$400 For Another Toy Football Helmet....

[aeneas01]

i suspect the buyer of this helmet believes that he purchased an authentic cleveland brown's helmet from yesteryear, a helmet worn at the pro level, given that he dropped $400 clams on the thing. but, alas, what he's purchased is nothing more than a vintage toy, a store model youth helmet, that isn't even particularly rare - these type of helmets typically fetch $25-$50 on ebay. but why wouldn't the buyer think he was getting the real deal given the seller's claim:

OFFERED FOR AUCTION IS A RARE OLD VINTAGE CLEVELAND BROWNS 1950's MACGREGOR FOOTBALL HELMET. THIS OLD AUTHENTIC BROWNS HELMET HAS THE OLD STYLE BUMPED OR FLARED OUT HELMET SIDES AND OLD INNER SUSPENSION STYLE PADDING... THIS IS ONE OF THE OLDEST CLEVELAND BROWNS FOOTBALL HELMETS I'VE EVER SEEN AND IS VERY RARE.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=350175371354

the top row shows the toy browns helmet the buyer purchased for $400, a macgregor e7j - the bottom row shows the packers version of the same toy helmet that sold on ebay for around $45 not too long ago...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y238/aeneas1/zmac01.jpg

here's a look at the pro model which was equipped with leather padding (most likely what the buyer thought he was getting) - macgregor rolled out a few different pro models of this type during that era. however not too many pro players chose to sport this type of macgregor back in the day - tom matte of the colts was probably the most famous pro player to have ever donned it. but nonetheless it was an interesting helmet in that macgregor took their hugely succesful "box-type" leather helmet and simply converted it to plastic. in other words this helmet looked virtually identical to its leather predecessor except that the outer shell was made of platic instead of leather and composite.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y238/aeneas1/zmac02.jpg

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[princip]

Yea, I saw this auction and had my doubts. Thanks for confirming. Do you know what the pro model number/name was?

[corsairs22]

Have you notified ebay? I'm not sure if it's still possible to notify the buyer.

[aeneas01]

Yea, I saw this auction and had my doubts. Thanks for confirming. Do you know what the pro model number/name was?

some adult models (high school, college and pro) include:

e700
e705
e705h (external padding model)
e730g (suspension model)

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[princip]

some adult models (high school, college and pro) include:

e700
e705
e705h (external padding model)
e730g (suspension model)

...

Thank you. Love the design, thus, I'll be out on the lookout.

[aeneas01]

Thank you. Love the design, thus, I'll be out on the lookout.

yeah it was a great design/look but i imagine the plastic version was horrible when it came to deflecting blows given such large protruding surface areas - could be that's what contributed to the sinking of the very short-lived plastic version. i believe helmet-to-helmet contact was much less during the leather days but once the plastic lids were introduced the head became more of a weapon and, as such, effective deflection a concern...

the top right photo shows the eagles bench wearing the leather version of this helmet - notice the paint scheme which incorporated the leather panels of the helmet. the top left photo (boxed in red) shows an eagles' player sporting a riddell plastic helmet with the same paint scheme despite the fact that the plastic helmet didn't have the same leather panels. the eagles simply transferred the same panel/seam based design from their leather helmets to their plastic helmets just as the michigan wolverines (and other teams) did. notre dame was probably best known for sporting this type of helmet - the leather version.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y238/aeneas1/zcom01.jpg


here's a look as several different color schemes of the leather version - both macgregor and rawlings produced this style of helmet but imo the macgregor is the real classic!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y238/aeneas1/zcom02.jpg

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