Now that the auction is over

[Dresden S.]

I resisted bidding on this, as I thought it was put together...what are your thoughts???

No offense to winner of course if member here...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/180819513858...ht_1012wt_922I

[Jareth]

seller was a long time, pioneer collector of Japanese headgear. He had a fantastic collection many, many years ago. Bought quite a few rare items from him. That said it's difficult to say with any certanty that net was always on helmet. Regardless it sold for way too much in my opinion.

[Stu W]

Seller Dan King has a good rep as far as I know although just when accessories are added is always tough to determine.

Regards,
Stu

[Papa Nambu]

I just saw one of those helmets at a gun show today for $650 and no one was jumping to buy it. It didn't have a net, but otherwise about the same. If someone made a good fake net with the proper string, could you really tell it from an original? I haven't tried to blacklight one, but the Nakata repro nets are very well made. I can't tell, and even if I could I'm not paying that much extra for it.

Is it a put together? Maybe I could tell with it in hand. The yellow paint for the anchor looks newer than the rest of the helmet, but that might be just the way the photo came out. Already mentioned the net. There are people here who know helmets better than me though. I do trust this particular seller and I don't think he is intentionally selling anything that's not right.

[bolo]

yes, the whole set looks like it's been pieced together, I also notice the yellow anchor has been painted over a old nick in the paint, a sign it was done much later to dress it up as a naval infantry helmet, the netting also looks too fresh and shows no signs of exposure to tropical weather or sun exposure

netting fades very quickly if used in the field and also tends to get worn on top from setting the helmet on the ground during breaks

[zachb]

Frankly if I had the money I would pay a premium to have a helmet from this "seller's" collection. Also, I would pay a premium to support his book (see the description). From time-to-time ebay has the zoom feature on sellers pictures...this is the case with this now closed auction. To that end I've been looking at the anchor and really don't see paint over any "old nick," in fact I see the opposite (i.e., weathered nicks through both the anchor paint and the original helmet paint).

Also, the net looks pretty faded to me. As long as its original does it matter when the net was married to the helmet? I mean is there some magic formula I haven't heard about to determine when nets are put on helmets?

[NLF]

There was nothing wrong with the set. I'm sure he has had more Japanese helmets than any of us, and knows when a piece isn't correct. His collection is well known among Japanese headgear collectors

[GeorgeP]

Dan King is a good guy and I would trust his auctions. BTW the question he answered at the bottom of the auction mentioned the netted grass helmet my grandfather brought back from Iwo Jima.


Tom

[Jareth]

I agree with must of the above. Dan's a good guy. Net & helmet could stand alone by themselves. It is very hard to judge a set from photos but in hand there are ways to discern if they'd always been together. Does that add an unknown premium? That's up to the collector. I do disagree that nets with foliage are that rare. I have quite a few, seen more & know of many in other collections. Beware of faked foliage as well. Seen a few lately.

[Dresden S.]

Thanks for helping me learn!