Got this one a little while ago. Very good condition, no maker mark I can find. Very large helmet.
Darryl,Matt, and others, sincerely want to thank you; that you are so generous with your knowledge,and willingness to share it,

closer..."locally produced varient", in this case, Dutch.

inside

strap detail

Paul,

You're welcome. Nice looking helmet. If I was still collecting Waffen-SS I would have snapped that one up very quickly. As I'm sure you know, this helmet will be featured in Mike Beaver's new SS helmet reference book which Kelly Hicks is in the process of completing.

Regarding helmet markings, I believe this helmet is marked ET66. Check the left inside skirt area or failing that, the rear skirt.

Cheers,

Darryl,
No, again, this forum is incredible..
Kind of surprised this one sat at BH site so long....was offered a similar one from Bill S. at twice the price...I think I posted it?,
I chose to go with KH...great dude, and the real deal. Like you good folk here.
Really, with you guys "guarding the gates"
the hobby has a great future.
Paul

Paul,

Thanks for the kind words. It's nice to know that we are making a difference for some people.

BTW, I believe I may have found your missing maker/size stamp. I have circled an area on your picture and rotated the image 180 degress. Have a look in this location on your helmet.

Cheers,

The reason it sat so long at that site (with a low price) was because the helmet falls way short of what is considered the "norm" in SS helmets. 5 years ago no one heard of this variant but has recently decided to make its debut it seems recently.
I do know there are some respected collectors that believe in this variant just as there's some that don't. This is a piece where there's going to be a divide in consenses among helmet collectors. I am looking foward to any future evidence to support these decals however.

Perry,

There was also a time when most collectors did not believe in the specific decal-to-shell relationship either. Even though this correlation has been there on original helmets all this time, it was not until very recently that it has been discovered and is now "established" as the way we scrutinize SS (and other organization's) helmets.

Cheers,

I visited that helmet when it was part of a very elite helmet collection back in 1993. (it was real then too)

So I think some people might have known about its existance more than 5 years ago.

Best. JS

quote:

Originally posted by darryl:
Perry,

There was also a time when most collectors did not believe in the specific decal-to-shell relationship either. Even though this correlation has been there on original helmets all this time, it was not until very recently that it has been discovered and is now "established" as the way we scrutinize SS (and other organization's) helmets.

Cheers,

I agree which is why I'm open to evidence that may be forth coming in the future supporting these. At several grand I'm not that confident.

Maker mark just too faint...batch number 2104.
Thats what makes horse races. All here no doubt know who sold the helmet to BH...he's fairly certain. Interesting controversy. FWIW, KH thinks it will go higher after the publication of the book. Thats not my primary interest in it, so, well. great.
Thanks, guys.
Paul

I agree 100% with Perry's views on this one.

I think the jury is still out on this one. I don't like it.

I must say that I don't like the looks of the decal from the pictures. We all know you can't truly judge an SS decal from photos anyway.
Larry

Generally speaking, if all three of them SS gurus above (Kelly, Darryl, and Suprin) said yes, you can't go wrong. Like most people, I haven't seen this decal before, but I know still another reputable collector asserting its originality based on his own long-time experience. Yeah, I can safely ASSUME its originality, but since it is only a handful of people here (however knowledgeable they are)that are positive about it, it's only natural that the majority of people without experience with it should disagree. Scepticism is a sound mental attitude for a collector toward anything SS or rare. SS stuff are so heavily faked that people tend to accept only known textbook examples. So, a rare piece or a variant requires some extra efforts for convincing people. That would be a pain in the ass. I think that explains the reason for its relatively reasonable price at the dealer's site. However, I too believe the price will go higher if the new book comes out great like SS STEEL. Well, that is what we will see pretty soon. I heard the book will be coming out within this year, so let's see how it will turn out.

Shu

Thanks for the input, fellas.
I agree, Shu, (super collection, BTW!),and I'll stick with those opinions. I have heard of another, but no contact yet. The point about maker specific decals seems salient....there is still a lot to learn.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Paul

After quite some time of absence on this forum, I was scrolling through some old threads. In my opinion this decal has some features I like to see in original decals, but I have never held one in my hands though. I am curious why you think that this decal is a locally produced Dutch variant.

I do not want to draw any definite conclusions here, but the similarity of the decal on your helmet with this Walloon recruitment leaflet is striking in my eyes.

Cees

Good to see you back, Cees. Yeah, I owned that card and thought, "What a goofy-looking decal ... the bad rendering by a poor artist!" But, you're right. This could be a correct picture of that helmet above. An interesting conjucture.

Shu

I like the helmet and it was a great price , lovely condition. There will always be controversy about anything SS which is not the norm, I have been in the same situation with several SS items in the past. If it is not textbook many people will knock it.
IF YOU LOOSE YOUR NERVE I`LL TAKE IT OFF YOU.
TONY

Thanks guys, for helping on this. The decal origin opinion is not mine...its Kellys. He does mention the decal in his book,SS Steel.
When the real experts here concur, thats enough for me. Great to see that leaflet...any chance of a color copy? As I mentioned earlier, another has surfaced, from a named Vol in Italy.
Significanly more expensive, btw.
Paul

I'm brand new to this forum, so hello to you all.
Where did you snapped this one up?
I don't know the BH site?

Thomas

Welcome to the forum!
That would be Bruce Hermans site, Grenedier Military Antiques.
Paul

Oh yes, I know that one.
The one with the "DAK" lid.
Thanks.