Sweet craigslist helmet find

[jonobo]

Hello! I answered a craigslist ad for a "vietnam helmet" for $250 but they took my offer of $225, I literally took these pics 10 mins ago in a target parking lot!
Pretty nice condition but it's missing the star and the front liner is hanging on from the drawstring.

[MD Helmets]

Japanese?

[douglas2496]

It looks like you did well. The front liner pad is held in place by the prongs from the star, so with that missing it will be loose. The liner band is obviously torn in several places and will need stitching back together. As you will know prices for these helmets can be high. What color is the helmet? The one in my collection is greenish and I have seen brown ones- is your gray?

Doug

[KradSpam]

Japanese civic model helmet, Luftschutz equivalent etc. I'm not sure on prices but I think you did alright for that.

[douglas2496]

Surely thats an Army helmet? Type 90, introduced in 1930?

[Alan M]

It's a IJA type 90 helmet with a nice liner and chin strap , i don't know whats happening with the paint and i cant see a "shadow " where the star would have been . Shame the star is missing but i think you did ok for the price

[KradSpam]

Eek, my mistake..... For some reason I judged it as civic by that flare on the rim..... I should look more closely before speaking in future

[jonobo]

I've got better pics! What should i do with the liner? should I fix it somehow? should I find an original star to affix the dangling liner? There's an indentation of two prongs, on the leather liner of where the star used to be and a ghost star in the front.

[Alan M]

Hi Jon , your helmet looks even better now with your improved photos , i really like it I wouldn't mess with the liner personally it looks fine , but if you can find an original insignia it would improve its looks for display but take away it's originality , but thats your choice If you can give me another photo of the liner pad that shows the ink stamps i may be able to date it for you . Incidentally the kanji mark on the rear internal rim shows that the helmet is a small size . You did well on the price IMO

[jonobo]

Does this help?