Spanish model Z 42/73

[Tinhat]

I was in a flea market in Japan this morning and normally there is nothing apart from Japanese militaria if any. I found 2 Spanish model Zs, both on different stalls and it seemed strange to me, I was just wondering if anybody knew of any link to the Japanese using these, I find it unlikely but you never know.

Apart from that scattered around there were 4 civil defence helmets, 3 missing liners and third nice but widely priced, a vietnam era M1 and firemens helmet, black one with the shoulder shroud, which I've wanted for some and was pleased to take it off the owners hands for a princley $20. I'll post pics when i get back if anybody is intertested.

Thansk,
Steve.

[Gunny Hartmann]

I'm interested!...

[James C]

Hi steve ,well as i know how well clued up on helmets you are im not going to doubt these are genuine modello z's, and im positive youve identified these as not being examples of the chinese nationalist army m35 of ww2 ,my thoughts are these have been released onto the market from a private collection for what ever reason , i have had experiance in the past of selling a helmet in fact it was an orlite 201 composite, i advertised it for specifically for sale within the uk ,it was quickly sold and i sent it out to the uk based buyer ,i later found out he was just middle man who did this as a business and the helmet was going to a collector in japan ,i would be interested in some picture too ,its still begs to wonder why two are being sold in different locations though ,regards james

[Opex]

Sound very good and some great pick up's which I look forward to seeing

[Tinhat]

Hi James, sorry for the late reply between travel, jet lag and realising that the model I had bought my son was going to take me 6 hours to put it together, I ran out of time. Good point you raise about the Chinese nationalist helmet, I was doing my normal first pass helmet scan, and spotted the shape in the distance and thought the same thing, got closer an saw the badge bracket and chin strap sticking out....very disappointed.
I don't think there is a link between Japan and these helmets, it just struck me as odd, for the first time I saw a couple of reproduction caps and prices are on the rise so I think it is a case of people realising there is money to be made from the unsuspecting.

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I'm going to post it in the Japanese section shortly, thanks
Steve.

[battle gear]

I heard WWII German army reenacting was very popular in Japan, maybe they were used by reenactors / airsoft to simulate a German helmet?