Look what I found on ebay. Kinda funny given our eternal MS vs AS discussions, isn't it? In the actual ad they offer the correct design. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Actually I'm pretty sure Wurz and Stuck are greater drivers, by several inches. PS: Not so funny in English, works better in German as a pun, where greatest = tallest.
I think this is a pretty high starting price, what do you think? http://cgi.ebay.com/MICHAEL-SCHUMACHER-Benetton-F1-93-Race-Used-HELMET_W0QQitemZ8816352014QQcategoryZ2876QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Yup. Way too high for a couple of reasons: One you can't proove it is the real deal and second even if it were, the prices for recent F1 memorabilia are falling in general and for MS helmets in particular. There was a brief article about it in the last edition of Octane.
Andreas Could you please give more information or a link about the Octane article on falling values for F1 and MS memorabilia? Thanks
June edition of Octane, page 19 "F1 Flop" A brief article about the March 20 Bonhams F1 memorabilia auction where only 45% of the lots sold. They mention a MS helmet from the early nineties that fetched 12,650 pounds. Presale estimate was 15-18k.
Ah the Bonhams auction. I am very familiar with this one. This was a very poorly advertised auction. I mean very few people in the memorabilia business let alone F1 fans and collectors knew about it which obviously did not help prices. Also much of the memorabilia came from the "Legends in Time" collection and much of the signed memorabilia surprisingly had little in the way of provenance or documentation to back it up. Without proper provenance many of the items were pratically worthless. I would not take this auction as a sign of anything except a poorly put together one. On the MS helmet point, with MS using 3 helmets per race weekend there are hundreds and hundreds and maybe more than a thousand authentic and in most cases MS signed used race helmets out there. MS and his management are no fools, its a nice little earner for someone selling these race worn helmets. Compare this to Senna who used only 5-8 helmets per season.
The information in the text on the Benetton helmet being sold on ebay regarding the quantity of Ferrari helmets out there is false. Michael usually takes 2 helmets to each race, but these are recycled in later races, and for testing as well. It does not work out to 2 or more helmets per race x the number of races + promotion + testing. So at the end of the season he may have used about 25-40 helmets maximum. Consider he has been with Ferrari since 1996, and even at the high estimate you would have 400 helmets, not "over 1000" as the seller is claiming. Keep in mind his new carbon fiber Schuberth helmets cost about US$12 000 each - they are not wasting these fruitlessly. That being said, I have sold over 25 original MS helmets over the years, from values of US$20 000 - US$55 000. At present I have 9 original Ferrari ones for sale, from 1998 - 2004. They represent the pinnacle of motorsport collectibles for the Ferrari F1 fan. Official Signed Authenticated Replicas are also available from US$1995 - US$5995. Below is an original used at Australia and Malaysia in 2002. Image Unavailable, Please Login
the way some celebs sign stuff, why bother getting an autographed item? hell, anyone could scribble anything unintelligible....
Morry, I am not selling anything LOL!. I only wish I had one of these in my possesion. I stand corrected on the number of helmets. Even with your numbers there is still alot of his signed helmets and replica helmets out there.
Good point, It is too bad, the scribble that passes for a signature these days. I can understand it makes signing much easier for the celeb but still....
Beatles autographs are rare too. But imagine that they have signed thousands of items over the years, hundreds alone in certain sit down sessions. Regardless, a multiple signed photo now alone is worth US$5500 and up, and stage used equipment is way more. If Michael had 400 Ferrari helmets - and I know he has not used that many -more than 75% of these were either kept, or given to friends and sponsors, never to be made available for commercial sale. So at the end of the day, it makes most sense to quantify these as a fraction of what is actually out there and able to be had...which is not many.
I would only buy a signed item from a respectable dealer like you. Anything less is basically just taking a bet. I once bought a visor signed by Eddie Irvine from a serious dealer. Cost me big bucks, but chances are good it is real. And one of my most prized possesions, particularly after I added the helmet to it.
Thanks. Sadly there are a ton of forged items out there - painted motorcycle helmets selling as 'race used ones', signed photos done at 'Silverstone tests', etc. Most of the junk ends up on ebay.......caveat emptor.
I had Mario Andretti sign the nose of my 1/18 Exoto 312B. It's a little more than a scribble, still not legible, but very cool nonetheless. Plus, I have to give the man credit for even attempting to sign the small car.... I bought a new Sharpie to take along to ensure the tip was as fresh as possible... Aaron Image Unavailable, Please Login
Very cool indeed. Speaking of miniature scribbles: I once had a moon walker sign a lunar rover model. The scale was 1/72...Then I asked another astronaut to sign a MMU (the jetpack they used to put on their backs to fly around in space). Also 1/72 scale...Not to be outdone by a X-15 in 1/144 scale. These sigs are basically the size of your pinky's nail.
