German helmets

Wargame tournaments usually have tons of militaria also. If you get to the West Coast there is Enfelad(sp?) near Seattle in Feb or March and Spring Spears in Monterey Ca every year.

 

Erich, save what you can so you and I can buy the Messerschmitt coming up for sale thats in Switzerland, its only $1,000,000.

 

I'll chip in too, I'll just need to save my allowance.

 

I WISH I could. Im so broke that when I bring Abe Lincoln out of my pocket, that he blinks from the light.

 

Something I just remebered.....
I have bought several helmets out of the Shotgun News magazine.

 

You have to watch out for some of those dealers--especially one who sells under the name Seht gute handler--hes a big prick of misery and one of the lousiest creeps out there--and watch out for someone by the name of projohowitz, hes from poland and the second biggest creep out there.

 

I have never been out and out ripped off, but occasionally I get something not quite as it was advertised. I ordered a lot of 10 or so Stalhelms advertised as scratch and dents for $30 or $35. They were advertised as German helmets. What I got were Spanish helmets with the emblems knocked off the front, probably with a hammer. Broken off pins still in the holes. But they were worth about what I paid for them, just not the deal I thought it was
Another good one is unscrupulous dealers peddling repainted Norwegian helmets as Japanese. They are very close, the liner and chin straps are very different though. A neat helmet to look for, is a post war Czech helmet. They used German M40 and M42 Stalhelms, except they tapped holes in the front and installed usually a lionhead or rarely a chalice emblem. These arent huge collectors items, but interesting. Polish Adrienne helmets fit in this category. They are identical to the French helmets except they are darker blue, almost black, many or most with an eagle decal painted on the front.

 

Some good news though. The Chilean Army wears EXACT copies of the German M-35--down to the type of liner, spanner bolts etc. These are supposedly made on ther same machines the German M-35s were made on. I cant wait to get my hands on some of those. You could repaint them, decal them and sell them (Of course as repos only) and probably get $100.00 $150.00 each, for an investment of less than $30.00.

Now if I could only just find a source....

 

The same could be done with Spanish or Hungarian helmets. Would require using some body filler on the pinholes in the Spanish helmet, and knocking the handle off the back of the Hungarian. But, after figuring out all the costs and time involved it would probably work out to less than minimum wage.
The Chinese also used the M35. Both the Chinese and Chilean helmets are pretty rare, at least in the States, but they are cheap. The Chinese also operated sdkfz 220 series armored cars, and manufactured K98's, broomhandled Mausers, and potato masher grenades. I have several pics of Nationalist Chinese troops in full German gear(except some are wearing sandals) riding in German armored cars and trucks.

 

I saw a picture of what I thought were japanese troops wearing what looked like m35 helmuts. Are they chinese troops then?

 

Probably, if the pics were taken in Asia. Germany was one of the Nationalist's main arms supplier's. The Chinese bought only a couple of batches of helmets, probably only about 50,000 were issued throughout the late 30's. In the '40's the Nationalists started receiving US helmets and started issuing US Brody's and M1 pots throughout the war. Several units were still using M35 Stalhelms in 1949 though.

 

Yep I knew. I have some newsreel footage somewhere showing chineese AA crews firing at Jap bombers. Then there other footage with chineese using German equipment, but I forget what I saw.

 

I am no expert on german helmuts, but I am going crazy trying to find one for my german impression. Every shell I find is over $200. Also someone brought up to me about trading my japanese nambu pistol with original holder and belt for a helmut shell. I know nambu's are a piece of crap, but I'm not sure if its a good deal. I'm thinking if the guy throws in a gas mask canister or a canteen or something else, it might be worth it. What does anyone else think about this because I'm in the dark and have no clue if this is a good deal or I'm just being an idiot.

Also does anyone know which size shell I should get, I wear a size 59 m43 soft cap. I'm not really sure.

 

You might be able to get by with a 66, but it sounds like you need a 68. Liner's use cap sizes and the liner for a 68 is a size 58/59 or 59/60.
Bad thing is, 68's are the most sought after size, thus they are the most expensive and hardest to find.
A banged up, linerless shell, size 68 should sell for around $75. A pristine, perfect repro with the whole 9 yards, historical manufacturer ink stamps and everything shouldnt cost more than $250. As I said in an earlier post be wary of "genuine" helmets and dont purchase one unless it comes with superb documentation.
If you want I will keep a look out.
I dont want to part with any of my 68's because they took so long to find

 

The Nambu pistol and gear for stalhelm is a bad deal. At a gun show, the right collector will pay well over $200 for you pistol and gear, while the helmet is most likely worth less than $100.
I have a repro liner and pins for sale if you need them, plus a friend of mine has a postwar German police helmet. It is identical to a WWII helmet except it lacks air vents, and the liner(which is plastic with nylon pads) doesnt use pins. The exterior is completely smooth, and its made of thinner material. Mike paid $40 or $50 bucks a piece for 3 or 4 several months ago, and I think he still has two that he painted and added some decals to. I will call him if you are interested.
I believe he got them through the Shotgun news or a Military History magazine ad.

 

Everywhere I go, I find the german helmets to be around $250. I have never seen a shell that is under a $100. It seems impossible to find one that cheap. I'm still not sure about the deal, because for me right now I have to spend over $300 for a shell and a gas mask canister.

 

I hear you. I have a '43 3 color camo helmet, size 68, and authentic gas mask cannister with gas mask, filter, extra lenses, and carry strap. I would be unwilling to part with both for less than $400.
Try Ebay, Im tellin' you there are deals there.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1035164665 http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1035203726
The larger the bill, the smaller the helmet. From the size of the bill I would guess this is a smaller size. Email the guy for size though. The size is in the lower left front part of the helmet, just above the left ear. The number on the rear is a serial number. http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1034317723

This looks like a larger helmet http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1034336390
Remember, through the entire war WWI stalhelms were issued to troops. http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1034350568

 

Good stuff Tally, and you can also find German Helmet shells and THE complete helmets on www.ebay.de Go to the Sammeln and Seltines section--then Militaria and wallah--your there. You can get everything much much cheaper on ebay.de.

Helmet shells usually only go from about $50.00-to-about $85.00. You can find them all day on ebay and ebay.de. Anything over $100.00 for a shell, is insane.

 

I finally have a helmet (time to break out the champagne). I when to a military store and got myself a size 66 helmet with its liner in good shape for around $125. I'm in such a good mood about it right now, because ever since I was 10 I wanted a german helmet because they looked "cool". All the advice and help I got from everyone paided off and I just wanna say thanks.