a classic vintage riddell rt (transparent shell) helmet attributed to bobby layne has been listed by ami and imo there's nothing about it that would disqualify it as being layne's game used helmet. yet having said this i believe the author of the lot description has needlessly gone somewhat overboard in describing this helmet, has gotten a little carried away with his/her eloborations...

for example this passage:

It stands to reason that the RT model helmet, which was painted from the inside, might lend itself to the color combination. The shell’s interior was painted gold but the raised outer center ridge had to be painted from the outside after the fact. The gold was a break from tradition; the silver held a link to the franchise’s formidable past, thus the combination.

first, the "outer center ridge" of rt helmets were not painted from the outside - they were molded of colored plastic (unlike the helmet shells themselves which were molded of transparent plastic and then painted underneath which gave them their color). further, the gold shell, silver outer center ridge was just one of the many rt color schemes riddell produced at the time, a color scheme that other teams around the country sported.

This helmet is identical in size to the Bobby Layne Steelers helmet which resides in the Hall of Fame.
this is a curious (and rather bold) claim given that the bobby lane helmet at the hof is layne's steelers helmet - a vintage rawlings "bubble-ear" cy-co-lite model, not a riddell rt suspension. i mention this because riddell was rather exact in their sizing method when it came to their suspension helmets (6 7/8 for example) while rawlings, wilson and spaulding "bubble-ear" models such as layne wore with the steelers were sized as 7 1/8 - 7 1/4. not only this but the fits were enormously different i.e. just because a player took a certain size in a suspension helmet didn't mean he would take the same size in a "bubble-ear" helmet. as such i don't know how layne's helmet residing at the hall is "identical in size" to the listed riddell rt suspension helmet....

btw i have to say that i'm really impressed with the way ami has listed their football helmets, quite a big change from past auctions i've seen - lot descriptions are thorough, date code information is pointed out and recertification and other identifying interior markings are clearly mentioned. not only this but the photos that are included are excellent and show exactly what a discriminating collector would want to see including closeup shots of date codes. further, ami has listed many quality helmets that aren't said to have once belonged to hall of fame players - just very nice game used helmets that would look great in any collection. not enough of this going on in auction houses imo.

the rawlings hnd9 "ridge" helmet (falcons) with the xl vintage schutt mask caught my eye - one of the rarest helmets outs there. heck, i haven't seen one hit the auction blocks in quite some time and now there's one listed at ami and one on ebay. the jets suspension helmet looks nice as well although i haven't taken a close look at any of these lids...

a few photos of bobby layne sporting a gold rt with silver strip - bottom right hand photo is of doak walker.




the helmet pictured in the red box is the layne helmet listed at ami. the photo next to it is a helmet attributed to the lions' joe schmidt - it's a real beauty, fitted with the same factory add-on interior leather padding as the layne helmet, and it sold at auction for $1,700. the photo at the top right was attributed to doak walker and sold for $2,800 at auction. the bottom left photo is a doak walker helmet displayed at the hof. the other two helmets were sold on ebay for $215 and $213 - one of the ebay helmets belonged to the seller's father, it was his father's high school helmet.




the photo at the bottom right (blue box) shows the back of the listed layne helmet - the photo at the upper shows the back of the schmidt helmet. the rest of the photos show other helmets from that era fitted with the same type of number decals which could be purchased from riddell at the time...




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