A $400 Toy Football Helmet...

[aeneas01]

there is simply no shortage of those willing to drop considerable amounts of cash on items they nothing about, on items they have no interest in researching... alas, yet another person that has just picked up a toy (a youth helmet, actually) thinking it was an authentic football helmet once worn by a well known pro. and, amazingly, the winning bidder was not alone in his assumption given there were 23 bids placed on this item...

Bid is for a Riddell Pittsburgh Steelers # 26 ROD WOODSON HELMET ..............soon to be a Member of the NFL Hall of Fame
No dealer, No COA, No fan-fare. Just a All-pro player passing off his helmet to a little boy with a black 26 Steelers jersey after a practice around 20 years ago. Its been put on a shelf, boxed, moved house to apartment to house ……..Cornerback/Safety ROD WOODSON used helmet from the 1989 season. ............ The helmet is Size Large # 9137 and has all original padding and original chin strap. The helmet has labels inside: TOP C PAC-44 Helmet, FRONT B PAC-44 Helmet, BACK C PACK 44 Helmet No year is found. No ear pads. Warning labels INSIDE the helmet. The back left side warning decal is missing. The face mask is black with double bar in the middle. screw is missing to hold the right side of the face mask to the helmet. There is a slice showing the almost iron inside along the facemask front. w/ Riddel chin strap. Inside in black marker includes: 75/8 along the top inside. 8844-3y along the right inside by the missing ear pad. The RIDDEL sticker the located in the middle of the helmet front has a piece of the same white glossy type tape blocking out the red –RIDDELL name, I’m not sure why. The Steelers decal on the right, an American flag on the back with 2-1/2 in. white numbers in the back 26. . the helmet shows considerable useage. There are nicks and tears along the gold strip, red mark along the Steelers decal. if you have any questions about the helmet. No games, no put-on, Do not have any proof that is was handed to me, can only tell you what happened. It's pretty used up, marked, it might have been headed to the garbage or recycle center.

the helmet is a riddell pac44 which was riddell's youth model some 25-30 years ago - it was manufactured for jv and youth league play and was not worn at the adult (high school, college, pro) level. this fact alone immediately kills the deal. but there are so many other problems with it. for one, this helmet was introduced in the mid 70s and had pretty much completely run its course by the mid 80s - woodson didn't join the steelers until 1987. further, it's a white shell painted black - the list goes on and on. yet a bidding war ensued. simply amazing...



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=230320858723

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[DrJ]

Don't really know what to say. I guess WOW

[aeneas01]

Don't really know what to say. I guess WOW

it really is amazing - this toy goes for about $400 and receives 23 bids on ebay while the following authentic gamers go for relative peanuts and see close to no action at mastro's last auction...



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[b.heagy]

I must give big Thanks once again to Robert. I emailed him when this lid first surfaced and he was gracious enough to save my hard earned money. Woodson was one of my favorites growing up. THANKS AGAIN ROBERT !

[helmets]

Man that Turner looks nice!
What a great "lid."