A teeny helmet for mantle, desk, or autographs.
Written: Apr 21 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: An inexpensive, yet handsome collector's piece. Size is perfect.
Cons: With this line, some details are lacking; construction not as rugged as it could be.
The Bottom Line: This particular product is more or less obsolete. I would opt for the newer Riddells today, but since I can modify my helmets, they are still nifty.
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| uoflnmu's Full Review: Riddell Northwestern Wildcats Replica Mini Footbal... |
This review is of the "first generation" of Riddell mini replica football helmets, in particular, the helmet of the Northwestern Wildcats.
In the mid 90's, Riddell made a bold move on the collecting front with the introduction of their miniature helmet line. Football helmets have long been the jewels of collections put together by fans of both college and pro teams, but heretofore, helmets were price prohibitive, and were unweildy show pieces: many marriages have been taxed over a desire to put the prized Steeler helmet on the display shelf over the television.
Riddell presented the public with their first lines of miniature helmets, offering customers who had neither the cash nor the space to put a full-sized helmet in their collection or on their desk. Price points were fairly reasonable (though when the novelty was at its peak, I found minis fetching over $40), and the size was quite manageable, taking up the counter space of a few baseballs.
The mini helmets were (for the most part) quite realistic. When I had first collected minis, I pieced together the Big Ten, and was happy to see that Ohio State's helmet featured a couple of Buckeye "pride" stickers.
The facemasks (of this line) were all the same in terms of construction--a rubbery plastic generic QB/RB design with a fair amount of "give" to them. They were faithfully colored to the proper color, and the decals on the helmet were very well done in terms of authenticity. The helmet shells are of a solid plastic, and have styrofoam padding inside to approximate the real padding of a helmet. (A detail I thought was a particular hoot was the warning sticker cautioning against direct helmet-to-helmet contact--much like the real version.)
Scale of the decals is another material, though. Particularly with the Northwestern helmet that you are currently looking at, some helmets do not have decals that are in the proper proportion to the rest of the helmet. The Northwestern "N" on the full-sized helmets used by the team have an "N" that (proportionately) is about 1/2 the size of the one featured on the mini.
Does Joe Schmoe care about that nitpicking detail? Perhaps not, but I know that I am a geek for precise authenticity, and that flaw always grabs my attention.
Note also the difference between "replica" helmets and mini "authentics." To call any mini helmet an "authentic" is quite a curious thing, but shortly after the first wave of replicas, Riddell released another line of minis boasting the "authentic" moniker. These helmets have a much sturdier construction than the replica, and often feature metallic paint (when appropriate). The telling detail that separates the replica from the authentic is the facemask. The authentic facemask is a metal--or darn rigid plastic--construction that is a generic lineman helmet with a crossbar down the center of the helmet.
The helmets are great for signatures, as Sharpies look very nice on them. I'd recommend Sharpie in blue, black, and silver to sign these helmets. I've also used other paint pens on the black shelled helmets with varying results.
As the years passed by, Riddell revamped this replica line, and abandoned the authentic line, which was too expensive for collectors. This particular replica line is almost impossible to find in a retail setting now. The succeeding replica line boasts a facemask of similar construction to the authentic line in a QB/WR design. "Authenti-kits," which convert the standard facemasks to more position specific facemasks, are available, and can modify any of Riddell's mini helmets.
Recently, the stakes have been raised with these minis, as Schutt (AIR) has produced an "authentic" line, with a very high level of realism, and a linebacker-type facemask.
All-in-all, this line of mini helmets was a nice start to what became a revolution in collecting, and with the advent of the "authenti-kits," these helmets can be modified for even greater realism.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
uoflnmu
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Location: Perry, GA USA
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
I'm just a white guy. From the future. I'm completely out of touch.
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