If you are not experinced with the militaria field, you may not realize that EVERY type of German helmets, from the common WW2 army, to the Paratrooper, to even the WW1 versions, are being reproduced.

Some folks buy them as reproductions, then 'improve them' by painting them in various cammouflage patterns, adding netting, wire, spurious markings, names, units, even bullet holes. Some are paintyed as bring back souveniers as if a US vet came back with it in 1945.

In fact it is getting hard to find just good solid average field gray original helmets as many of those have bveen messed with as well to make them worth more.

To a dealer in the know it is easy to get these reproductions pretty cheaply, and have some expert "age-ers fake them up."

So be careful,  as the really good and rare German helmets tend not to get onto Ebay, but be picked up in the higher end collector's market and passed around in those circles.