several folks have contacted me about an aikman "gamer" recently listed at huggins & scott - apparently several folks also contacted h&s with questions as well given h&s felt compelled to eventually edit the aikman lot description to include the following:

NOTE:
This lot was obtained from a NFL equipment manager by our consigner. This individual was not named by the consigner due to confidentiality reasons but it should be known that this helmet came straight from the locker room. Huggins and Scott is allowing the winning bidder 30 days from the date when payment is received to have the item independently authenticated. Payment must, however, be made by February 9, 2009 (4 days from the end of the auction). Huggins and Scott is not responsible for any authentication fees or shipping charges incurred by the winning bidder but H&S will refund the hammer price and buyers premium if the item does not pass authentication with a reputable third party company.

http://www.hugginsandscott.com/cgi-b...l?itemid=11272

i would recommend that the winning bidder that dropped $1,300++ on this lid take h&s up on their refund offer. there are quite a few problems that disqualify this item as an authentic troy aikman game used helmet imo, too many to quickly cover in fact. but for starters, the cowboys have their helmets sprayed (painted) after they are assembled which is why you will find that the exterior jaw pad rivets on authentic cowboys helmets are typically covered in paint. also, the "schutt" logo is never present. looking at the h&s helmet you can see that the exterior jaw pad rivets are visible (the shell has not been painted after assembly) and the "schutt" logo is present but has been covered with the nfl shield (it appears that attempts have been made to remove the logo).





speaking of aikman "gamers" sold at auction, here's one that sold some time ago for $4,000++ which also fails the authenticity test imo - again, lots of problems. the lot description states that the helmet was photo matched to aikman's rookie card but after a quick look it seems that the photo match conclusion rested largely on the "air" logo on the front snubber. whatever the case, aikman never sported a lid with exterior warning and size decals in sold white - nor did any cowboys that i'm aware of. some teams used these type of decals but the cowboys were not among them - in fact the cowboys have always been rather meticulous about the uniform appearance of their helmets. also, the front forehead pad (sizer) in not consistent with what aikman wore during his first years with the boys...



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