Bo Jackson helmet on ebay

[nick1980]

220245701274

Seller say used Bo Jackson helmet. I have never seen Bo use this facemask but I'm sure the helmet experts here can find a 100 reason why this isn't Bo's helmet. I would love to hear them.
Thanks

[aeneas01]

quite a few problems with this lid but the real deal breaker is that the helmet for sale is a riddell vsr4 model - a riddell model which was introduced after jackson had already retired...

[BO34]

I might also add the Facemask isn't correct even with the shield he sometimes wore....Robert can you tell just from the picture its a model 4?

[aeneas01]

Robert can you tell just from the picture its a model 4?

bo34 - not exactly sure what you are asking, i.e. what "picture" you are referring to, but the helmet in the ebay ad is definitely a riddell vsr4, no doubt about it; the seller has provided plenty of of shots of the helmet to confirm this. i've contacted the seller, told him where he can locate the manufacturing date on the inside of his helmet, but have received no response nor has his ad been modified. my guess is that his lid is circa late 90s, early 2000s - bo jackson's last season was 1990. i urge forum members to email the guy to ask about the manufacturing date - his response should be interesting, if he bothers to respond.

as far as jackson's real helmet is concerned, bo sported an "all american mvp3" while with the raiders (he wore a bike while at auburn). this helmet was very popular with quite few raider players during that era including howie long who sported an mvp3 throughout his career. it was originally manufactured by gladiator which riddell acquired in the late 80s along with maxpro. once riddell took ownership, it folded these companies into their "all american" brand. in 1989 struck a deal with the nfl teams, in exchange for free equipment, which required them to either sport the riddell logo on the front of their helmets or cover up non-riddell brand names.

the top two photos show long and jackson sporting their mvp3 lids. in the bottom two photos they are still wearing their mvp3 helmets but, per riddell's agreement with teams, the mvp3 logo has been replaced with a riddell logo.



in the large photo below the inside of long's mvp3 can be clearly seen - this is what the inside of jackson's helmet looked like. the small photo on the left shows the helmet when it was manufactured by gladiator, the small photo on the right shows an all american mvp3, after riddell purchased gladiator. riddell discontinued the all american mvp3 and maxpro models shortly after acquiring the companies.

[aeneas01]

did a little more photo hunting and found that the seller's helmet actually matches derrick fuller's mid 90s riddell vsr4 pretty nicely....

[aeneas01]

make that fenner's, not fuller's...

[lund6771]

I saw this same add and was thinking about asking you about this one Robert...

for the millionth and first time...thanks for passing on your knowledge

[Eric]

robert
excellent work as usual. we are lucky to have you....
eric

[mdube16]

Looks like the buyer changed the description to simply a GU Raiders helmet with no mention of Bo.

[DrJ]

Nice work. I know you didn't say it was a photo-match, but just in case anyone is looking to bid based on that, I will point out that the front clips are not the same type (at least it looks that way from here). The back warning label wear and All-American recon sticker sure do look the same though. A nice helmet for non-star collectors like myself (but I already have a couple Raiders). Thanks again Robert.