a Dukes of Hazzard product, but we know it's a Dukes of Hazzard product.

The included barn is made of resin and is pretty heavy.  It has a very nice paint job and would look great displayed behind 1/64 cars.

Only one side is detailed and it is built to be against a wall.  It stands freely.  

You know I couldn't blog about this new product and not dig into the collection to pull out a car for comparison. 

The best General Lee ever produced in 1/64 scale is the Johnny Lightning Dukes of Hazzard series 3 General Lee.  It is also the inspiration for the Barn Find Dodge Charger.  All of the details that made that car perfect are carried over to the new JL.  The 01 remnants are lined up perfectly with the above car.  The wheels are the same and so is the push bar.  The paint is also the same.  The only difference is the added patina and the lack of the majority of the 01s.  I think the wheels actually look better on the barn find.  They were a little too shiny on the series 3 Gen'ral and the mud tones them down.

The perfect General Lee and the General Lee that time forgot.  There is no evidence of the flag or the General Lee text.  The roof is empty except for the dirt.  It wouldn't take Cooter very long to get this car back to its former glory.  Oh wait, this car doesn't belong in the fictional world of Hazzard County, but it represents a replica in our world.  So...it wouldn't take Richie Alligood long to get this car back to its former glory.

The bottom of the car a has the same markings as previous JL Chargers.

It uses the same tooling as other cars and this mold was first used in 2000.  It has a production date of November 1, 2018 stamped on it, as well as 2018 Tomy information.  Seeing that this has markings of 2018 on it and knowing that it came out in 2019 makes me wonder how many original golden era Dukes items that are marked 1981 actually came out in later years.  I bet quite a few.

I picked this car up from an online retailer.  Some others still have it as a pre-order.  I hope it will also be sold in stores like Wal-Mart and Target.  This car needs to be everywhere to remind people how much they love the General Lee and the Dukes of Hazzard.  Hopefully it sells like wildfire and shows Warner Bros. that we want new Dukes toys!  Do you hear us WB?!  Release the Dukes!!!  I'm really happy Johnny Lightning is still supporting the Dukes of Hazzard, even without WB's support.  Let's hope they get the support soon and more Dukes stuff hits the shelves.  You should definitely add this car to your collection.

Auto World/MPC's Brand New Snap-It General Lee Model Set Is A Great Toy!

Everyone knows I love getting new Dukes products.  This new snap together model kit from Auto World is my favorite new Dukes product in some time.  This may sound contradictory given that my blog is about collectibles, but I love this new product so much because it is not highly collectible.  It is basically a toy.  A very fun and playable toy.  A toy that can be enjoyed by all Dukes fans, especially the new, young ones that are just discovering the show on CMT.

I love my highly detailed Auto World 1/18 General Lee, but at a price tag of north of seventy bucks, it's not for everyone.  The newer 1/43 Gen'ral from AW has an even smaller target audience because it's smaller and costs nearly the same.  Ornaments. coffee mugs, and tin signs are great for us collectors, but there really need to be items geared to kids, and this new model is the perfect product.

You may be thinking, there is already a General Lee model kit, and it has been on the shelf throughout the Modern Age, the Silver Era, the Golden Era of the Dukes of Hazzard, and was even the only product on the shelves during the dark ages of Dukes.  You would be correct, but that model is a skill level 2 and requires paint and glue.

This new model is a skill level 1 and doesn't need anything but a Dukes fan for completion. Let's take a look at the box.

Even on a tiny representation of the decals included, the flag is missing.  But we have to hand it to Auto World, they continue to provide us with exciting new Dukes products while still maintaining Warner Bros' mandate about the flag on the exterior.

The front and smaller sides use the same artwork.  I believe this is new artwork for this model.  It is similar to the art used on several AW releases, but not the same.  It's a nice low angle picture of the General.  Low angles are used more often lately so as not to show the flag.  Just like in Auto Trader's commercial.  

One long side has a great profile shot of the actual product.  This is what your car will look like after it's done, unlike models that require paint and glue and feature a picture on the box of what your car will look like if you are a professional model builder.

The other side has a list of features in three different languages.  The whole world loves the Dukes.

How about we take a step by step look at the process of completing this model, and that sounds fun, right? Step one, open the box.  I will stop that joke right now.

There are a few part trees along with the body, decals and wheels.  For some reason, I got two decal sheets. I'm not sure if everyone does in case they mess up during application, or if I was randomly chosen as a super great terrific Dukes of Hazzard fan.  I'm going with the latter.

Who is the lucky graphic designer out there who gets paid to draw pictures of the General Lee in production?  I envy you.  The 01s look great.

On the inside of the roof on the main body piece is all the WB trademark info.  It gets very specific with the manufacturing location in China.  I love seeing 2014 and Dukes together.

Here are all the pieces before being taken off the trees.

I thought maybe one set of decals was water slide and one standard, but they are both regular old stickers.  I wonder why they are on different color backs.  I also wonder why I got two - probably because of the terrific super fan thing.

I love the inclusion of the tiny CNH-320 plate decal.  Great attention to detail AW!

The vector wheels, roll bar, push bar, CB radio, and antenna are also great attention to detail.  You really knocked this one out of the park AW.

Here is a shot of all the pieces taken off the trees before assembly.  It really isn't that many pieces.

The first step in the instruction is the completion of the interior.  It includes the seats, steering wheels, gear shift, a tiny CB radio, and the roll bar.

Tiny Lost Sheep can use the tiny CB to call Bo Peep, Shepard, or Crazy Cooter.

Next you put together the four wheels.   They each consist of three pieces.  These are great renditions of the vectors.

These look better than the Johnny Lightning's 1/18 wheel.

Step 3 is very easy.  Use the only metal pieces to connect the wheels to the base.

The next step requires a piece that, momentarily, I thought I didn't have.  Then I realized it was orange and found it connected to the inside of the body piece.

The front grill goes together fairly easily.  To me, a Charger, even an orange Charger, doesn't look right without a push bar.

Much better.  Step four of the instructions is now complete.

You then attach the rear lights, bumper, gas cap, and antenna.  You also affix the windshield piece to the inside of the orange body.

The final step in the construction is putting the three pieces, base, interior, and body all together.  I found this to be the hardest step.  But I got them together.  The instructions instruct you to put the decals on as you go, but I waited until last.

Not a bad looking orange charger.  If you saw this rolling down the road you, the wheels and push bar would tell you it was on the way to get Generalized.

The gas cap and antenna are great touches.

On no, it's the dreaded bald General Lee.  The decals are easy to put on, just peel and place.

I put the flag on before the General Lee text.  It seemed easier to place them that way.

Here is the final product.  It looks great.  Sure, it doesn't have the appearance of a real car like a painted detailed model, but it still makes one heck of a great toy.

The wheels roll and it's ready to be played with.

The addition of the plate really stands out.

You get two CNH-320 plates, but I didn't put one on the front.  Some states require it, but good ol' Pennsylvania doesn't make you have a front plate.  The General doesn't look right with one, in my opinion.

Auto World may hide the flag on the box, but you can be assured it's inside.  This car looks great from the top.  The whole process of construction only took me about thirty minutes.  It was a fun thirty minutes.

This Snap-It model kit by MPC/AW is a really fun car.  I can't recommend it high enough to every blog reader.  For less than $20 any Dukes fan can have fun putting the car together and then have a great General Lee to display, play with, jump, or any other fun thing your Dukes oriented mind can think of.  Everyone, go buy this car.