Check out this baked n' Faked Helmet shell

[Hans K.]

I agree.
I would like to know what looks good and what looks bad.

Here's another example of what old paint looks like (again, top picture) vs new. There is a depth and character to the wear that stands out immediately. The camo in question is not comparable and, instead, stands out immediately as a blatant fake.

[Hans K.]

I have the artifact in my hands which gives me a little better perspective on it than simply looking at photos... As many others have seen this helmet, privately, in person at shows and on my website, I find it troubling that none of my friends or collecting associates bothered to point out the flaws which are in question here.

Bill,
I find this troubling too. The fact that seasoned collectors have examined this helmet in-hand and cannot tell that both the exterior and interior paint is not original is, to be blunt, unfathomable.

The WW1 market is being flooded with ever more creatively faked items. This is still one of the easy ones.

[ROBB]

Sometimes people are scared of disagreeing with the others , sometimes people are scared of upsetting big personalities , sometimes people who collect cap badges are suddenly experts on WW1 camos , for instance you clearly don't know what a real camo looks like but if shown this one you would say "yeah top camo " . Rob

[PlaceOfBayonets]

And note the difference between the helmet in question and Hans's Helmet on the edge of the visor. There is complete wear on Hans's example while on the baked helmet has a hit and miss or spotty loss of paint. Almost every camo I have seen that was good shows complete loss of paint and old patina to the center section of the visor with only carrying degrees of loss to the sides.

This is because when you pick the helmet up you normally grasp it from an edge and the raised visor edge is the easiest way to pick these German helmets up. If you drop them they land on either the top or an edge hits the ground.

[Bill Combs]

Fellow collectors,
Thanks to everyone for your comments. All are well presented and I understand where you are coming from. I do not agree with all your points, but they reflect legitimate concerns. This thread started out as a thinly veiled accusation of me as a disreputable dealer. It has moved to a civil and legitimate discussion of the merits of the artifact in question. This is what the forum should be, friendly discussions using fact and example to make our cases. It should never be used as an easy method of character assassination. While it is still my opinion that the helmet is real, I respect that others have honest questions. I have decided to end the auction and to remove the helmet in question from my website. The helmet will not be sold to anyone at any price. I will also not pass it on to another dealer or hide behind the anonymity of an auction house. I will keep it as I like it.
I trust that this action will satisfy my detractor and reclaim my reputation for honesty with the rest of you whose opinion does matter to me.
Sincerely,
Bill Combs

[PlaceOfBayonets]

Fellow collectors,
Thanks to everyone for your comments. All are well presented and I understand where you are coming from. I do not agree with all your points, but they reflect legitimate concerns. This thread started out as a thinly veiled accusation of me as a disreputable dealer. It has moved to a civil and legitimate discussion of the merits of the artifact in question. This is what the forum should be, friendly discussions using fact and example to make our cases. It should never be used as an easy method of character assassination. While it is still my opinion that the helmet is real, I respect that others have honest questions. I have decided to end the auction and to remove the helmet in question from my website. The helmet will not be sold to anyone at any price. I will also not pass it on to another dealer or hide behind the anonymity of an auction house. I will keep it as I like it.
I trust that this action will satisfy my detractor and reclaim my reputation for honesty with the rest of you whose opinion does matter to me.
Sincerely,
Bill Combs

Hey Bill I want to set the record straight here. This started when I wrote your ebay account to simply inform you the hemet was bad. I did not accuse you of anything.

I in fact do this every so often and the sellers, some take it as something they should look further into, some tell me to blow goats and that they know better then me and some simply disagree. It's all good. I let them them know and what they choose to do with the information is their business.

Was I exceptionally nice in the way I related it? No I was not for that I apologize.

[C. Roelens]

Your reputation is still good with me Bill. I've known of you for a very long time, and we have traded with each other in the past.

Your helmet is not original and has been easily proven so by some very knowledgeable collectors above, who buy the way, have been active participant's on this forum for many years.

No one here is out to assassinate anybody's character... a collector/Dealer with your experience should have known better. If you can't see that humped up helmet shell for what it is I don't know what else to tell you.

Chuck

[Shenkursk]

Full disclosure - Bill and I have been friends and allies for eons.

There are several lessons to be learned here.

1) An honest dealer is not someone who never makes mistakes. We ALL make errors. An honest dealer is one who treats a customer properly after a mistake has been recognized, or who pulls an item from sale when it's flaws are pointed out in a logical manner.

2) The manner in which you approach someone with concerns about their item can have a lot to do with their reaction. Bill shared the original email with me, and to be frank, the original poster did not make a good impression. I can easily see how Bill may have assumed that he was corresponding with just another vapid eBay asshat.

We all need to be willing to be objective and reexamine artifacts when questioned.

