There’s a lock washer inside the ear that makes the stalk really hard to pull down. I pulled mine out on one helmet. Made a world of difference. Still very tight, but slightly less.
Thanks Ryan, I take it this involves disassembly of the ear?
Edit. Put it in a warm place and that loosened things up.
I stand by my cheap comment. It does feel cheap and flimsy. Even those over here who went direct to BAIT still ended up paying around £500 once all of the charges and fees were paid. That's $650.
Retail prices here are now looking like £550 up to £650. That's $715 to a whopping $850. That's a lot for a plastic helmet.
Paint job nice for a mass produced item. The brown staining is a little heavy handed but it isn't a deal breaker.
Cleanup is huge. It's status as a lineage helmet is there but it's kind of tenuous e.g. the orbital band is a uniform depth all the way around the rear of the helmet and it shouldn't be.
Wavy brow looks good.
Dent is good. Miles better than the MR and so obviously not rooted in the distinctive PP2 dent like everything else with lineage.
There's some shrinkage. This is most obvious in the easiest to measure areas. It's not in GMH territory, but it's there, however; the overall size and shape is good. That huge distortion over and around the left ear has been removed. They've done that quite well. I don't imagine that would have been well received had they left it. All other non intentional screen accurate damage is gone e.g. the cheek crack and lump.
The intentional damage that is present i.e. the front left mandible and left jaw scratch is rubbish. If it has any direct lineage at all I'd be amazed.
The seam around the dome is the most noticeable but I doubt most people will notice it once it's in a deltoff, which is where most of these will go I expect.
Metal ears are nice although that upper RF ear looks a little chunky to me.
It's a nice but flawed item. It does set out what it was intended to do, which is, apparently, to make a decent, fairly accurate, licensed lineage helmet at an affordable price; regardless of what I paid it's best to judge this at the US market price it was aimed at.
$400 for a complete helmet like this is a good deal. It's only at those international prices that this starts to lose credibility.
Edit:: 3rd Feb.
The cheapest that UK retailers are now selling these is £550, that's $715, and prices go all the way up to and eye watering £693, which is $900!
Even though you will get striped up for shipping, customs, and taxes, the most affordable option is to order from baitme .com where you will be paying around the £500 mark. The exact price will depend on the exchange rate of the day and whatever charges the bank, paypal, or the credit card company impose. Depending on how that looks in the final price then the hassle free option of paying £550 may be preferable. Obviously that option gives far greater protection should you have any issues with the piece.
