Recently finished my custom timeline of my alma mater Va Tech mini helmets. No detail left behind. pic.twitter.com/qYPshwddch— Shayne graham (@Shaynegraham17) June 27, 2017
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So cool, I kind of wish we had some kind of sticker on the helmet for wins like fsu with the tomahawk
helmet stickers are the worst thing about college football
Meh there's worse in my opinion
I'd say scandal cover ups are probably worse.
The stars they used in the early 80s was the last time that was or will ever be used.
I graduated in 2003 and I counted 31 helmets that have been worn since that time.
Hmm... I thought this collection was different than it actually is. Forget this!
I only included different paint schemes, logo, or chinstrap color changes. Not the various rear decals for memorials, bowls, or tributes. Clark Ruhland website did a great job of displaying all those minor details.
GUYS GUYS GUYS!!!!!
He said
Welcome to TKP Shayne!
It's kind of amazing that there were only 10 designs before the square root of 1 logo was first introduced, and only 11 before the Beamer era.
Pro Combat black helmet against Boise St = all time favorite
There's this gem in the replies...
hmmmm......
Thankfully, the foghorn leghorn helmet is 'facing' inwards.
I'll see myself out.
So, what you're saying is he reads TKP.
Yes
Welcome!
And he is only a kicker, imagine what real players collections look like ;)
Too early for bad jokes?
Everyone is getting so damn uptight. It's a joke...and a funny one at that.
I'm not sure anyone but a kicker would use their spare time to make this collection. LOL
I forget who it was, but an NFL kicker was interviewed about his practice routine and he talked about how he would kick for 15-30 minutes then spend the rest of practice playing WoW on his laptop.
Sounds like Chris Kluwe, given that his twitter handle is @ChrisWarcraft
Very cool collection. Without a size reference, they could be life size and not minis. Fan of both VT styles and Fightin' Gobbler (don't care that some say it looks like a gamecock, if you're a fan, you know the difference). Don't like the Orange and Black from the Boise State game....it looks like Halloween and had nothing VT on it that I can remember.
I stand corrected re Boise State game lids not having VT on them. When did we wear the ones with the orange numbers on the helmets?
Beamer' last home game
It has a 25 on the right side and an orange VT on the left
Clark Ruhland has images of our helmets going back to '87. That's almost as many variations on helmets that we've had in that time span.
Clark's Helmet Page
Why does he have an empty space on the middle shelf (far right, 2nd from the bottom)?
Saving it for the National Championship helmet
That's not an empty spot. it is the green camo helmet.
Making it very effective
Ahhhh, GySgt Angell. I can hear that voice just looking at the picture!
And that's why my platoon did push-ups for two hours while being sprayed with a fire hose.
A) This is a dope collection that I wish I had in my man cave.
B) We wear way too many different helmets.
I have three mini helmets and would like to add a few more.
- 99 era mini helmet signed by Bud Foster
- Throwback mini helmet that we wore in Frank Beamer's last game signed by the man himself
- Black mini helmet worn in Frank's lost home game signed by Frank
I'd like to add the battle of bristol helmet and get that signed by Fuente. I also love the white helmet with old state logo.
So how is he getting these helmets made? With the custom decals and helmets for this coming seasson, these clearly aren't the ones you buy in stores.
When you kick the most famous field goal in school history, you can ask for favors from the equipment managers.
I think I read that he paints them himself, etc.
I think he does it all himself, and he's big into historical accuracy. He even goes so far as to make sure the screws, rivets, chin straps, etc are all period appropriate.
He does them himself and with his connections to the program probably got the okay from the University to have Healy (the company that makes our helmet decals) make scaled down versions of some of those graphics. There are a few companies that also make custom helmets decals. These are not like regular "stickers," they are cast vinyl that is then laminated allowing it to stretch around the curves of the helmet.
This is a very cool collection. The most impressive is the Hokiestone hydrodipped helmet as that was only released in one version in mini-scale. That means he has to use a heat gun or blow dryer to remove the original decal to add the second (which was custom made). I do a bunch of custom stuff like that so that one really stood out to me because that took a good bit or work, research, and connections to pull off. This was the only one he was missing a little bit ago and must have been able to track one down on the secondary market as they've been discontinued for quite some time and rarely show up on feeBay.
Speaking of Hokie Stone helmets; I came across this listing yesterday
I know some folks are after these, so I figured I'd share.
