Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

[aeneas01]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=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]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

Shazam! That went for a pretty penny.

[beantown]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

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]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

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]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

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]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

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]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

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

[Jake51]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

Hi Huron,

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

Tom

[buckeyegamers]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

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]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

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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[Huron]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

The documentation that accompanied the helmet confirmed that it was used in both 73 & 74, his Sophomore and Junior years...I guess you're allowed a new one at OSU if you win the Heisman.

Robert, It is the same piece that you saw on Karey's site and I was fortunate enough to meet with him when I made the purchase. A very nice person with an amazing collection. As you've (expertly) shown, the helmet can be photo matched and that gouge across the center stripe is pretty impressive. Here's a closer look...


Any more buckeye helmet images to share?

[buckeyegamers]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

aeneas01 I will try to take some more pictures and post them. What is written in the helmet is Jack Bear Tatum. I've never heard of the nickname Bear for Tatum. Then it also has 58 written on another part of the webbing. The scratched out name appears to be York. Again I will try to get some clear pictures. Here is another Buckeyes helmet that I have had for a few years...don't know much about this one either.

[aeneas01]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

aeneas01 I will try to take some more pictures and post them. What is written in the helmet is Jack Bear Tatum. I've never heard of the nickname Bear for Tatum. Then it also has 58 written on another part of the webbing. The scratched out name appears to be York. Again I will try to get some clear pictures. Here is another Buckeyes helmet that I have had for a few years...don't know much about this one either.

i believe tatum wore a macgregor while at ohio state and according to the buckeye's "all-time jersey by jersey number" no person named york ever made the roster (perhaps he was cut?). nonetheless it's a very nice helmet imo and i think you have a very nice collection of ohio state helmets including your helmet hut reproductions! fwiw, here's a link to the buckeye's all-time roster...

http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/fls/17300//pdf/fb/m-footbl-jersey.pdf?SPSID=87751&SPID=10408&DB_OEM_ID=17300

btw i found an interesting photo comparison when looking at griffin's 1974 helmet, the helmet guu member "huron" owns, that i haven't seen before - the addition of award decals over the course of a season...

the photos below show the same helmet during the 1974 season. first, the blue boxes compare the top facemask attachment method - the photo on the left shows the use of dungard slip-on covers while the photo on the right shows the facemask attached without these covers. other photos from 1974 show yet another attachment method incorporating vinyl washers, a method identical to the side facemask clips that can be seen in the photo below. one has to wonder why the attachment method changed so much over the course of the year. perhaps the slip-on covers tore and were replaced by vinyl washers. perhaps the vinyl washers took more abuse at the front of the helmet, didn't hold up, and were ditched in favor of using only screws (photo on the right). who knows, but interesting nonetheless...

the red circles make it easy to see that the award decals are identical on both helmets - notice that these decals (circled in red) are all upside down and positioned/rotated exactly the same. the yellow circles show the before and after of additional award decals - in the photo on the left the yellow circles are empty and represent where the additional decals will be added, the photo on the right shows the addition of the decals...




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[halzeus]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

Those are some great helmets!!

And that's coming from a Michigan man.

Congrats on your pick ups.

[buckeyegamers]

Re: Vintage Ohio State Gem (Helmet)...

aeneas01 , thank you for your help. I have a number of Ohio State reference books as well as a lot of useful information off of the OSU website and I haven't been able to find the name "York" as a letterman. The "Jack Bear Tatum" and the number "58" throw me a little as well. As most Buckeye fans know Tatum wore #32 in his 3 seasons (Freshmen were not allowed to play varsity at the time) for the Buckeyes. I have found that Rudy Smith wore #32 in 1966 and 1967 (Tatum's freshman year). I am left to wonder if perhaps the helmet could have been from Tatum's freshman year and might he have worn #58 that year....all speculation on my part. Another note, I can't find any pictures of Tatum every having worn that type of facemask. It doesn't appear to be a very strong type mask as it appears to be all plastic, however, it must be pretty strong as I believe it is the same type mask that Earl Campbell wore in his playing days at Texas.

Great points on your photo matching of the Griffin helmet. That is a beauty!!!