German Helmet Vault

Hello readers,

Whilst digging through the internet I came across some items , outright fakes , that were sold as original.

The fake chinstrap business on which I blogged about few months ago is still booming  here in Europe. I wonder when they will pop up on US dealer sites.

Fake M42 RAD – CKL 4741

I would think by now dealers would be more studied on lot numbers and would know this helmet is supposed to not carry a decal. And let’s not even start on the decal it’s a RAD chicken…

From Griffin : SOLD FOR 1200$

Ongoing trend : Upgrading CIVIC helmets

Civic helmets have been candidates for post war upgrade since the eighties. They are cheap and are available in volume. They are often upgraded with logo’s of famous manufacturers and caution is always required when you encounter one.

Here’s a so-called Krups factory helmet , the shell and liner is original and this was an early firefighter helmet with tilted swastika and tricolor. Now upgrade with a fake Luftschutz decal and fake Krups decal. This helmet is for sale at Paradesantiques for 600 GBP.

This example below pretends to be a factory fireman’s helmet of the Steiff factory which is a famous German Teddy Bear manufacturer. Eigentum tags are mostly found on fake examples and they are a red flag to begin with. Fakers like to make less interesting helmets more interesting by adding such small details to make it ‘all add up’.

Below another example of a Steiff factory helmet.

Here’s a fake red cross BMW Gladiator shell , the shell and liner are original. The decals and again the Eigentum tag in the dome have been added.

On Ebay fake templates are being sold just for the purpose of creating fantasy pieces.

Fake chinstraps

Both have the authentic RB numbers but watch out for these , they are being sold in volume in Europe by the most shady dealers like Haas and Spree and infecting other dealers their inventory in singles.

That’s it for now, happy hunting folks.

Frank