Here is a Thread you Need to Read

[lenny]

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.

Well, you can tell the chemical constitution of paint, (I know, have had it done.) However you can't tell when it was applied by chemical means, that comes down to good old detective work, experience and gut feeling, IMHO.

[mech91]

What is Eric Dolin's user ID on this forum? And let me say this, I have been in the past critical about some of the experts for not disclosing some of the tricks of the trade out of fear of disclosure to the fakers. This situation at hand has soured me on German helmet collecting. Believe me, I'm going to be a hellava lot more careful in the future with my purchases (if I ever make one again), and will stick to known and credible dealers. Something to think about. considering the expertise that some of the fakers have, what about a well known dealer who also deals in helmet reproductions. Kind of a conflict if you ask me. Has the knowlege with the ability to apply it. Even with an inspection period, because of his/her reputation as an expert, they will be given the benefit of a doubt by some of the less than hardcore collectors. Credibility? Money? Hhmmmm! I am sure that some of you are narrowing you list of dealers you will be dealing with which just makes the cost of thier wares increase. My wife's buying me a repro Roman Centurion's helmet for Fathers day! And yes I'm excited!!!!!!

[Stephan Wahl]

I agree Mech. If I hadn't had family in the Wehrmacht/SS I would have picked just one helmet, and liquidated the rest of my helmet collection after having found that my SS lid was fake. I'm really stuck. How do I take the responsability for preserving this part of history that so many others want to adulterate, and protect myself at the same time?

I am getting a bit better though. I am beginning to be able to tell an EF SS style decal from a Q at the first look now. I completely agree too on how closely guarded the details of authentics are. With the recent outing of "steelhelmet"/Eric Dolin it once again proves that we are not only being watched, but also that you can't trust the Irish. Just kidding.

As a kid, I knew this stuff was going to become treasure to many. I just didn't expect the fakery.

[Hun Helmet]

Well here is the seller's latest. He does great work but once you see a few of his helmets you can pick them out of a line up as they all have the same type of dullness to them. He sticks with similar paint and colors too



William

http://cgi.ebay.com/GERMAN-WW1-M16-T...QQcmdZViewItem

[WalterB]

With the recent outing of "steelhelmet"/Eric Dolin it once again proves that we are not only being watched, but also that you can't trust the Irish. Just kidding.

LOL

To all the doomsayers who say that the helmet market will collapse as a result of the fakery, I say...Great! Let the damn prices fall, that will give me a chance to really have a collection I can be proud of at a fraction of the price. I don't collect for investment, but for the pure awe that a helmet brings to me when I wonder where it has been and what it has seen.

[mech91]

Well, why surprised, I am very much sure that all those forums are carefully followed by fakers, who look for ideas or listen to comments about what is wrong in their older fake works. But this is not a subject to worry, scumbags have always existed and will always exist, they will never make the perfect copy and will never fool the experienced collecotrs /and thus even the beginner colletors, who can always ask for opinion the more experienced/.

What makes you think that a mass produced steel military helmet cannot be perfectly faked? Fine artwork has been accurately faked, and fooled many experts to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars, and you better believe that there is more involve in faking a Picasso than a steel stamped mass prodeced German helmet. The main issue with good faking is time. It has become cost effective to take the time to accurately fake a good DD SS M35 for $5000.00. In the past, most fakes consisted of an original shell with $150.00 worth of materials thrown together in a few hours and sold for a $200.00+ profit. The hobby is not dying, but collectors have to be more careful and educated concerning thier purchases.

[Charlie_Vaughn]

To all...

Regarding Eric Dolan - he has been around for some time now...since the beginning of the Ebay craze in the 1990's, he surfaced as a major seller there and I counted back in 1999 that he did more than $60,000 worth of sales in a given year. The reason I took note is that all of his helmets looked pretty good then - including some ultra rare SS configurations, Allgemeine-SS, camo SS, and many others including foreign volunteer SS helmets.

Then, a few scams came about and revealed that he has access to some superb lacquer based decal remakes, and is an expert at doing fake camo's.

Some of his stuff is real, and some of it is not. I believe, personally speaking, that he using original helmets as his "models" for crafting highly detailed camo remakes that he sells as "authentic".

He's been doing this for years, and no one has ever challenged him about it, or when they do he drops back and "disappears" only to resurface again about two months later with another sale on Ebay.

I agree with the comments - let the market drop on helmets, because I would be happy to purchase all those original helmet for a few hundred dollars instead of thousands of dollars...

[cantara]

Hi,

If ED is the faker he is supposed to be ,according to this and other threads, isn't it strange he is acknowlegded in "SS steel"?

