Show off your clear shell helmets

[cyclonenation]

Robert, love the ISU helmet. Any chance you would consider offers on it?
Andy
www.cyclonejerseys.com

[aeneas01]

It appears the Marietta/MaxPro years for Penn State were 1973 (Cappelletti's Heisman year) through the end of the 1982 season (Penn State's National Championship season).

as you and others have mentioned, penn state was certainly a marietta/maxpro team for many years. in fact, iirc, it was penn state's extreme satisfaction with these helmets that convinced the steelers to give them a try as well.

These old gamers are beautiful and amazing...I have 40 + ACC/SEC gamers and they are the more current ones. I will ultimately have to pick up one of these clear shells one day and came very close on the Blue Hen helmet you shared in one of your pictures.

I recently received a Navy gamer from the academy...worn by #34. It's a Riddell 'Speed' lid and worn in the 2011 annual Army-Navy game. The texture on the shell with the gold speckle stripe and Navy anchor insignia on each side when seen in person add up to one awesome gamer. Shipp_96 posted one on here and I had to have one. Not a 'classic' like the clear shells pictured here yet I believe these unique helmets will become 'classic' down the road.

not much of a modern helmet collector myself, but i can certainly see why folks love to go after these hats, some really cool paint jobs and colors going on these days. speaking of riddell speed helmet you mentioned, are you aware of the $30 million judgement riddell was awarded after they sued schutt for helmet design/invention infringement? anyway, schutt has just introduced their new helmet for 2012 and they've named it "vengeance". obvioulsy it's a shot at riddell's attempt to put them out of biz, but the helmet name has sort of backfired given it doesn't jive too well with football's current hot topic: concussions and player safety.

yes, the delaware helmet that recently sold was very nice. another one sold a few years ago on ebay, complete with delware booster pins, a pennant and programs - the buyer, a knowledgeable helmet collector, promptly relisted it as a michigan gamer, alas.

I had posted it as NOT game used, but should have posted it as a reproduction as well. I have updated the listing and had no intent do decieve any bidder. I am well aware the most collectors on this forum would see the helmet on fleabay and most know which are my helmets.

yeah, your item title threw folks given it stated that the helmet was a game used michigan helmet, obviously an honest mistake. anyway, i've seen these reproductions fetch solid prices when listed accurately, as careful, detailed reproductions - and well they should given they are beautiful collectibles, works of art really. in fact our own yosef777 sold an incredible rice reproduction for a solid price not too long ago, although i personally thought it was worth even more!

Robert, Thanks for delving deep into the clear shell archives! What an offering, gotta love the USC MaxPro. I believe it was part of a grouping which included Roger Staubach's Cowboys/Marietta clearshell and originated from the collection of a former Marietta representatives (and USC EQ manager) collection. The Nebraska is a stunner as well, along with the Raiders Marietta, and of course the FSU n.o.s. has me salivating : ) Also, I think that Little Joe Washington actually had a few Kelley/Colts helmets. I know he wore a plain white, clear shell (with decals and stripe on top), very similar to the photo you included and there is a Kelley/Colts (with with logos and stripe under the shell) that sold at an auction along with a MaxPro Falcons clearshell. Makes me wonder what happened to the Kelley Falcons (with decals on top o the shell) in your photos.

yep, spot on about the usc helmet and i dig the nebraska helmet as well. a couple of years ago i picked up a painted mac on ebay, crappy exterior paint job, and began trying to remove the paint once it arrived. lo and behold it was a '70s nebraska gamer lurking underneath with the solo "n". hell, it was like scratch lottery ticket!

very likely jw sported more than one helmet with the colts, in fact the photo i posted is not conclusive in terms of that helmet being painted on the exterior or impregnated white, could be the lighting, but it sure looks like something is going on. lots of other photos can be found of jw sporting his kelley that is obviously a clearshell, with the front and back manufacturing decals visible below the glass. as far as the jw colts kelley that sold at auction, i believe it was a salesman sample, not an authentic jw colts gamer, the side colts logos were very funky. however the one featured at helmet hut looks like a slam dunk.

Robert, love the ISU helmet. Any chance you would consider offers on it?

not my helmet andy, and i have no idea who owns it - plucked the photo off the net many moons ago, don't remember where. it's a beauty tho, eh?