At the same time, if the goal really is to do someone a favor by pointing out a potentially bad item, doing so in a non-combative, civil manner is certainly a lot more likely to have positive results.

[PlaceOfBayonets]

Full disclosure - Bill and I have been friends and allies for eons.

There are several lessons to be learned here.

1) An honest dealer is not someone who never makes mistakes. We ALL make errors. An honest dealer is one who treats a customer properly after a mistake has been recognized, or who pulls an item from sale when it's flaws are pointed out in a logical manner.

2) The manner in which you approach someone with concerns about their item can have a lot to do with their reaction. Bill shared the original email with me, and to be frank, the original poster did not make a good impression. I can easily see how Bill may have assumed that he was corresponding with just another vapid eBay asshat.

We all need to be willing to be objective and reexamine artifacts when questioned.

At the same time, if the goal really is to do someone a favor by pointing out a potentially bad item, doing so in a non-combative, civil manner is certainly a lot more likely to have positive results.

Well while it was assumed I was just another vapid Ebay asshat I also assumed the seller was such a person on ebay.

This leaves the question, if Bill is a member here why not list it on the E stand rather then Ebay. Consider it a rhetorical question with no need for an answer.

I have apologized to Bill for the Email but I don't apologize for calling the helmet out or any helmet for that matter. I should add I don't know who is who in this hobby and I don't think it matters. IN my experience pointing out bad helmets to Ebay sellers in a civil manner does NOT get any better results.

[Shenkursk]

Michael, you don't need to know who is who in the hobby if you approach everyone with good old normal courtesy. It is deserved by the little guy just as much as it is by the personalities of note.

I am continually disappointed to see collectors fall prey to the assumption that sellers are by the very nature of their occupation out to defraud their customers. Reading the forums, it is clear that there is some sort of dopamine rush that collectors get by chucking rocks at the people who make a living selling the very items that they like to purchase. (i.e. you profit from my hobby, therefore you are bad.)

Sure, there are plenty of genuinely bad eggs out there who routinely do goofy things and deserve the sticks and stones. However, there are also a lot of guys like Bill who believe that the best path to success is through the loyalty and friendship of happy customers. Even the best sellers make errors in judgement, and when it is (politely) brought to their attention, they are generally thankful for it.

If you have not had a successful track record with more friendly messages to eBay sellers, that shouldn't surprise you - it is, after all, the very wretched hive of scum and villany that Obi-Wan was warning us about. Even in that seedy venue, though, there are a LOT of good folks. Why not assume the best and see what happens? You MIGHT just end up making a new friend, rather than landing with a big greasy splat on the excrement list of one of the most well-liked guys in the business.

Glad you apologized to Bill, and glad to see that he pulled the helmet.

If there is anything unresolved in this sorry little episode, it is the burning question of whether or not there would be a good market for "vapid eBay asshat" T-shirts.

[PlaceOfBayonets]

On the other hand while the majority of replies to any messages I might send about bad helmets there have been a very rare few who have taken the message as honest help it was intended to be and actually re started their auctions or pulled their helmets. Very few. Bill's auction caught me at a bad time considering the track record and the 100th Anniversary of the war only weeks away.

Case anyone else wants to know I simply wrote to say that the helmet is what we call faked and baked and I ended it by asking that the seller "give me a break". That is not the nicest note I have ever sent but also not the most impolite either.

[Bill Combs]

I just wanted everyone to know that I reexamined the helmet this morning and after carefully considering all the points that were raised, I am now in agreement that the helmet’s paint job is a fake. Thanks to all who made constructive criticisms of the helmet. I am especially grateful to Hans K. whose use of comparison photos is exactly the kind of serious and professional research method that I wholeheartedly encourage. Well done, Hans, and thanks!
This has been a valuable lesson to me to look closer at items. Old dogs can learn new tricks! That does not mean that I will not make mistakes in the future, but I may narrow their number a bit. This was one of a collection of 150 helmets I purchased. With that many items it is easy to give things just a cursory once over and move on. Question everything closely is the lesson learned here for me. Politeness, civility and professionalism may be the lessons we all need to address more closely.
Bill Combs

[Chip M]

Over the years, as a collector, I have found that trying to be the protector of the rest of the collecting world is an exercise in futility. It might make one feel better to try to forestall the sale of bogus items, but in the end, as William has stated, few sellers care or want your opinion. Personally, I have made the choice that unless I am asked for an opinion, I don't give one. Collecting, regardless of the type, has always been governed by the ancient phrase, caveat emptor.

In some ways, dealers are on the frontier of the repro market, that is, they often see such new items first and one can hardly blame them for not knowing about the latest development or for not being an expert in every field.

Who among us has not made a collecting mistake? And who has the balls to admit it in public and take the total financial hit? Ask yourself.