New Dukes stuff 9/5/2012 - Boss Hogg, DK stickers, and Knight Rider

I haven't picked up a huge amount of new things lately.  But the couple of Dukes items I did get are nice additions to the collection.

I'm not the biggest fan of buying autographs.  I like to get things signed on my own.  But the fact that Sorrell Booke passed away years before I was a serious collector kinda made getting his autograph a little difficult.  Often times Sorrell, and Denver Pyle, personalized their autographed pictures.  I have been waiting for a "To Larry" to pop on on eBay, but with no luck.  When this one that wasn't personalized came along, I jumped on it.  It isn't in the best condition, but its a genuine autograph, and I like it.  I sure wish I could have met Sorrell.  The stories I've heard said he loved doing appearances in character.  He would love performing at a Homecoming or Dukesfest. 

This sticker is on the back of the picture.  Ah, the days before the internet. 

This 1/64 two-pack is a pretty rare piece.  I have been after it for a while.  I think seeing one in Dave's mobile museum made me want it even more.  The package is not mint, but its good enough.  They go for a pretty penny. 

I should find a larger version of this picture because of all the commotion of last week.  

The back of the packaging is pretty standard.  Ertl/Tomy/JL should make a retro 1/64 General Lee with packaging similar to these old original cards.   That would be awesome.  

Jesse at DK Bicycles sent me some stickers from the original marketing push for the first DK General Lee bike.  

It's all about jumping.  Here is the General jumping over the DK logo.  I also got a DK pin, a spoke wrench and a sticker with a dude in a 01 trucker hat.  Thanks again Jesse!

I also picked up this new Minimates KITT with Michael Knight set.  

For only being $10, it has a lot of detail.  But it was nearly impossible getting all the stickers on the dashboard.  

Iv'e said it on this blog before, talked to a creator at Comic-Con, and I'll say it again:  Please make Dukes of Hazzard items Diamond Select Toys!!!!!  This Minimate KITT is so cool.  And the new 1/15 plastic light and sound KITT with 3 3/4 inch Michael Knight they have coming looks even cooler.  A General Lee with Bo and Luke figures would be awesome!  The recent hubbub about the flag staying on new merchandise proves that there is an audience for it.  It is my mission to get new Dukes stuff to the market that differs from the standard diecast and t-shirt.  

Watch out Michael, you stumbled in to a rough part of Third Earth.  

Those wily Thundercats are jacking KITT.

And because it seems that every toy blogger on the planet has a picture of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on their blog, here are my Minimates with the new Classic Raphael.  Great figures.  Can't wait for a classics Panthro in the new Thundercats line.  

Proof of the Greatest Photobomb of All Time - Hazzard Homecoming 2012

Perhaps my favorite picture of all time is the photobomb picture I snuck myself into at Hazzard Homecoming with John Schneider, Tom Wopat, and Catherine Bach.  It's just so good.  Blog readers seems to enjoy it as well.  Of course, I have been showing it to everyone.  About half the time I show it to someone on my phone, they say its photoshopped.  They gotta believe!

Recently fellow fans Julie and Dan Braeckman shared their photos from HH with me.  I happened to be in a bunch of theirs, and they were in a few of mine.  So know I give to the world:  proof that the famed photobomb photo is real and that John Scnheider really sent it to me.  

I guess this is a photobomb in itself.  Me and Jeff must have made it in to a bunch of peoples pictures. Hey look, it's my buddy Ed in the right of the picture.  Love Ed.  

There is Catherine's phone that the infamous picture was taken with.

I saw myself on the screen.  I knew I made it in.

I thought for a moment I was caught.  But that didn't happen until after the picture was taken.  And thank goodness it did or I probably never would have seen the photo.  

And just because I love it, here is the notorious photobomb one more time.  Can you blame me for loving it so much?  It is awesome.

Thank you Julie and Dan for sharing your pics.  They also have a video of the jump that I made myself into as well.  Great stuff.

Hazzard Nation speaks from the heart and Warner Bros listens

Hey Y’all,

Today something extraordinary happened. Warner Bros. listened to the fans of “The Dukes of Hazzard”. And we should thank them for that.