He must have done something right to be in there I'd think....

As I have 2 helmets of him that both got the here, I'm a bit and !

regards C

[Oregon]

Hi,

If ED is the faker he is supposed to be ,according to this and other threads, isn't it strange he is acknowlegded in "SS steel"?

He must have done something right to be in there I'd think....

As I have 2 helmets of him that both got the here, I'm a bit and !

regards C

When Kelly wrote SS-Steel, he was completely unaware Dolin had acquired a reputation.

Cody

[cantara]

Hi Cody,

Let me say I didn't mean to suggest Kelly deliberate put a faker in his book .
He was also in the previous version of Kelly's ss helmet book. I would think he's in there because he had a good reputation.

I just think it's a hard thing to believe (and if true very sad) that a person that once had a good name would claim items to be real when they make them themselves.

But that's probably very naive.
thanks C

[Ty Smith]

Cantera,

The internet (eBay ) has brought the greed out in many older collectors. Some collectors used their expertise to fool and defraud the newer collectors. Luckily, most of the older collectors, like many of the ones here, remained honest and thought more about history than their bank accounts. These 'good guys' are the ones writing books like "SS Steel" with efforts to help preserve our hobby.

Charlie, you are absolutely correct. In the early days of ebay I too was victim to his forgery. It was a hard pill to swallow, but I gained much more from the experience.

[Charlie_Vaughn]

Sorry to hear that Ty...I never did buy from this seller, but I was tempted several times because of the rare offerings.

A rare one that got my fancy was an early Allgemeine SS with the tricolored shield and Pocher transfer sold by him on Ebay (1998 or 1999?).

Looked really good, and many people passed favorable review on his helmet - it sold for about $6000 I believe, and it had a lot of bidders. When I wrote to him about it he claimed it was found in an old house in upstate Minnesota.

No doubt, it too was a fake.-C

[Kenny Suit]

Gentlemen:

I wanted to pull this thread back up to the top because the fellow in question, Eric Dolin, has another nice helmet up for auction on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

What is troubling for me is that the most recent bidders who are raising the price on this helmet have made 0 purchases on eBay. So are these shill bidders? Or "new members of the eBay community?"

Another question for me is whether this helmet is original or not. It certainly looks good to me. But as we've seen in other threads recently, many collectors (myself included) are unsure about what makes an early LW eagle decal original. And helmets that had been given the thumbs-up on this forum were later given the thumbs-down.

Here's the link to Dolin's website showing the early LW decal on this helmet:

http://germanhelmetcollectors.com/_wsn/page3.html

I contacted Ken N. a couple of days ago because the decal on Eric's helmet is identical to one of the ones shown on Ken's website.

Ken doesn't remember where he got the photograph, but doesn't think he has ever owned this helmet.

Could it be that this is an original helmet? Or another one of "steelhelmet"'s fakes?

And how high is the bidding on this helmet going to go? With or without the help of shill bidders?

-- Kenny Suit

[Matt M]

Kenny

In my opinion the helmet he is selling the DD Luft DT is a good helmet.

Thats what makes guys like him dangerous, mixing good and mostly bad.

Thats one nice Luft that will go for a lot.

Matt


QUOTE=Kenny Suit]Gentlemen:

I wanted to pull this thread back up to the top because the fellow in question, Eric Dolin, has another nice helmet up for auction on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

What is troubling for me is that the most recent bidders who are raising the price on this helmet have made 0 purchases on eBay. So are these shill bidders? Or "new members of the eBay community?"

Another question for me is whether this helmet is original or not. It certainly looks good to me. But as we've seen in other threads recently, many collectors (myself included) are unsure about what makes an early LW eagle decal original. And helmets that had been given the thumbs-up on this forum were later given the thumbs-down.

Here's the link to Dolin's website showing the early LW decal on this helmet:

http://germanhelmetcollectors.com/_wsn/page3.html

I contacted Ken N. a couple of days ago because the decal on Eric's helmet is identical to one of the ones shown on Ken's website.

Ken doesn't remember where he got the photograph, but doesn't think he has ever owned this helmet.

Could it be that this is an original helmet? Or another one of "steelhelmet"'s fakes?

And how high is the bidding on this helmet going to go? With or without the help of shill bidders?

-- Kenny Suit[/QUOTE]

[Peter A Larson]

The 2 bidders with the 0 bids, new members? 1 has been a member since jan 04 no buys nosales. the other since march 05 no buys no sales. between them they a jumped the bidding $1000.00 Shills???!!!