Original Vintage Riddell TAK-29 Football Helmet Custom St. Louis Cardinals OPO

Rare original and vintage Riddell Kra-Lite II TAK-29 football helmet from 1971 as shown by the date stamp above the ear hole and heat stamps on the rear of the helmet.

Helmet comes with a complete set of the rare TAK-29 padding and authentic vintage leather jaw pads. This beauty has been customized to represent the helmets worn by the St. Louis Cardinals of the 1970s as shown in the photos by painting it a beautiful white and adding a reproduction 1970 Schutt style Red Dot OPO facemask!

We then added iconic Cardinals decals appropriately placed on the sides. This beauty is an adult large size 7 3/8 too!

The TAK-29 helmet was a revolutionary step forward as Riddell replaced the canvas strap in the rear of their suspension helmet with liquid filled padding to help protect players from concussions when they fell backwards onto the turf. This would be the first step towards the Riddell Micro-Fit helmets of the 1970s which replaced the suspension helmet with a shell which had liquid filled padding throughout.

This is truly a custom one of a kind helmet and was built to represent a game worn helmet of the Cardinals.

Please understand what you are buying. If you want a perfectly pristine brand new looking helmet which costs $1500- $2500 this is not the helmet for you. However, if you want an affordable vintage helmet which will display nicely, this is your helmet!

This helmet was built by lightly sanding the outside and cleaning the inside before painting the inside and outside of the shell. It has flaws just like the helmets worn during the 1960s, but will display nicely. These were built to put on the shelf or mantle and enjoy discussions about the golden era of football!

Helmet you see is the helmet you will receive. This is a nice full size helmet. Please see photos for condition. The padding is still nice and pliable.

PLEASE NOTE: we are not claiming this helmet was issued or worn by a player or the Cardinals.

Many of our helmets are vintage from the 1960's and 1970's. All of our helmets are for display purposes only! They are not to be used or worn for competitive play.

Westbrook Sportscards has been in business since 1988.