There were reliable and verifiable reports from WB car licensees with whom we do business that as of January 1, 2013, the Confederate Banner on top of the General Lee would be removed because some people “found it offensive.” Hazzard Nation found the very idea of such political correctness invading Hazzard County to be so narrow-minded and insulting that we took to the internet, to the press, and to WB Licensing to let them know how we felt.

Two days ago, this was a done deal. Yesterday, a WB spokesman talking to NBC/Today.com said that this was a “maybe we will”, “maybe we won’t” situation. This afternoon, The Associated Press reported that WB is now saying that all these reports are “inaccurate” and that there are no plans to remove the flag.

In a poll on today.com this afternoon, over 12,000 people had voted for the flag to stay, and less than one/tenth that many voted to remove it. That, plus the positive support we directed by e-mail to WB licensing obviously changed some minds.

This is not only a victory for those who love the show, but a victory for the voice of the people, and in my opinion, a victory for mutual respect among people of different ethnicities and backgrounds. We should now be gracious and thank the folks at Warner Bros. for changing this misguided policy. Perhaps they will listen to the fans when they produce “Dukes, The Next Generation”! Wouldn’t that be great?

Anyhow, somewhere up above, Denver Pyle and Sorrell Booke are sharing a big smile.

Thanks, y’all. This was big. We won!

Ben Jones

aka “Cooter”

We Won! The flag stays on the General Lee

Wow!  That didn't take long.  After Ben's interview was seen on MSN's front page and all over the internet, the AP is now reporting that Warner Brothers says the reports are "inaccurate."  Looks like we, Dukes of Hazzard fans as a whole, did it.  Thanks for voting, signing the petetion, and emailing.  We really can change things. 

Man do I love this hobby. 

Another article about the flag on the General Lee

We got a fight on our hands.  Good thing we have Ben Jones in our corner.  Let's let Warner Brothers know that messing with the General Lee is not a good idea.  Email them here: wbcpinquiries@warnerbros.com

Ben was interviewed by the Today show.  Check out the article below, and vote "NO" to the question " Should the Confederate flag be taken off the General Lee?"
http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2012/08/30/13568283-report-confederate-flag-may-be-removed-from-dukes-of-hazzard-general-lee-toys?lite

And be sure to sign the petition to keep the flag on top tof the General Lee:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/keep-the-dixie-flag-on-the-general-lee/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=system&utm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriend

DUKES OF HAZZARD’S “COOTER” BLASTS “P.C. IDIOCY” AT WARNER BROS.

Since 1978, when filming started for “The Dukes of Hazzard” television series, Warner Bros. Television and its licensees have earned hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of dollars from the ongoing success and enduring popularity of this old fashioned family show. The show’s timeless look and charm continues to find a new audience as youngsters discover the show’s good clean fun and their parents appreciate the wholesome values the show espouses. The good guys win, the bad guys get their comeuppance, nobody gets hurt, and a good time is had by all. And by “all”, I mean “all”, regardless of race, color, religion, or ethnicity. Hazzard County is a “hate-free” zone.

Now, over 33 years since the show premiered on CBS-TV on Friday nights, Warner Bros. has issued a new and terribly insulting attack on the South, a region and a culture which Hollywood has trashed for decades.

“With stupidity,” said Friedrich Schiller, “the Gods themselves struggle in vain.” He must have been talking about the decision makers at WB. In a fit of political correctness, the company has dictated that no longer will the “General Lee” have a Confederate Flag on its roof. (For the culturally deprived, the “General Lee” is a 1969 Dodge Charger, perhaps the most popular car in the history of entertainment.) Some unnamed genius at the company feels that the flag is “offensive to some” and therefore it has no business on a classic t.v. comedy about a bunch of good ol’ boys and girls in the Southern mountains. This is a new level of “P.C.” idiocy. I don’t know about you, but I am tired of being insulted by morons.

Now, here is “the flaw in that slaw”, as Rosco P. Coltrane used to say. First of all, because of seven seasons on prime-time and through countless reruns, syndication, hit cable runs, VHS sets, video games, reunion movies, a feature film, tivo, international viewings, youtube, websites, and a very popular DVD series, the General is always going to have a flag on its top. Tens of millions of earthlings have seen it repeatedly for decades. And when it isn’t there, the obvious question will be “where is it?”, followed by, “that’s not the General!”

