Show me your Game Used NFL Helmet

[aeneas01]

I was trying to be helpful getting a helmet for someone... when questions were raised, I kept asking more questions of the person responsible for getting the helmet (i didn't actually see the helmet until this morning)...

help me out - favrenvikes09 posted a photo of the helmet without highpoint chinstrap snaps two days ago. you emailed the same photo to "helmets" two days ago as well. the very next day, yesterday, you emailed "helmets" another photo of the same helmet but this time it was fitted with the highpoint chinstrap snaps - one day after "helmets" had pointed out that your aj helmet was missing these key features.

but you said you didn't have the helmet in your possession, that you didn't actually see it until today, that you were getting it from someone else that you trusted. so how did the snaps change? are you saying that the guy you trusted emailed you updated photos of the helmet yesterday with snaps now attached? one day after you discovered (were told) aj hawk's helmet should have these snaps? just trying to understand.

also, you mentioned this helmet came directly from aj hawk, that he personally signed it as game used, and that it was a helmet he wanted to donate to an auction he's involved with. yet you were able to get a hold of it before it had a chance to get to auction? is that right?

just trying to understand.

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[aeneas01]

They are photos sent to him by that Justin guy I breifly referenced.

is justin a forum member? if not, do you happen to have any contact info for him? also, do you or perlman9 have any info regarding the auction event this helmet was supposed to be featured at - auction name, phone number, etc? thanks..

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[favrenvikes09]

Rob- Justin isn't a forum member and I don't have any contact info for him and it's up to Jason if he wants to give out any of his info. I just hope you guys can cut Jason a little slack cause all the pics he got were from this other guy Justin and he essentially was in the dark like me since he was just the middle man and just trying to help me get a nice piece.

[perlman9]

While I appreciate your concerns, Rob, I am not sure why I would give out someone's information to you since you are not the buyer? I explained what happened. A friend who has helped me get pieces in the past said a friend and former OSU teammate of AJs could get this helmet. I tried to help someone get the piece. I asked for photos. the first photo sent was what I got. When questions came up, I asked for more, the other photos were sent back to me. I have no idea what someone did or didn't do to the helmet. If i was trying to rip someone off, I would have sent the helmet and been done with it. I don't have the helmet, never did and never will. Again I am the one who lost out because I paid for the helmet or an alternative piece out of my on pocket because I trusted someone who said they could get something could. My fault for trusting a source I didn't know. As I said, I got bit by this since a full refund has been on the table since day one of the questions. Now, do I believe the person who has the helmet altered it after I posed questions, probably. Was it me? No. I can see where it looks that way and again, I have to deal with the consequences of trying to help someone get and item and that item wasn't real. But if I was really trying to rip someone off, I would have just sent the helmet, not try to get questions answered. But I know people on here like a good conspiracy, so I unfortunately cannot stop that from happening. I can only try to make the person who actually wanted the helmet happy with the transactions, and I am doing everything I can to make that happen. But never would I give out information about someone to a person who has nothing to do with the transaction. Now, if I saw where someone was trying to get an item from that person, I would contact them privately with my experience. But I also feel sometimes honest mistakes can happen and unfortunately a public "outing" can damage a reputation that didn't necessarily deserve it.

So, I am happy to answer questions about the transaction or to help people from getting bit like this in the future as I feel a little wiser albeit poorer. But the source, a former OSU player and OSU teammate of AJ, said the helmet was game worn and for charity and I accepted his word. Obviously, and even more so when I saw the actual helmet, I shouldn't have. My fault and I am taking the blame for trusting a source without seeing the item. But I never tried to sell the item once I got the photos.

[perlman9]

To answer your questions directly, Rob. Yes, I was told AJ was to auction off a game worn helmet for charity, but for a set price, would sell the helmet with the proceeds going to that charity. I do not know which charity as it was a former buckeye and I really didn't think the need to ask. Looking back, a mistake, but again, I just trusted this person for who he was. It was said early on that the helmet wouldn't be available for pick up until the week after the auction, which was supposed to be on a Saturday. I asked for photos as obviously the buyer was excited to see it. I sent the first photo (without the chin guard) to the buyer and the expert. I got a quick reply from the expert with concerns. At first, I responded with "Why would AJ lie about the helmet?" But the concerns were legit. I sent another request for photos asking to see particular items (back where number should be, inside, and did say it should have the high chin straps that didn't seem to appear in the photo). The next set of photos were sent about a day later and then did appear with the chin strap marks. I then sent those on for analysis, which I even replied with I cannot believe someone would do this involved with the charity. All the while, I was keeping the buyer in the loop with offers of a refund, which again, I will have to pay. I then , for the first time, saw the actual helmet "in person" and knew right away it was wrong and told the buyer that again today. Now, I am trying to get my money back from the charity with the claim the charity misrepresented the item or I just got a bad helmet, and it has gone nowhere.

