Beware solicitation by GU forgers, for helmets, jerseys etc..Any shared experiences?

[thesteelcurtain58]

The posts and questions by "war helmets" reminded me to post this thread. I'm not accusing him and hope if he is making a Pitt helmet it's for his own collection. But I have been solicited by obvious forgers for, say, pictures or information or examples of good quality gear.

I'm just going to paste what I posted in other threads so they may seem a little out of context. But this board is to educate or even warn each other. Do you guys have any stories, close encounters of someone who just didnt seem right or had some obv red flags?


Hey war helmets,

Did you decide just to manufacture your own Steeler helmets instead of buying them for your own collection? I hope. I'm the one you wanted to buy a legit helmet from and wanted all the high resolution pictures from all the different angles. I hope the pics i sent you helped you. I forgot if the logo was stenciled or not. If you can repost that pic we can help you.

But I was under the impression you wanted to buy mine. You were very excited and complimentary and saying how you couldn't wait to buy since legit Pitt helmets are so rare. We emailed a lot back and forth. Once I sent you pics all of the sudden you suddenly became uninterested and stopped communication. If you decide just to make a helmet..for your own collection I hope...I still have a great collection of legit helmets from diff eras. Like I said. I'm not sure we even got around to a price because you wouldn't ever give me a price range that you were looking for. Im uncomfortable sending too many high def pics that you requested due to some who are manufacturing fake helmets. I'm def not accusing you of this. You do have a very healthy interest in the small details. As do I.

Oh, for the fourth time...did you used to sell helmets at show? Because I could swear I saw a couple guys selling under the same name.."war helmets" at various shows. But those guys def were trying to sell fake Steeler helmets. I can't vouch for the other helmets they had.

Oh, and if you look at my many posts I've shared I haven't posted any Pitt helmets due to the fact I've been solicited by known forgers and don't want to contribute to more fakes. The forgers are good in their research. Early on I've bought a fake which is now a door stop. And not even for sale. And like i told war helmets I have helmets from every decade 70s up with a great many HOFers.

I don't want to educate forgers who read this but they do have a problem reproducing the Steeler logo as questioned and the numerals. As well as many other small markings that is not well known. But, as I said, a few forgers are good with their extensive research, questions, acquiring high resolution photos etc. All Steeler gear is hard to come by and a good helmet could net them thousands which i don't want to contribute to.

At one show there was a guy who had a decent reproduction of a lambert helmet in a glass case but was obvious if you knew what to look for. Unfort not to the average collector who prob lost thousands.

[War Helmets]

Hey man,don't sling my name through the mud on here.You are accusing me of something I would never do!Just because you acted weird & wanted to know how much I would give you for a helmet without seeing even a trace of a glimpse of it.Hell I have to see what it looks like before I gave you an offer because you wouldn't tell me what you wanted for it & just said "how much will you give me" without even letting me see a pic of it.P.S. I don't like be accused of stuff so back off!!! I just want one dang Steelers helmet for my collection

[genius]

[QUOTE=I just want one dang Steelers helmet for my collection[/QUOTE]

This line made me laugh, I can sure relate to that!

[thesteelcurtain58]

If you see, I've said many times, specifically that I'm not accusing you of making fakes to sell. Some people do make reproductions for their own collection. Abs nothing wrong with that. I've said I'm not accusing you but other forgers have def approached me for info. I've gone out of my way to not accuse you and made it clear. So that you can acquire the info you're looking for.

Heck, I've even sent you pictures of legitimate pitt helmets myself. When you told me you were interested in buying. Unfortunately you didnt want any of my helmets. No big deal, like i said, I've never sold one of my Pitt stuff and was hesitant to do so.

[War Helmets]

This line made me laugh, I can sure relate to that!

It had been a rocky road for one of those dang things,but I will find one someday.Maybe that team issued for $175 will get me by till I find a real gamer one day.It just has a different stencil on it & that is why I started a thread on it.I didn't want to cause trouble or start a fight

[War Helmets]

If you see, I've said many times, specifically that I'm not accusing you of making fakes to sell. Some people do make reproductions for their own collection. Abs nothing wrong with that. I've said I'm not accusing you but other forgers have def approached me for info. I've gone out of my way to not accuse you and made it clear. So that you can acquire the info you're looking for.

Heck, I've even sent you pictures of legitimate pitt helmets myself. When you told me you were interested in buying. Unfortunately you didnt want any of my helmets. No big deal, like i said, I've never sold one of my Pitt stuff and was hesitant to do so.

I just thought you would want too much & you didn't seem like you wanted to sell.I would like to buy one if we could work out a fair deal

[beantown]

I'd like Bradshaw's Rawlings Ridge helmet

[thesteelcurtain58]

Also, I asked your price range before and after I sent you pics. I'd put my memory against yours at anytime. If you recall, first, i said I have helmets from 3rd stringers to HOFers and needed to know what you were looking vs sending all the pics you requested of many helmets that you wouldn't be interested in or priced out of. That way I'd just send you pics of the ones you wanted. Second, I asked your price range after I sent the pics to see if we were on the same page otherwise why continue with your one sided emails, only interested in more pics, at different angles and specifications. and not answering my questions. Like 3x asking you if you were the same dealer or sold at shows. But all of your emails never answered that.

See gentlemen, that's why I don't solicit or sell any of my collection. I post my collection in my thread, and hope you enjoy. But this is what you get when you try to help someone. I made it clear that i hesitant to sell but he was persistent so tried to help. Believe me, I dont need the 400$ or $900 for a third stringer. It'd be nice but not worth the hassle. Ive had offers in the five figures for some of my jerseys that I've posted but made it clear that I'm not selling. Sigh.

Also, hope u enjoy my thread but I also started a "grouping" thread that is just awesome with your guys posts of groups of gears. If u haven't looked, check it out.

[War Helmets]

This line made me laugh, I can sure relate to that!

it was pretty funny wasn't it haha

[thesteelcurtain58]

"want too much".? I never gave a price and you wouldn't tell me what range you were wanting to spend despite me trying to pinpoint several times. You just kept with your questions and wanting more pics.
Believe me, for that #36, if you were my friend...free...if you were nice on the board...prob low hundreds just cause it's buried and I never evervdisplay it. Probably should let the kids wear it and bang it around if it weren't legit.

Ok. I'm completely done with this.

In summation, not accusing you.
Just warning others of probably our biggest concern in this hobby. Forgers.