Dukes of Hazzard: Bo Duke

Loose Bo Duke

Bo Duke was initially released wearing a long sleeve off-white denim shirt, denim blue jeans with a brown vinyl belt and a circular gold belt buckle. He also came with black high top boots. The Bo Duke head sculpt is dead on and clearly resembles John Schneider who played Bo Duke on the television series.
Bo’s long sleeve shirt contained a sewn in pocket located on his left breast and also contained one set of snaps in the front. Similar to Luke, Mego quickly modified Bo’s shirt by eliminating the pocket and shortening his sleeves. It could have been a cost cutting measure, or giving the figure more flexibility by having the elbows open for unrestricted movement. The shirt was modified while the 1980 cards were still in production so Bo can be found wearing a short sleeve shirt packaged in 1980 and 1981 cards (see the card section for details on the 1980 card.

original bo duke card

original daisy duke card

original Bo duke card

Bo with log sleeve and short sleeves on 1980 and 1981 cards
When Mego shortened the sleeves on Bo’s shirt, they also slightly changed the material and design. The long sleeve shirt was constructed from a thicker denim-like material. The short sleeve shirt was constructed from slightly thinner denim-like material, but was not the softer more elastic material used on Luke Duke shirts. The pocket located on the left breast was also removed. The majority of Bo Duke figures contain this later style shirt. The short sleeve shirt was also a bit “whiter” than the long sleeve shirt shown to the right.
The long sleeve shirt was designed so that the left side of the shirt snapped over the right side. The left side contained a lapel that ran down the center of the shirt when snapped. This lapel was eliminated when the short sleeve shirt was designed. Now that the short sleeve shirt was a symmetrical design, technically either side could be snapped over the other. While the majority of short sleeve shirts have the left side snapping over the right, some were produced so that the right side snaps over the left. The shirt with the right side snapped over the left is much more difficult to find, although this is only the result of someone sewing the snap to the other side to break the monotony on the production line.
Bo Duke’s short sleeve shirts can also exhibit an unattractive discoloring. Quite a few of the short sleeve shirts can have a brownish discoloration to them. Whether it is a chemical reaction with the body resin or some chemical in the shirt itself, it is not pleasant to look at. Carded Bo’s can be seen with discolored shirts still sealed inside original bubbles. Finding a vibrant white shirt without discoloration will not require an extended search, but the discolored shirts are out there in numbers
Bo’s initial blue jeans were not baggy and had more of a taped or snug fit (for the ladies) when compared to initial Luke Duke pants.

Bo's pants became darker during productionWhile the material for Luke Duke pants was changed from the denim-like material, Bo’s jeans continued to contain the denim-like material for the life of the line. The only difference was that the color of Bo’s jeans became a bit darker. The initial light blue denim pants can be paired with the long and short sleeve shirt. The later darker jeans should only be paired with the short sleeve shirt. There will be some slight variance upon close examination, but there was not the wide variance seen with Luke Duke pants.
Bo Duke BeltsBo’s pants were held up with a brown vinyl like belt sewn in at the ends by the snaps. A circular shaped belt buckle was threaded through the belt and was able to slide along the belt from end to end. The brown belts can be textured or smooth similar to Luke. The shape of Bo’s belt buckle did not change like Luke’s, although there is one variation. Similar to Luke, very few belt buckles have been confirmed to be silver rather than gold. It is possible that these silver belt buckles did not go through the gold dipping process. The silver belt buckles can be considered an error, but are very difficult to find and seldom pop up. To date, Bo has only been confirmed with the circular belt buckle, but with Quality Control not being Mego’s strength during their desperate times, it would not be unheard of to find some figures that were assembled with Luke’s belt buckle.
Similar to the short sleeve shirt, the waistline of the pants was symmetrical so either the side could be snapped over the other. Pants seemed to flip back and forth between right side over left, and vice versa.
The snaps used to secure the shirt and pants were initially metal snaps that can be shaped square or round. Shortly after the long sleeve shirt was phased out, the metal snaps were replaced with white plastic snaps. Since short sleeve shirts can be found with metal snaps, it is safe to say that all long sleeve shirts should only contain metal snaps. The short sleeve shirt can contain either metal or plastic snaps.
Similar to the short sleeve shirt, the waistline of the pants was symmetrical so either the right side could be snapped over the other. Pants seemed to flip back and forth between right side over left, and vice versa. See the picture a little further down for examples of pants sewn either way.
Bo SnapsThe snaps used to secure the shirt and pants were initially metal snaps that can be shaped square or round. Shortly after the long sleeve shirt was modified, the metal snaps were replaced with white plastic snaps. Since short sleeve shirts and the polyester type pants can be found with metal snaps, it is safe to say that all long sleeve shirts and baggy jeans should only contain metal snaps. The short sleeve shirt and polyester type pants can contain either metal or plastic snaps.

Bo SnapsBo Snaps

Metal and plastic snaps can be found on Bo’s shirts and pants.
Many more short sleeve shirts and pants with plastic snaps were produced compared to the short sleeve and lighter denim type pants with plastic snaps. The majority of collectors does not care or differentiate between the plastic and metal snaps. All versions can be found with persistence.
The thread used to secure the snaps to Bo’s shirt was initially white and designed to match the shirt color. Since the thread color is very visible, both Bo and Luke shirts have snaps sewn to the shirts with thread targeted to match the shirt color. It would not be unheard of to see a Bo shirt containing a thread color other than white. This would be rare, but don’t throw it on E-Bay yet, as it probably will not make a difference in value. The thread used to secure the snaps to Bo’s pants was initially brown. You can see below how the thread color varied so much for Luke’s pants, but why was this not the case for Bo’s pants? It seems that only brown thread was used to sew the snaps to Bo’s pants. It would not be a shock and almost make more sense to see some Bo pants have snaps sewn with different color thread, but again it will have just about no impact of the value. You may even see an E-Bay auction advertising their loose
The various thread colors used for Luke’s pants are shockingly non existent for Bo’s pants.

thread variations on a mego luke Duke

Bo figure with the “the SUPER RARE Bo figure with red thread”. Go check out your loose Bo’s pants to see what color thread you have!

Graying Head
Bo and Luke heads are notorious for turning gray or discoloring. A large number of Bo and Luke heads have that ugly gray appearance also commonly seen on other later 8″ figures. Bo can have a gray head inside a 1980 or 1981 cards. The entire head can be gray or even just portions of the head can be gray. Towards the very end, Mego solved the graying issue as tail end Dukes of Hazzard figures and all 8″ heads no longer discolored to become gray. Finding a carded Bo or Luke without a gray head and on a high grade card can be done, but it is not that easy. When one becomes available for sale, the price usually is higher than normal.
All the Bo Duke variations can be found and will not cause you to skip a car payment to purchase them. High-grade cards with non-gray heads will command higher prices, but never cross the $100 threshold.

 

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