What is the value of NFL and WFL clear shell...

[Larry Pelliccioni]

Kelley and MacGregor helmets? Often when I show my collection, there is an inordinate amount of interest in the clear shell ones from the 1970's and 1980's. I am wondering about their value. If it matters the teams in question are the Detroit Lions and the Southern California Sun.
On another matter, what is the value of the WFL World Champion Birmingham Americans helmet of one of their starting linemen.
All insights are appreciated, thanks.
Larry Pelliccioni

[DrJ]

Based on what I can recall seeing clear shells go for, I would estimate between $900 and $1,200. This is if they are all original and have player identifiers (but are not a star player, local favorite, etc). I'm not as familiar with WFL though - it might carry a premium. Aeneas would probably be best equiped to answer for you as I think he has mentioned that he keeps a database of helmets sold on the market. He's hard to beat for any helmet questions in fact . Just my opinion on the pricing, hope that helps.

[aeneas01]

larry -

imo vintage clear shells are among the nicest and rarest helmets in circulation and tend to run the gamut as far as selling prices are concerned - i've seen them virtually ignored at auction and have also seen them cause bidding wars. one thing is for sure - there are a few clear shell collectors out there willing to spend whatever it takes to win one at auction and when they converge on the same helmet it can go for a very nice amount.

your lions clear shell is very, very rare - i've only come across one at auction over the years. as a matter of fact, for whatever reason, vintage detroit lions helmets seem to be very rare in general and usually fetch a nice amount - even the vintage detroit lions helmet lamps made by riddell. surprisingly, sc sun clear shell helmets are more common - i've seen at least a half a dozen at auction through the years.

i don't think that the manufacturer (kelley, max pro, macgregor) of the helmet drives the price as much as condition, team and/or model (leather padding vs vinyl for example). but you just never know when it comes to these babies. a few years ago an authentic, vintage clear shell longhorns helmet dressed to look just like earl campbell's sold for close to $4,000 - the seller was very up front and honest about the helmet being an "authentic reproduction" and never belonging to ec but it attracted a bunch of bidders and a very high price imo.

here are some clear shells that have sold at auction over the years including the detroit lions helmets i mentioned and a couple of sc sun helmets...





here a some more clear shells that have sold at auction....






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i want to also add that there are a couple of guys out there that have had tremendous success creating clear shell reproductions - they get their hands on a clear shell lid, strip it down until it is nothing more than the transparent shell, remove the padding and then go to work. frankly, these guys are nothing short of genuine artists and the end result of their work is stunning. fortunately these guys are also among the nicest and most honest collectors around and on the rare occasion they do put one of their lids up for auction they go to great lengths to describe them as reproductions (even tho they could pass for authentic).

on the other side of the fence you have a guy out there that collects clear shells and turns around and misrepresents the hell out of many of them. what makes this especially nauseating is that he owns a tremendous collection of authentic clear shells and should be above this crappola - but greed has obviously proven too much of a temptation.

below are a few of the helmets that he's misrepresented. he purchased the atlanta falcons clear shell (left) for $125 on ebay - it was listed by a woman who said it was her husband's, that he wore it when he played pop warner. it is indeed one of the youth models macgregor produced for kids during that era. the crook relisted it (right) on ebay as a game used falcons lid that he obtained from a sports bar in houston - asking price $1,300. the delaware helmet (left) sold on ebay for $295 by a guy who said he went to delaware, was in the booster club and band, and was given the helmet by the team. in this auction he also included other delaware momentos including the delaware button (pictured), a banner, programs and other items. the crook relisted it (right) as a game used michigan helmet that he had obtained from team sources. i was able to contact bidders and the helmet ended up selling for far less than what would be expected for an authentic michigan clear shell - but it did go for $595. the vt helmet lamp (right) was listed on ebay by a well known collector, it sold for $295. the crook removed all of the lamp parts, attempted to remove all evidence (scarring) of the lamp and relisted it (left) as a helmet that he had obtained along with other helmets from a private collection. asking price - $1,900.





