SS Helmet Verdict - real or faked up?? Need advice asap!

[bullettoothtony]

Helmet gurus....please review and post your opinions/advice ASAP!! THANKS! Just a shell but please check out:

[HoundsTooth]

It would help if you provide better photos. However, the SS decal looks like a round bottom fake and possibly over the camo paint.
Contrived wear on the decal too.

I would avoid purchasing an SS helmet at this stage - stick to regular Heer/Lust or non decal helmets.

Nick

[Schwerpunkt]

I think it is time to educate yourself , you can only post so many topics for help in a certain manner.

[bullettoothtony]

I think it is time to educate yourself , you can only post so many topics for help in a certain manner.

You're right....I got excited about helmet collecting and jumped in to helmets with both feet too quick. As I said in my other post, my forte was WW2 handguns...I had & read numerous (probably 30+) books on the various German & other WW2 weapons (plus had a few trusted collectors around me to bounce stuff off of, etc). For helmets I've caught a bug and wanted to get one in my possession.

Guess I need to slow down and research/learn - what is regarded as the best book or two on helmet collecting/verification I should look into?

[bullettoothtony]

It would help if you provide better photos. However, the SS decal looks like a round bottom fake and possibly over the camo paint.
Contrived wear on the decal too.

I would avoid purchasing an SS helmet at this stage - stick to regular Heer/Lust or non decal helmets.

Nick

I'm really only wanting an SS helmet at this point...as said above, I'm willing to learn and stop flooding you guys with fakes (due to my lack of experience) but where should I look for an education on helmets...esp. SS helmets and deciphering the legit from the laughable?

[rbminis]

I'm really only wanting an SS helmet at this point...as said above, I'm willing to learn and stop flooding you guys with fakes (due to my lack of experience) but where should I look for an education on helmets...esp. SS helmets and deciphering the legit from the laughable?

There are a ton of SS helmets posted here for reference.
Just do some reading of past threads, and you should be able to learn a lot.
Ralph.

[Glittering_Ship4193]

You're right....I got excited about helmet collecting and jumped in to helmets with both feet too quick. As I said in my other post, my forte was WW2 handguns...I had & read numerous (probably 30+) books on the various German & other WW2 weapons (plus had a few trusted collectors around me to bounce stuff off of, etc). For helmets I've caught a bug and wanted to get one in my possession.

Guess I need to slow down and research/learn - what is regarded as the best book or two on helmet collecting/verification I should look into?

Kelly Hicks' SS-Steel and later the expanded edition were pretty popular. They are out of print and several hundred now. I was actually able to get the expanded edition a couple weeks ago from a place in South Dakota for $89 but that was the only copy they had. Frank (Schwerpunkt) can talk to you about the one champagne I think? decal that was featured in this book and was later determined to be a fake, but the rest are good as far as I know. It's a nice book, but there are larger photos of decals available on this and other forums. I highly recommend Frank's site, German Helmet Vault – Collecting German WW2 helmets I use it almost exclusively for my helmet research. They have a small but highly active forum as well. They have helped me a lot.