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Ertl General Lee Question


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Wow!! Thanks so much for adding this to your forums!!! I REALLY appreciate it!!! Y’all are AWESOME!!!! :D

I’ll try not to post too many questions, but here’s my first one that has been plaguing me….in fact it was this question I was researching on the internet when I found this site. I have two original 1981 1/64 scale Ertl General Lees Mint on Card, but both are different and I was wondering what was up with them?

The first one has door handles cast right on the car, the “01†stickers have a clear background, on the bottom of the card on the front under the car it reads “#1581 cWarner Bros. Inc. 1981â€, and the back of the card is the same as the other one except it says it was made in Taiwan (the underside of the General also says Taiwan).

The second car has no door handles, the “01†stickers have an orange background, on the bottom of the card on the front under the car it reads “#1581 TM indicates Trademark of Warner Bros., Inc. c1981â€, the card itself is a darker orange in color, and the back it says it was manufactured in the USA (the underside of the General also says USA).

I’ve come up with a possible theory that maybe the cars were actually made in different years even though both cars say 1981and if so---which one is the older of the two? Or…did Ertl have such a high demand that they had to have another place manufacture them? And is one more desirable than the other?

My personal favorite from my youth was my stuff Flash the dog!!! In fact he is sitting right by the computer as I type!!!! Flash joined me on many adventures and amazingly he is in almost mint condition! I was one of those strange kids that actually looked after their toys….which I am very grateful for now. I think my second favorite is my General Lee Wrist Racer……still works great, but I’m afraid to use it now!

Now I’m on a serious quest for Dukes memorabilia and boy I’m I having a fun time doing it!!!!!

P.S. Thanks again for this forum!!! :D

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Tempest 66

Have you ever checked the magazine Die-Cast Digest for the value on the cars? That is a good magaize with a detailed list with values in it. I am not sure if the General Lee's you have would be in there , but it may be worth checking out.

I have never seen the stuffed Flash . That sounds cool. Hope your collecting goes well for ya...

Let me know about the cars if you find a value for them.

Darrell

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I’ve come up with a possible theory that maybe the cars were actually made in different years even though both cars say 1981and if so---which one is the older of the two? Or…did Ertl have such a high demand that they had to have another place manufacture them? And is one more desirable than the other?

Well here's an interesting coinkydink for ya.

I have in my possession one of the Ertl Dukes of Hazzard car sets that I've had since I was kid. The set consists of the General Lee, Boss's Caddy, Daisy's Jeep and Rosco's patrol car. Each car is dated 1981 and were made in Hong Kong.

Recently I took part in local car show and there was a dude there selling vintage gas station signs (one which read "unleaded .65" !!) and various other odds and ends. He had quite a few vintage early 80's issued matchbox cars, still in their little boxes (the boxes were water damaged but the cars were in pristine condition). In another bucket he had some other older MatchBox and HotWheels cars and while digging through that I found at least four Boss Hogg Caddy's. I bought one for the hell of it (along with a couple of the vintage MatchBox cars in the boxes). When I got home, I realized the Caddy I bought was different from the car I had for the past 20 some odd years. So I looked at the bottom of the one I just bought and compared it to the other I had had.

The one I picked up at the car show said 1981 and made in the USA. I think the 1981 refers to the copyright year for WB only, and not the year the cars were manufactured, but I'd be willing to bet that the USA cars and the Hong Kong cars were manufactured in different years and I'm pretty sure I got my Ertl set sometime in 1983 or 1984. I'd be willing to bet the USA cars were issued first, probably in 1981.

And you raise an interesting question: Which year/country of manufacture car is more desireable? There's noticeable differences between the two Caddy's, just as you noted the differences between your two General Lees. The USA Caddy has a different windshield and the door handles are indents on the door, whereas the Hong Kong car has them sticking outward. The USA car is a slightly different shade of white than the Hong Kong car. The steering wheels are different.

Have to admit I'm certainly curious now. LOL

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MaryAnne

I have to thank you now. I have to take out my cars and inspect them . It also gives me a good excuse to start cleaning my closet out now.

Now doesn't it want you to find out how many variations of the early die cast vehicles there are? I never knew there were different manufactuer countries for these. It does make it very interesting now.

I have die cast vehicles from the movie Cannonball Run - Burt Reynolds, that name seems to keep popping up somehow.LOL. I took them to a store by me that sells die cast cars and racing collectables. The guy there said he never seen them and couldn't get me a value , thery were not listed in any of his guides. Maybe he was too busy to really look. I don't know. It seems the early 70's-80's die cast, other than matchbox and hot wheels, didn't really have collectable value til recently.

Maybe we will find out soon....I can't find the magazine I posted earlier, Die-Cast Digest. My Border's or B & N usually carry it, but haven't found it at either. The collectable shop I talked used to carry it, but the guy who had the shop moved to FLA...I am trying

Darrell

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  • 4 months later...

:D LOL! I got a new dwarf hamster last weekend that I named Flash! He is such a cutie. My older dwarf hamster that I got a month ago, is Cooter. I had another dwarf hamster that lasted seven months until it died last month...his name was Rosco!

All my animals are DOH name related. My two fish are Bo and Luke (had another named Rosco - but he died after amonth) and my cat is Daisy! LOL. :lol:

-Garrett Duke-

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  • 4 weeks later...

Here's another question...couple years ago I bought th' die-cast General model set by Ertl. It's th' one that comes with a metal body proudly displayed in a clear window on top o' th' box an' comes with a screw driver to put it all together. 'Course, when I bought it couldn't see the other parts, but when I put it together (as well as it's micro counterpart) found they made it WITHOUT th' headlight covers, push bar, an' with mag wheels.

Why is it so hard to have a 100% accurate General?

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