Here is a Thread you Need to Read

[ROBB]

Good spot Dave .All we need now is Grisam and co to take a few swabs ,Rob

[Stephan Wahl]

Oh that guy (steelhelmet). Hey I'm a relative beginner, and I saw that all he sells is crap (at least his helmets). I even send him messages teasing hiim about how bad his items look. He aint so tuff.

His Ebay ID is steelhelmet (100% positive feedback -- so much for Ebay feedback).

His website is http://www.germanhelmetcollectors.com/

[panzerzacker]

He aint so tuff.

Spoken like a true 1950s teenage ragamuffin! I've been to this guy's site as well, seeing that he does a convincing job (sometimes). Why can't fakers leave us alone? Maybe we should all start paying "protection" money. As long as we keep say...$30,000 a year (collectively) aside for "business associates"...they can assure us that the fakers won't continue to peddle their wares, at least with properly working kneecaps.

ZaCK

[Jos L C]

Ok ,here's my point of view..

" This kind of faking isn't from now ,it's done for over 40 years " !!

I once had a story here concerning the white Russia /Eastfront helmets..
Many have postwar paints 'cause here in Holland and in Germany original WW2 helmets were painted white or black for fire-fighter brigades.
Original decals still under the white paint..!!

Then we had many " old iron " dealers that got many,many helmets that were collected after war and during the 50's ,60's...
Worthless crap..., so , many young guys here had helmets..
When I was young it was easy to find or get a German helmet and when in bad condition a paintjob was done..we played soldier with these items..
I can imagine that here in Europe many helmets got a repaint that way ..
Also ,original decals have been there all the time..

So ,you can imagine what happened when there were helmets ,good oil-based paints (in those days) and original decals...,not to mention chickenwire..
These jobs are old jobs and noone will notice in quite some cases.......

So ,the practice isn't new...,but the old (er) practice is more scary IMO..

To illustrate my story I'll show a helmet that's been made in 1972 .
It was part of my collection then and I couldn't find a tropical luft that easy..
Collection was sold to a dealer in 1979 who came ,paid me some money and took all..
This "trop" helmet is 32 years now.. I'm still wondering where it is nowadays..
So beware of " old collections " too..
These items weren't made to deceive ,but they still exist.

Jos.

[Stephan Wahl]

Steal Smellmet

Okay, I have to admit, of the fakers I've seen, he does do pretty convincing job on some helmets. I don't want to sound condisending and make anyone here feel as if it should be obvious. Hell, I just got burned for $2,200 by GeorgeJohns. I've seen "stealsmellmet" really foible a DD, SS, paint camo helmet. Never bought anthing from him, but after that, he was on my "Black List". I only know of him through eBay. I was unaware he had a website, until I read it hear in this thread. I'm gonna go take a look at it now...

[Stephan Wahl]

There it is!!! The DD, SS, Paint Camo Helmet!!! Ask Shirwinn-Williams!!!!!

Wow. Looking at some of his helmets I can understand that more than just a couple could be misconstrued as real camo jobs. Tell ya what. In another 50 years, they will. THAT...is what concerns me.

Well it's good he's been caught red handed.

[Gene]

What is this guy's name?

[mech91]

What's sad is that most of your collectors are not forum members and do not know the extent of the fakery. I know. Bought a DD SS M40 from Thuringen Militaria out of Prague Czech Republic for over $900.00 pre forum member.

[Perry Floyd]

Sadly things like this are habitual in this hobby, reason being.... Because there's a big market for these..

Some will allways feel the camo/SS market is falling and that you can make a modern camo that can fool the best.
I do feel they're collectors that have mastered German camo helmets..These collectors have passed on helmets that could have been original but lacked certain criteria that a "one looker" has.
This field has a market for everything...

[Stephan Wahl]

After the fakes have permiated the market, German helmets will only be bought and sold based on the metal they are made of. NOT if they are SS or KM or whatever. Their finishes will become valueless, I fear.

People should be happy just to know they own a German helmet. My God. A No decal M42 with a couple srapes and skuffs is a really cool thing. I can't stand thinking that eventually you won't be able to find an honest no decal helmet anymore, because they've all been made into DD KM, or DD SS M40's. History is being errased!!!!! Adulterated!!!!!! (Finishes his rant noticing that his arms are crossed over his chest and his hands are shaking in clinched fists. Looks to either side of him...then...calmly sits down)

[KoCook]

Fakes are always gonna be around, they have been pretty much from the end of the war.
What was the story? Someone had a Japanese flag with Kanji writing and wanted it translated.
They took it to someone at a school who was Japanese and the person laughed when they translated it
because it was written with Japanese advertisments. Seems that a GI had a
Japanese prisoner sign a flag and wanted it signed as a souvenir.
The Japanese just wrote some stupid things on it but the GI couldn't tell the difference
(or didn't care for that matter) as long as it had Japanese writting on it.

This story might not be 100% accurate since I'm retelling it but the point is,
as long as there is a high demand there will be fakes.

[Gene]

What is this guy's name?

[CurtD]

There are forensics tests available to determine the age of paint. From watching the Discovery Channel et al, I have the impression that the tests are quite expensive (in the thousands of $'s).

In the future, the only way to determine the authenticity of some T.R. items is going to be with a scientific test that can pinpoint the date of manufacture.

[Peter_Suciu]

After the fakes have permiated the market, German helmets will only be bought and sold based on the metal they are made of. NOT if they are SS or KM or whatever. Their finishes will become valueless, I fear.

Actually the opposite is going to happen. German helmets belonging to advanced collectors will be sold from collector to collector and fetch a higher price. This is what happened to American Civil War militaria because there are so many fakes. Every other item is suspect and only a few dealers are really trusted.

Oh well...there are plenty of helmets from other countries for me to collect.

[CurtD]

What is this guy's name?

Eric Dolin