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Hunt for WWII USMC Helmet


Dominik
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Been looking for a WW2 USMC Helmet with an original cover for some time(my dream item currently). Found one and then lost it. If anybody knows of one or of a good place to find one, any help is appreciated. I know it might be pushing it put a "salty" helmet would be nice.

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Blacksmith

Yeah, unfortunately, so are a lot of other folks.

 

Not to discourage, but prices on these things have skyrocketed, in just the past two years.  
 

Good luck!

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Airborne-Hunter

There are plenty available, just buy one? There are plenty of covers on ebay right now? It'll cost, but they're not that rare. Go buy one

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On 6/2/2022 at 2:29 PM, Blacksmith said:

Yeah, unfortunately, so are a lot of other folks.

 

Not to discourage, but prices on these things have skyrocketed, in just the past two years.  
 

Good luck!

Yeah I know the prices are kinda insane right now. Thanks!

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3 hours ago, Dominik said:

Yeah I know the prices are kinda insane right now. Thanks!

The prices on USMC covers has been insane for the last 15 years, they are not going down in price.

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There is a USMC helmet on the “U.S. Military Collectibles” Facebook page, DOND, right now. It is pricey because it has a Hawley liner. No deal at $1750 the last time I looked.  I was going to jump in and make an offer but it went too high, too fast!

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JerryTheGerman

Marine helmets and covers are very pricy. I got lucky and bought a slit cover with helmet for $200 which is a pretty good for these things. But I do have to agree that they are quite collectible and sought after pieces of Militaria. 

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I was in a simular position.  If you want a deal, you have to put in the time. It took me what seems like forever (30 years) to find one at a bargain price, then I found another in the same month. Need one more. These items seem to come in a sequence of three for me.  It is a matter of statistics. The more you look, the better your chances are.  Ironically I found one advertised on Craigslist and another at a local army surplus store.... That said, putting a value on my time, it would have been cheaper to pay up and buy one but I obviously wasnt in a hurry or hungry enough for one to pay up. 

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Blacksmith
2 hours ago, JerryTheGerman said:

Marine helmets and covers are very pricy. I got lucky and bought a slit cover with helmet for $200 which is a pretty good for these things. But I do have to agree that they are quite collectible and sought after pieces of Militaria. 

Can you post pics of it?  
 

I’d like to see it.

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Be careful what you wish for.....      You might end up with a closet full of seven or eight USMC covered lids and no where to put your clothes, your comic book collection, your bayonet collection, or your 800 books that you are still saving to read later......  Oh, and the MP-43 is a replica....   Don't go dropping a dime on me to the Feds....    Just a replica...   

20220615_192950.jpg

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Me too....   But then I would be in jail since I was only 7 in 1968 when you had to register the darn things.  Really good replica, metal and heavy.  I aged it down a bit to look the part of being 75 years old or so.....   Helmets are real, as best as I can tell....   45 years of picking them up when I see them tells me what I need to know, sight, smell, feel, under the loop, paint tests (lead)....    The Camo M-16 medic has a movie prop liner.....   Was used in a movie in the 1920's.....   I have the docs on that one...   I don't buy a helmet if it has a replacement liner or fake liner......    Exception made on that one....   

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Your local M1 Garand

I have found thorough collecting the past few years that when people find out they have something from ww2, especially when it’s a jacket or helmet, and for sure when it USMC,  put it up for a insane price like everybody else, nobody is paying 500 dollars for that M1! I am surprised that every Marine in the entire war was issued these yet they are still rare! What exactly happen to all the helmets that were produced in the millions yet less then a century later are super rare?

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3 hours ago, Your local M1 Garand said:

I have found thorough collecting the past few years that when people find out they have something from ww2, especially when it’s a jacket or helmet, and for sure when it USMC,  put it up for a insane price like everybody else, nobody is paying 500 dollars for that M1! I am surprised that every Marine in the entire war was issued these yet they are still rare! What exactly happen to all the helmets that were produced in the millions yet less then a century later are super rare?

Attrition is what happens.

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9 hours ago, Your local M1 Garand said:

What exactly happen to all the helmets that were produced in the millions yet less then a century later are super rare?

 

M1 helmets made during the second world war were issued and used until the 80s and even early 90s.  They were repainted, re-textured and re-purposed. It's not the helmets that are super rare as is original unmolested sets that have been together since the second world war.

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RustyCanteen

My 2 cents..

 

The bulk of the 'USMC' helmets in collections have been added to, made up, restored, whatever you want to call it in the decades since WWII ended. That doesn't make them any less special to collectors, but when individual parts are married together it certainly does affect the monetary value. Truly 'original' helmets, with a cover that's been sitting on it since 1945 are exceedingly rare and will cost many times what the parts would be worth individually. You could not just walk away with your helmet at the end of WWII, and often when people did it wasn't the same one they landed on Iwo Jima with, but one issued to them when they re-equipped following their division being pulled to the rear. So that means even fewer vet bring back helmets were combat used, making the verified ones even rarer than the vet bring back ones in general! With that out of the way, here is what I would do..

The first thing I would recommend - not to dampen the enthusiasm in any way for history! - is to know what you want. If you simply want a representative of a USMC WWII helmet, it becomes easier, but not necessarily much cheaper. If your goal is a verified USMC helmet with ironclad provenance from the vet, you may be looking for a while and it will certainly be priced accordingly! The former is worth the sum of it's parts (a helmet, liner, cover, etc), the latter is priceless, or nearly so!

Good luck, and hope you find what you're looking for. 

 

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Agreed...   To the above.  I am thinking I have 2 or 3 real ones, maybe 4... based on how they fit together, the stains, the rust matching transfers, and a few other things I note that I make my evaluations on...   Unless you got the helmet out of a foot locker from the man himself or his survivors you really don't know.   As a Geologist, we are trained to see what was first, second, third, fourth, and what is missing, what makes sense, what does not.  Unconformities, disconformities and non conformities.....   Using these techniques with close and careful observation, and even giving oneself time to think about what you see in front of you......  One can make a pretty good guess as to the original and complete authenticity of the helmet and it's "togetherness" since 1944 or 45..........    In the end, just a guess unless you have the papers and provenance....    I only have one helmet like that of my 80 or so helmets I have now and in none of the 400 or more I have owned previously.   That one is a German Camo M40 and I got it from the son of the veteran with the letter from the vets CO stating what he had and that he could bring it home.          

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22 hours ago, Dominik said:

Wow! I wish I had a collection like that. Awesome stuff dude

You can and you will if you keep collecting for 40+ years...   And I have bought a fake USMC covered lid on Ebay in the past.....    Looked good...   Just did not pay attention and do my homework when I should have.....   Did not pay attention to the stitching on the cover....   So be careful and run it by the guys here to be safe...     Buy it Now is sometimes not my friend.......   Especially after a couple of beers......

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