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[Larry Pelliccioni]

Robert,
Great stuff, thank you for all of the information that your post provided. Were I not so challenged on a computer I would try to find ways to show you and others the helmets I speak of. My Southern California Sun helmet has the logo inside the clear shell as well as my Detroit Lions. On the Lions, the only thing outside the shell is the player's number. Although rare as I was in the process of replying to a collector about a potential purchase of the one I have (and considered a keeper) I managed to find another one, so take heart, they are out there. I also have been offered a clear shell Minnesota Vikings which I will probably buy or trade for.
Pricing is such a sticky wicket unless there were two items so identical. In the end price is a function of what the seller wants to sell it for and the buyer wants to pay for it I guess.
It is interesting to see the fluctuation in pricing on some of the helmets you have shown and once again Robert I thank you for adding to my education, your comments are both valued and appreciated.
Larry Pelliccioni

[aeneas01]

for the most part all clear shell helmets had the decaling (side logos and stripes) underneath the transparent shell and the rear numbers were usually applied to the outside of the shell. if the rear numbers were appiled to the inside of the shell then the helmet could not be recycled and used by a different player with a different number. yet, having said that, i do have a nebraska clear shell with the number applied to the inside of the shell.

earl campbell was known to have worn a clear shell longhorns helmet with the longhorn decals applied to the outside. but imo this was probably a replacement helmet, just a plain white clear shell that the em was able to get his hands on quickly and apply decals to. but you are right - the sc sun helmets i showed above have the decals applied to the exterior of the shell - but he lions helmet has the decals applied to the inside.

glad to hear that there are other lions clear shells out there - as i've mentioned i've only ever seen one - a little surprising considering the lions were a team that embraced the clear shell and many lions players wore it.

btw i would love to see a photo of the vikings clear shell - that thing should be a real beauty! not to mention extremely rare! if you do end up trading for it please email me a few photos of it! if you are indeed as computer challenged as you say, i will walk you through the process!

drj:

you were dead on as far as what these helmets usually fetch - you were also dead on regarding condition. the interior leather padding of these helmets (kelley and maxpro) are attached to the shell with tiny plastic pegs which often break. it's not uncommon to see clear shells with broken pegs (resulting in loose padding) or missing padding - such helmets obviously don't fetch as much as those with perfectly intact padding. also, the clear shells were around during the dungard facemask era - it's not uncommon to see a clear shell hit the market with a classic original dungard. these tend to fetch even more.

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[DrJ]

Thanks aeneas, yes looking at your examples it looks like $900-$1,200 will get you a nice clear shell most of the time. I was surprised to see that the WFL helmet was quite a bit lower in price. FYI - the Texas A&M example you show is one that I had owned and sold. Take care.

[aeneas01]

the forum's own larry pelliccioni was kind enough to email me photos of some of his beautiful clear shells for my database but, i have to say, it would be a crime not to share these gems with you guys...















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[aeneas01]

someone got a nice deal on a michigan clear shell (kelley) gamer...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ayphotohosting

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[princip]

Just thought I would share some pics of my Seahawks Joe Washington clear shell project. Because, this I believe is the only Seahawks Kelley clear shell in existance. Of course, Joe Washington never played for the Seahawks, yet, if he did, this is probably what his helmet would have looked like, however, with a royal blue facemask.

http://www.greenglare.com/images/kcs1.jpg

http://www.greenglare.com/images/kcs3.jpg

http://www.greenglare.com/images/kcs5.jpg

[aeneas01]

hello michael - i remember reading about you and your helmet at uniwatch earlier in the year, it was a nice write up. do you happen to know jeff fedenko and ray lusk? like you, jeff and ray do an absolutely wonderful job reconditioning clear shell helmets, artsists really. for those forum members interested in clear shells and michael's work, here's a link to the uniwatch article...

http://www.uniwatchblog.com/2008/04/...gton-monument/




btw here's a beautiful and ultra-rare washington redskins clear shell macgregor gamer that recently sold on ebay - the seller ended his auction early and, when i contacted him, told me that he had accepted $250 for it. someone got a very nice deal...




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