Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

[aeneas01]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=320360745896

a great looking late '60s buckeyes gamer is currently listed on ebay, a helmet that's great for so many reasons. first and foremost it's a classic from the osu powerhouse days of woody hayes, and second it's a rare rawlings headliner jrc which was osu's helmet of choice during that era. as most helmet nerds know, the rawlings headliner jrc was also jack lambert's helmet of choice which he wore throughout his career with the steelers. the ebay helmet has been attributed to osu all-time great rex kern...

here are a few nice shots from the late '60s showing the buckeyes sporting their headliners...



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[princip]

Shazam! That went for a pretty penny.

[beantown]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=320360745896

a great looking late '60s buckeyes gamer is currently listed on ebay, a helmet that's great for so many reasons. first and foremost it's a classic from the osu powerhouse days of woody hayes, and second it's a rare rawlings headliner jrc which was osu's helmet of choice during that era. as most helmet nerds know, the rawlings headliner jrc was also jack lambert's helmet of choice which he wore throughout his career with the steelers. the ebay helmet has been attributed to osu all-time great rex kern...

here are a few nice shots from the late '60s showing the buckeyes sporting their headliners...



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I remember awhile back another OSU Rawlings JRC being on eBay....Robert do you have pics of that to see how the two match up?

[aeneas01]

actually i have photos of two great looking jrc osu helmets that sold on ebay and none, including this one, are the same helmet...

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[buckeyegamers]

I picked this one up on ebay 4 or 5 years back. The guy was local so I went and picked it up. He really couldn't tell me much about the helmet other than his dad had had it for years. I thought I'd post the pics I have and see what you guys think. It has the same logos (Rawlings and Headliner jrc) on the back but they are no longer black. They appear to have been painted over when it was reconditioned.

[Huron]

Aeneas01 & buckeyegamers, I'm a long time reader of the forum but haven't participated in discussions until now. I recently acquired a piece that Robert mentioned a few months ago and wanted to share it with the group; Archie's Sophomore/Junior year helmet. Are there additional Buckeye pieces out there?

[princip]

Welcome aboard Huron, and thanks for sharing these exceptional photos of your Archie Griffin helmet.

[Jake51]

Hi Huron,

That is an amazing piece, thanks for sharing!!! Always nice to see another football collector here!

Tom

[buckeyegamers]

Beautiful helmet Huron!!! I have not seen many OSU helmets on the market over the years but lately as Robert pointed out there have been a couple very nice ones, including yours. I picked mine up a few years back from a guy just outside of Marysville. He couldn't tell me much about it's history other than it had been in his family for a number of years.

[aeneas01]

guys, great looking helmets... buckeyegamers, what's the name that appears on the suspension webbing of your helmet? it looks like jack - "something" tatum? what's the scratched out name, looks like "yor..."

huron, i've always liked that griffin helmet and imo it matches perfectly to his 1974 gamer (see below). i know karey at "heismanheros.com" had that helmet listed at his site for some time, did you purchase it from him? btw, his herschel walker looks to be the real deal as well and passes all of the date code tests, the only hw i have looked at (and i've seen quite a few) that does.

griffin clearly wore more than one gladiator helmet while with ohio and from what i can tell it's clear that his 1974 and 1975 helmets were not the same, that he switched to a new helmet in 1975.... below i've circled what i believe to be common impact/wear marks, the most notable being the large cut across the center stripe which, unfortunately, blurred when i enlarged the game photo. nonetheless it is present and matches perfectly. btw the game photos are from 1974.



here's a look at the other side of the helmet - i believe the most notable marks can be found in the large circle, two verticle scuff marks...



here's griffin in 1974 (left) and 1975 (right) - clearly two different gladiator helmets. among other things, the positioning of the side facemask clip in relation to the ear hole is quite different and the lower chinstrap snap (near the facemask) is positioned differently as well when compared to the bottom rivet...



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