Someone's Holy Grail: Early to Mid 1960s Minnesota Vikings Helmet

[miracleonice80]

Guys.....great post! I was the one honored to get the Tingelhoff Vikings helmet....it is great. I owe a lot of people a thank you for helping me with the Vikings collecting.....this was one of my grail items.....gotta get a mask and jaw pads now......it is awesome.

[bgakladd]

Guys.....great post! I was the one honored to get the Tingelhoff Vikings helmet....it is great. I owe a lot of people a thank you for helping me with the Vikings collecting.....this was one of my grail items.....gotta get a mask and jaw pads now......it is awesome.

At first I thought the helmet might of had the dunguard facemask similar to Tinglehoff wearing in the pic shown, but after seeing the view of the front of the helmet it might be more like the facemask shown in the signed photo because of the facemask clip outlines from wear.

[commando]

Guys.....great post! I was the one honored to get the Tingelhoff Vikings helmet....it is great. I owe a lot of people a thank you for helping me with the Vikings collecting.....this was one of my grail items.....gotta get a mask and jaw pads now......it is awesome.

Congrats to you. What a cornerstone to any collection! And bgakladd's photos are very helpful. I'm not sure of the spacing of those two holes, but I think it might be possible that BOTH facemasks were used during the life of this helmet.

[commando]

Guys.....great post! I was the one honored to get the Tingelhoff Vikings helmet....it is great. I owe a lot of people a thank you for helping me with the Vikings collecting.....this was one of my grail items.....gotta get a mask and jaw pads now......it is awesome.

Oh, I forgot to mention... Contact Helmet Hut to get the world class treatment this rare gem deserves!

[miracleonice80]

Hey, guys.....yeah, it is fun to research this stuff.....my helmet is obviously an RK version.....so you can eliminate the TK '70's versions....and dungards. If this helmet goes back to 1964-65, I think a butterfly/clip mask first was on it.....then maybe a clip only mask in 1966ish may have been put on.....looks like he wore a TK in '68, an RK in '69 and then back to TK in '70. The date code inside the helmet must have rubbed off......cant find it. Still some mystery surrounding this one......Tony

[bgakladd]

Hey, guys.....yeah, it is fun to research this stuff.....my helmet is obviously an RK version.....so you can eliminate the TK '70's versions....and dungards. If this helmet goes back to 1964-65, I think a butterfly/clip mask first was on it.....then maybe a clip only mask in 1966ish may have been put on.....looks like he wore a TK in '68, an RK in '69 and then back to TK in '70. The date code inside the helmet must have rubbed off......cant find it. Still some mystery surrounding this one......Tony

Here is a pic with what looks like a butterfly clip mask. And it's a completely different style.

[bgakladd]

Here is a pic with what looks like a butterfly clip mask. And it's a completely different style.

Here is a better pic of the butterfly face mask, with wide spacing.

[miracleonice80]

Great pic.....Im now thinking that maybe this helmet made it to the '69 season....he wore a RK that season......I just gotta see if he wore a husky or regular RK that year......I think this helmet was around in '64-'65.....then, reconditioned for late 60's.....He didnt wear an RK from 1970 and on.....or, at least I am 99.9% sure he didnt......Tony

[bgakladd]

Great pic.....Im now thinking that maybe this helmet made it to the '69 season....he wore a RK that season......I just gotta see if he wore a husky or regular RK that year......I think this helmet was around in '64-'65.....then, reconditioned for late 60's.....He didnt wear an RK from 1970 and on.....or, at least I am 99.9% sure he didn't......Tony

Here is his 1969 Pro Bowl RK helmet that was sold by MEARSONLINE auction. The number identifier inside is close to yours. Look at the heavy use of the suspension webbing compared to yours. This definitely was a multiple season game worn helmet. Shows the outline of old Vikings decal. Was this one his 1969 helmet??? Need to find out when yours was last used from the time it was repainted till it was taken from use because of the crack on the side. If yours isn't his 1969, looking at 1966-68 years for final use on yours???

[bgakladd]

Hey, guys.....yeah, it is fun to research this stuff.....my helmet is obviously an RK version.....so you can eliminate the TK '70's versions....and dungards. If this helmet goes back to 1964-65, I think a butterfly/clip mask first was on it.....then maybe a clip only mask in 1966ish may have been put on.....looks like he wore a TK in '68, an RK in '69 and then back to TK in '70. The date code inside the helmet must have rubbed off......cant find it. Still some mystery surrounding this one......Tony

I am taking a stab at the year on this one since there is no date you can find but look at the back of the helmet. It had the cursive ELL in Riddell logo imprinted into the shell on the bottom left side. It looks like it was repainted at one time with lacquer paint and then the newer italic type font put on top the old Riddell logo if it was reconditioned. What year did they switch the font?? 1967? If it was, then I'm guessing a 1966 helmet, like you mentioned. If so that would explain the font change on back and the facemask clip impression and outline rubbing into the paint along with the aging outline. Is the Riddell font on top stamped in or a stencil type?