Wait that's a mini helmet and they want 150!
I actually had the hokie stone finishes custom hydro-dipped to match the real ones as close as possible. The ones riddell made were not very realistic and hard to find. And I wasn't willing to pay eBay prices for the ones I did find that I wanted to make better anyway.
Yes I visited the equipment room and got the full size decals to have custom ones made at 1/2 scale. Even included many rear decals, and front/rear bumper decals. Also studied the paint finishes close up if I didn't have the full size at home in full size collection. I also did research in old year books, and old program covers to find the 1950s range designs.
This whole thread now:
I really enjoyed making this collection and actually still update details when I come across any upgrades. Just swapped out a few yesterday that included 4 of the mid 2000s riddell revolution shells. So it can have more of a time perspective between the Riddell proline VSR4, the Riddell Revolution, and the Riddell Speed helmets models. I'm very proud to be a Hokie and always will be. Thank you for the compliments and I accept any suggestions or critiquing. Go Hokies !!!
It's the man himself...
Welcome to TKP sir! It's about time one of you football alumni joined us. Keep us updated on your collection, become acquainted with Emma Watson gifs, and make sure pick a side in the eternal pie vs. cake war!
Uhhh, yes, I do have a critique. I believe these would all look much better displayed in my window facing my Hoo neighbor's house.
They would, but your neighbor doesn't deserve such a monument.
I wanted to give you a leg, but the comment leg count was at 17 and I just had to leave it.
Edit: So much for that. Have a leg. It's the least I could do.
Well now that you've finished them...any favorites?
Personally I'd have to go third box third row first helmet....or the entire first box. Mainly the last helmet in the first box and the one above it. Or the all maroon white numbers....
This is a whole new level of fully dipped when giving a post a "leg."
Welcome aboard, sir!
Shayne Graham, one of the two most accomplished players from my high school, and greatest kicker in VT history, is in this thread.
What a time to be alive.
And that's saying a lot, because we've had some seriously bad ass kickers. They don't call it Beamerball for nothing.
This still gives me chills.
Miracle in Morgantown
Yes thank you for this moment. Best freshman year ever!
Hi Shayne! Any chance we could get you to do a TKP AMA?
That would be awesome.
I'm not sure I know what "AMA" means, not sure what getting a "turkey leg" means, and as far as the collection, I guess my favorite is the orange lightning that we currently wear as of last year. It's a different shade of orange than the metallic orange we wore against OSU a couple years ago. Other than that, I'd say the first 1998 solid maroon helmet. As it was such a big deal when we changed from the white masks and stripes. A result of a goof up, and not an actual attempt at redesign. But they decided they liked it and ran with it.
AMA = "ask me anything," in which a volunteer submits to answering anything from the community. I did one a while back, just for fun: http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2016/august/27/hello-i-am-your-moderat...
Getting a turkey leg = a VT-centric (and TKP-specific) way of saying someone is giving you an upvote on a post or comment.
Welcome to TKP. We're stoked to have you.
This may be helpful for your stay.
Very insightful and very entertaining. Currently day dreaming of enjoying a rich, authentic southern key lime pie.
Pie!.....I knew it!
I figured this would be handy to have now.
I always wondered if the WVU band behind the goalposts were the first to throw out some colorful adjectives. Live TV lag time gave them the first real perspective before the referees gave the arms up signal
My freshman year. We were watching in the dorm and there was a lot of screaming. A LOT
And yes I would do an AMA.
We used to be Facebook friends, you didn't like my opinions of Ray Lewis but respected them. Messaged me a few times about some political stuff. Always appreciated that, not very often you get to talk with one of your favorite players. All the best Shayne!
One time, I did that one time!
I remember. And I find that politics only makes me feel negative so I stay away. Lol
That's amazing, thanks in advance! If you could reply with a day and a time that works for you in your schedule (an hour maybe two), I'll start a new thread where everyone will compile their questions. Then when it's time, you can come answer whatever questions you want and maybe have a little live interaction with those of us that will be following the thread live.
Thursday @ noon
So many questions...
Eastern Daylight time, noon?
I just want to make sure I don't miss it.
And thank you Shayne!
Nice.
I need a collection like that. Wonder how long it took to get them all.
Oh weird how the thread about Shayne Graham's helmet collection has so many new comments on it, what's up?....
I'm still waiting on Shayne to offer to make me some helmets...