M42 former SD HEER with issues...

[JPhilip]

Hello Gentlemen,
This M42 former SD Heer helmet is on one of my shelves. This one has no war story to tell, it's an anonymous piece of german headgear like hundreds of helmets you've seen before on the forum or somewhere else. If i decided to show this helmet on the forum, that's because of the way i got in the early 2000s and to prove that sometimes collectors can get lucky or unlucky, or both at the same time, that's the case here.

I remember this moment like if it was yesterday. This particular day i went to a very small local militaria fair and noticed the helmet right away. As i had very little money in my pockets, i walked away to have a look to the other tables but after one hour of slaloming between them, i finally went to the helmet and started to talk with the owner.
(when you'll read "grrrr", it's me raging internally but still smiling)
I'm sorry but i can't make a long story short here...

me : hello, your helmet is very nice, but it seems that no one is interested in it today, can i take it in hands ?
him : sure you can, have a look if you want
me : it's impressive how it is clean and i see a scratched off army decal here....
him : oh yes it's clean, when i clean i clean...
me : when i look at the pins, it looks like they were removed and put back in place, am i right ? (grrr)
him : of course they were, how could i clean the helmet properly with the leather still in ?
me : there is room between the pins and the shell but at least you didn't break any of them (grrrrrr)
him : oh no, i did not break the pins, i did put them back as they were before, but i made a small mistake in the process
me : what do you mean ? (grrrrrrrrrr)
him : the right pin should be at the back and the pin at the back should be on the right...
me : pfffff (grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)...do you know what made this sort of ring visible in the paint all around the helmet ?
him : that's a bloody piece of rubber, i took it off immediatly when i found the helmet in my father's house last month
me : last month....a thin piece of red rubber ? (grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)
him : yes that's right, it was red and quite dry, it broke when i took it off....
me : and what about the decal, did you also remove it, for instance because of the swastika ?
him : oh no, i did not touch the decal, it was like this when ifound the helmet
me : okay, thank you for your kindness, i put the helmet back (grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)
him : i thought you were interested in the helmet, aren't you ?
me : i could have been interested yes, but not anymore sorry...thank you again and bye (grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrr)
him : okay bye, but just one question please
me : (grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)
him : do you think that 40 euro is too much to ask for it ?
me: excuse me, i did not hear your question (grrr)
him : is 40 euro too much to ask for this helmet ?
me : no it's not too much, do you have change on a 50 euro note ?
him : yes
me : sold !

EF66 N° 15198 liner size 59

You can be lucky, unlucky or both....i don't complain but it could have been better (as ver often)...
Thanks

[real steel]

Great story & great lid !! Looks like he scrubbed off the expected dome stamp too. But nice original strap & liner & think you did very well

[FALLSCHIRMJAGER]

Well that's one that makes you laugh or cry (most likely cry)! But as you say, still a bargain at the price asked and I hope you did not make the mistake of asking if he had found any more lids in the garage ready and waiting for a good clean!! Leon.

[Ripper]

Hahaha this story made my day!!!Even with the sad part of it lol!
But at this price a great pick!
Emanuil.

[MAP]

I don't know what to say. But I would have slapped him around a bit....after the transaction of course

[Blackdog]

Interesting story, right place at the right time. I think you were very lucky, even with the cleaning/liner issues - at least he never used any leather products to discolour the liner. For 40 euros I think that's a steal.

[JPhilip]

Hello,
Thanks for your nice comments gentlemen. After i bought the helmet, i did stay a bit longer with him, explaining what he had done wrong with it. I told him that this helmet may have been untouched for more than 60 years until it was found again, that taking the liner out is not a good thing to do with a german helmet. I also talked about red rubber ring that perhaps wasn't a postwar addition, telling him that some german soldiers used red rubber from inner tube to retain foliage on their helmet...As he was not a collector, but only a non professional dealer of hunting rifles, he was not aware of all this. he just found the helmet, did "clean" it the best he could (with a cloth only) and thought that he would sell it to the next fair.

Of course i did understand the price asked the first time he said it, but i couldn't believe my ears and needed a few more seconds to decide what to do.
I did not make an offer as i only had 50 euro with me. Of course i never thought to offer him this kind of money for the helmet as it's not in my habit to insult sellers i'm talking with. But the way he asked if 40 euro was not too much to ask opened a door that was shut for me until then and i just let the wave take me away...for once i would say as this is the only time something like this happened to me. Usually when i'm at fairs, i help collectors who know me to ID their stuff, to price their german items and when i buy something it's more or less for the current market value (+/- 15%)

I know i've been weak.....in a split second i had to decide if i wanted to buy the helmet or a used but still nice canteen seen on another table....finally i was glad not to buy the canteen before going to this guy's table....it would have been a tragedy...and also glad that he asked me his question while i was on my way to the canteen...

I did not invert the pins.
Thanks

[real steel]

You are a very funny guy. Don't know your name or country you live in but I really enjoy your story & I like your avitar.