[yosef777]

These are Joe Washington helmets that were at auction a few years ago. The Colts is a gamer (cracked shell) but the Falcons could be a salesman sample as I have seen a few other MaxPro Falcons samples floating around.

[aeneas01]

These are Joe Washington helmets that were at auction a few years ago. The Colts is a gamer (cracked shell) but the Falcons could be a salesman sample as I have seen a few other MaxPro Falcons samples floating around.

neither helmet is a joe washington gamer imo although they were listed and sold as such, and both originated from the same collector iirc. i believe they are simply reasonable facsimilies that a collector had jw sign, and from there they became "gamers".

in fact i don't think jw sported a kelley with decals/striping under the shell as a pro, not with san diego nor with baltimore, until he landed with the redskins. did this have something to do with kelley not having nfl licensing rights to decal the helmets at their factory, something that changed when maxpro purchased kelley in 1980 or so? who knows. iirc the cowboys decaled their marietta's, i.e. decals on the exterior, until maxpro took over and applied the decals and striping under the shell.

anyway that jw colts "gamer" that you posted, that sold at ami, doesn't really pass the sniff test imo - the horseshoe logo is not consistent with what the colts or jw sported on his kelley, the striping and logo are under the shell, and didn't jw sport a nose snubber throughout his career? as i mentioned earlier, imo the jw colt's helmet featured at helmet is what you would like to see in an authentic jw colts gamer:



and as you know jw also sported a riddell in 78 and 79, albeit very, very rarely - may have been his practice helmet that he donned during a game or two:



speaking of jw, did you see the jw falcons "gamer" currently listed on ebay? it sold last month at mears' for $290 and came with a mears letter of authentication - as far as i can tell mears deemed it an authentic jw gamer because jw played for the falcons in 1985, the helmet was manufactured in 1985, and the helmet had the number 24 written on the inside as well as exterior decals indicating number 24. of course a guy named poole played for the falcons and also wore 24 in 1987 - why did mears believe it didn't belong to him? moreover, i wonder what made mears believe jw sported a riddell wd1 when with the falcons, any photo evidence? anyway, the guy who won it for $290 has listed it on ebay for a buy-it-now price of $1,300...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1985-Joe-Was...6#ht_500wt_715

[yosef777]

Robert,
That sounds about right for the JW helmets from American Memorabilia auction being 'transformed' into gamers via signatures : )
I also agree, JW always had the snubber on his Colts helmets (although the photo of the Colts on HH is missing?!?) and I have never seen any evidence of JW's Colts or Chargers helmets having the logos/decals/stripes under the shell (it seems like both the Colts and Chargers were clearshells with logo/decals/stripes on top).

As far as the NFL licensing for decals and Kelley I am not sure that was the case as the Cowboys, Lions and Falcons all had players wearing decals under the shell on their Kelley helmets before the MaxPro merger. I am thinking it was more a combination of convenience, laziness and nonchalance in the marketing of the era that resulted in the logos/decals/stripes on the Colts and Chargers helmets to go on top of the shells. Also, although the Cowboys did have the decals on top of their early clearshell Mariettas (Staubach wore one in Super Bowl X) not all of them did. I included a photo of the Staubach Marietta from the auction with the logos/decals/stripes under the shell. BTW, the Eagles Mariettas had the wings under the shell too.

Finally, I did see the Mears Falcons/Riddell 'gamer' as well and was questioning its authenticity myself but as you mentioned JW wore a Riddell on a few occasions (half way thru the Colts/Dolphins famous MNF game he switched to the Riddell) so I wasn't positive.

[project 4]

Hey aeneas01, nice Cardinals helmet! Where did you get it if you don't mind me asking?

[bxbomber13]

Braylon Edwasrds 2010 game worn helmet

[Jacuzzi]

Lions Kelley

[yosef777]

Wanted to post something in a more positive note in relation to Penn State football and thought I would post some photos of a reproduction Curt Warner MaxPro Kineomatic 21 with leather interior I recently completed. Thanks to Curtis at HH, and forum members Ray, Princip, Aeneas01, John in KY and Shipp 96 for their help on the project.

[ousooner_85]

Here is my Oklahoma Sooner Kelley Helmet. Does anyone know if this is the proper facemask for the helmet and era?