I do not know what charity or anything about it except I believed a friend and former OSU teammate of AJ would only off a real item. that obviously didn't happen and do not know personally if the teammate or someone from said charity was taking the photos. Obviously the contact claims ignorance and again, because he could be caught in the middle as well, don't want to give bad info out about him. What I think happened may not be what actually happened and since I have sold quality items in the past am obviously hurt by this but have been as open and honest with the buyer throughout the entire process and continue to be. But again, I also know it can look as I am the person trying to sell a bad item, just as easily as the contact or the supposed charity, so I can only give what happened from my perspective and hope to get my money back as well.

[cohibasmoker]

Jim:

Congrats.

Now that you have the Rams suspension, the GBP RK will most likely get kicked to the curb. I will watch for it on ebay and bid on it.

Ah - you did see my post. How about the friendly bet? The American Cancer Society can always use a little extra cash. You in?

Jim

[aeneas01]

While I appreciate your concerns, Rob, I am not sure why I would give out someone's information to you since you are not the buyer?

true, i'm not the buyer - but i'm a concerned collector that's always interested in finding out where forged helmets originate, for myself and for other helmet collectors.

in an email to "helmets" you told him this helmet came "...directly from AJ, signed by him game used". but favrenvikes09 mentions there was a middleman involved, justin. now you mention that on top of a middleman a former osu teammate of aj's was involved in this helmet as well. plus a layer of charity workers. so i'm not sure how this helmet came "directly from aj" - or how you could have represented it to "helmets" as coming "directly from aj".

whatever the case, in the end the collector (favrenvikes09) didn't get stuck with a counterfeit/forged helmet and that's what's important. but what also remains is the fact that someone you've been in contact with deliberately tried to rip off a collector - twice. once by forging "game used" on a retail helmet and then again by adding pieces to the helmet in an effort to make the helmet look like what aj wore.

so in the spirit of protecting collectors from those that would take advantage of them, from those that would blatantly try to sell counterfeit pieces as authentic, i would like the contact info of the person you got this helmet from. or, even better, contact info regarding the charity as well. if you don't have the charity info, please let me know who told you this helmet was for a charity event, perhaps they might have the information.

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[punch]

perlman9, just wanted to say I think a lot of us feel for you. You tried to do something nice and it bit you in the ass. Sucks all around. Reading your guys situation has definitely helped me be a better collector in the future. Good to air things like this out in a public way so everyone can learn.

[UGA-1]

I think it is safe to say that everyone here on this forum has been "bitten in the ass" at one time or another. It is the reason the forum exists. People who really care about the hobby come here in an effort to educate and hopefully prevent the situations like this one with this helmet. Usually,it is a lesson only learned with hard earned cash.
Now, I also love this forum for its "watchdog" mentality that always has an eye open for shady actions and attacks them when they surface. IMO the Hawk helmet story is becoming a tangled web. Guys, I do sympathize with your situation, as I too have been bitten very hard in the past with this same type of scenario.
With that said, use the power of this forum and its members to find where this helmet originated. To use generics when telling the story about its origin doesn't help. People should be held accountable when stuff like this happens wheather they ment it or not. Most times the names of the "innocent" are protected. In this case the names of the "guilty" are being kept secret. All the people in this chain of events, need this helmet brought to their attention so that the innocent can be educated and hopefully prevent this from happening in the future. We are here to help.

[cohibasmoker]

UGA-1

I'm with you. Whether it's the good, bad and/or ugly it's nice to have guys like Robert, Curtis, vikingshelmetguy and Mike Pricip around to help a collector out. These guys have lives and careers yet they have always have the time to help a collector out.

Do they want a fee? NO but they do ask for openness and honesty when they are asked for their help and a thumbs up from the above mentioned guys are worth a thousand times more than some LOA from some company and/or individual who feels that they are self-proclaimed "experts" in the field and they charge hundreds of dollars for a worthless piece of paper.

Jim

flaa1a@comcast.net