Craigslist Find: M16 Helmet. Opinions?

[GIZMO8Z]

Hello All,

I found this M16/ M18 helmet shell for sale locally on Craigslist. The seller is literally 10miles from my house, and less than a mile from the school I teach at.

The seller is offering this lid for $180, which seems too expensive to me considering the rust and lack of all interior components.

What are you opinions of this lid? What would be a good deal for it?

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR TIME AND CONSIDERATION!

[KradSpam]

Hi Giz,

without a liner the only thing you could call this is M16. The only difference with M16 and M17 was the 16's had a leather liner band, and the 17 a steel one. I'd not want to pay more than $50 or $60 maybe? Perhaps not even that.

Andy

[GIZMO8Z]

Thanks Andy,

I was thinking the same thing, but wasn't quite sure. As the seller has it listed for so much... I'm assuming he/she thinks it's the holy grail and very expensive!

If I can talk down the price A LOT, I'll give it a go. If not, such is life.

[colt45]

some folks think they have the only one, its just a flower pot

[KradSpam]

I like to call them muggles (non collectors, like non magic users in Harry Potter........ my girlfriend is addicted)

[GIZMO8Z]

WOW! It really is a small world...

The person selling the helmet (Jeff) just came into the recycling facility that my parents own/ that I work at part time.

He saw the sign I posted and told me about the helmet. He had this glint in his eyes like he was sitting on treasure! I said it was way too expensive for me and he said make an offer. I told him I'd offer him $25 for it and he nearly choked on his coffee!

After recovering, he took it pretty well. I told him that it really isn't worth much because of it's condition and lack of liner/ chin strap. I wished him luck in selling it on Craigslist... but if he can't find a seller, my offer is still on the table.

[KradSpam]

That's a crazy coincidence. $25 is a very comfortable price, good luck with it

[MD Helmets]

It's a great piece for restoration, that's about it. Or a heavy duty flower pot. He might come to his senses. They usually do when no one goes crazy over what they have.

[davejb]

The problem is , that these people do find buyers, and normally some poor novice collector who will pay the price asked, the sad fact is, is that 50yrs ago you could pick helmets up on bomb sites, especially where i lived, a suburb of London, these were literally dumps of debris and people would throw their junk on them, i found a number of different helmets on them, a couple of M40s, one of which had a liner, and a Japanese marine landing helmet, all of which went at one stage or other, and many "tommy" helmets all with liners, i wish i had kept all of them now, so from going from virtually worthless to being highly collectable and worth a great deal of money, it stands to reason that someone who is a non collector would jump on the band wagon and charge what he thinks is a fair price because he's seen some on the net, but without researching the subject properly

[Wagriff]

You're absolutely right,Dave -these idiotically priced things eventually Do find uninformed buyers. Then, when they decide to Sell their treasure like this $180 dollar rusty Shell, they will go to a dealer and ask $360 for it because, after all, they Paid $180 bucks for it quite some time ago! If people are going to collect Anything-whether it's war relics or postage stamps...for Pete's Sake! KNOW what you're collecting, hey?