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perlman9
01-22-2015, 07:09 AM
Does anyone know the time period of helmets with the AIR front bumper? These seem pretty uncommon for NFL game worn helmets with my limited experience and was wondering if that was a flag for it being a legit game worn helmet?

John in KY
01-26-2015, 11:18 AM
Those helmets went from "Bike" to a written out "Air Helmet" (or maybe "Air Helmet Inc.") to the "AiR" logo over the course of about a year - probably 1987. What happened is Bike was acquired by a larger company and spun the helmet unit out on its own. Shortly after the unit was spun off it was acquired by Schutt. You should definitely find the "AiR" logo on the bumpers from 1988 until the old models (Air Power IV, Pro Air, and Pro Air II) were discontinued in the early 2000s. I believe that the "AiR" logo was used on the Air Advantage for the first few years they were out, but by the time the DNA helmet was first issued Schutt had started using their logo on the Air Advantage front bumpers instead of the "AiR" logo.

However, during most of the "AiR" logo era the NFL was either covering all helmet logos or was only allowing Riddell to use their logo, so most often these bumpers should be either blank or covered by a team logo on a true game used item.

John in KY
01-26-2015, 11:36 AM
Sorry, since "edit post" isn't active here - the name of the spin-off company was "Athletic Helmets, Inc." not "Air Helmets, Inc.". The bumpers with the full lettering didn't last very long; I imagine it was a stop-gap thing until they came up with and trademarked that "AiR" logo.

"Air" was just part of the product name - the various "Air Power" models and the fairly new "Pro Air II" that had come out just before the company was spun off.

Thanks to some old posts over on Helmet Hut for that correction.

perlman9
01-27-2015, 06:06 AM
Thanks John, very helpful indeed! I decided to pass on the helmet, although sounds like it had a chance of being a good helmet just maybe missing the bumper sticker. It was a Detroit Lions signed by Steve Marriucci so I think time frame was correct. It had no player identifiers but a COA from Marriucci but I don't think said game worn. Anyway, it was $100 so was going to bite on it just for the price, but I now have some knowledge for the future! I was assuming was a store model since it's hard to find game worn helmets showing the Air bumper