Secondly, the presumption that the show’s millions of minority viewers are put off by the flag belies the fact that African Americans, especially in the South, watched (and still watch) the show faithfully. As a producer of Dukes fan events, I can assure you that this is so.

Thirdly, the timing of this announcement is mind boggling. We are now in the Sesquicentennial Commemoration of the American Civil War. It is a time for reflection and reassessment, and I have seen descendants of both sides of that struggle reverently honor the effort and sacrifice of both armies. To insult the lasting symbol of the Southern soldier is itself a divisive and, well, bigoted act. This is not “offensive to some”. It is “offensive to many”, myself included.

I made a decision when I was a kid that I “would live and die in Dixie” and do what I could to end segregation, discrimination, and “white supremacy”. In that effort, I was shot at, sucker punched, threatened repeatedly, and jailed several times. But, just like in the “Dukes of Hazzard”, the good guys won. Dr. King was a proud Southerner, and he believed that the most important bridge to be built was between working black folks and the working white folks who opposed them. That South is slowly evolving, but it won’t fully become reality as long as corporate types, caving to political pressure, gratuitously insult the descendants of the Confederacy, who are as patriotic as Americans can be.

Symbols have different meanings for different people at different times. Whenever a group of organized bigots get together, mostly up North, they always seem to desecrate the Confederate St. Andrews Cross, the Christian Cross, and Old Glory. They are a pitiful handful of life’s losers, who seem, however, to attract every network camera within miles. Those creeps even give bed sheets a bad name. And as a proud Member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, I am not going to let their actions destroy the reputation of my ancestors. And for the record, I am also an Honorary Life Member of the N.A.A.C.P.

Ben Jones

Washington, VA



LET THEM KNOW HOW YOU FEEL (NICELY)

The only way that Warner Bros. can know the depth and breadth of our displeasure with this insult to our sensibilities is to let them know through e-mail directly to their licensing department. Please be thoughtful and respectful and please refrain from profanity. Let them know that you will not be buying or supporting any further “Dukes” projects that deface the General Lee, and let them know that only a few bigots give the Confederate Battle Flag a bad name, whereas millions have watched and loved the Dukes of Hazzard. And spread the word as much as you can!

Thanks,

Ben aka “Cooter”

The e-mail address For Warner Bros. is: wbcpinquiries@warnerbros.com

Random notes - items for sale, bicycles, and Sam's new patrol car

Hazzard Homecoming was such a great event.  I made several new friends both online and in the real world. Tim, Gloria, Ken, Gary, Gary, Ken, Donald, Steve, Randall, Tony and everyone who has checked in and shared some nice words, I appreciate it.  I really love meeting so many Dukes fans through this blog.

Collector Gary Repcik asked me to share some Dukes items he has for sale.  A lot of his items are autographed and look to be in great condition.  I am putting up a few pictures, but he has a lot more items.  He can be reached at grepcik@gmail.com

Our friend from across the pond, James Fisher, shared this cool birthday card he recently picked up.  It's a mix between the General Lee and the Starsky and Hutch Torino.  Love when companies show love for the Dukes.  Thanks for sending it James.

Thanks to my post about the new DK General Lee BMX bicycle, I had a cool conversation with Jesse who works at DK.  He told me that he liked the post and gave me a little history about the Bike.  The original was released over ten years ago and was built for jumping.  They wanted to associate it with the best known jump vehicle, so they named it General Lee.  Good choice.  He said they have released several variations of the General Lee including this 12" bike from a few years ago.  I'll have to start searching for one of these.  Thanks Jesse.

Our pal Sam aka Driftlee has been busy lately.  He recently started a blog about collecting 1/64 cars.  Check out 64 Wheels to see his nearly overwhelming amount of Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and Ertls.  And he recently bought this bad boy:

That ain't no 1/64.  Sam is now a Hazzard car owner.  You punk, you did it before me.  I can't wait to see this car for myself.  

The car looks to be in great condition, and comes from a well known Dukes car builder.

I couldn't be happier for you Sam.  I know you love those Monacos.  Now you have to go to some Dukes events with me.