M38 Fallschirmjäger ET68

[avenger]

Came across this Fallschirmjäger helmet, and I haven't spent enough time in study on these to know if this is real or not. Seller is claiming it's high end reproduction, and typically I take people's word at that. But, after spending a little time researching these, this one seems to have some of the hallmarks of an original, such as the tooling line along the inner crimp if I understand that to be the indented line running along the inner edge of the rolled over crimp. If nothing else, this seems to be a good chance to learn something new in an area of the hobby I'm really not comfortable in at this time.

In case this is one of those once in a lifetime chances at something hard to get, I thought I would see if I could get some opinions on it. Thanks everyone so much for your time, and your thoughts. I really appreciate this community and its dedication to the history and guarding the originality of these relics.

[KRISSE]

My feeling says that the seller is right.
The toolmarks at the inner edge are faked as well.
The number stamps inside are not the correct fond.
Also, the chinstrap looks far to new. Looks like it was made yesterday.
These are my humble observations and I'm sure that more experienced collectors in this field soon chime in.

[John Brandon]

The decal is fake - and that would be enough for me

[avenger]

You guys are awesome. Thanks for the feedback. I had noticed the maker stamp font looked a little different from the stamps I see on other helmets. But, I wasn't sure if there may have been some variations on that. Good info!

I guess helmets like this one, while certainly identifiable, serve as a good reminder that we must remain ever vigilant. Thrown in with the rest of the eBay helmets of the world, this one would probably fool some well intentioned folks out of a good sum of money if positioned by the right unscrupulous seller. On the other hand, it would make a nice placeholder for those who can't afford the real deal or want something to fill in for a time. Hopefully that's where it ends up.

[Ben Evans]

Must admit, not a helmet guy but owned a few in the past, I agree with John on the decal, look how thin the detailing is, bad decal

[bigmacglenn]

I've never owned one and I admit that I struggle to tell the difference between Original and Repro these days...I wouldn't dare buy one without checking here first either, lol...
cheers, Glenn

[Bob Lyons]

The whole thing is bad.....

[Sarge]

I would say it is a BW helmet.
Sarge