Alright, so after getting scammed of my first Italic D Krefeld a few months ago (Paypal refunded me), I found another Deepeeka vendor who was willing to sell me the Italic D Krefeld shipped for $200 new.
However when I got the helmet today, I wasn't all that impressed with the welding/soldering of the helm. Sure it is like the Romans did, but is this Deepeeka quality? I thought my Deepeeka Gallic H was of of very high quality and cheaper as well, at the very least there were no brass "smudges"
On top of that, the browguard is a little crooked, which while realistic, does Deepeeka normally do better? And this helmet appears to have significant swirl marks and light scratches, unlike my Gallic H which I also bought new
What do you think? Is this normal? Should I contact the vendor or Deepeeka if it is abnormal
That indeed looks like very bad welding, and Deepeeka can do better. However, being it Deepeeka, an India based firm, quality control can be very badly, so it doesn't really surprises me.
It all depends on your vendor how he's going to handle your complains.
________________________________________ Jvrjenivs Peregrinvs Magnvs / FEBRVARIVS
A.K.A. Jurjen Draaisma CORBVLO and Fectio ALA I BATAVORUM
Honestly to me it looks refurbished or a second. Used and maybe returned and sold for less. I ran into that in a steel and brass shield a few years ago.
This is indeed a bad welding. The originals were soldered, anyway. And not just here and there, but the whole decoration was soldered onto the helmet. But then, these helmets are really low-priced, so I think one shouldn´t expect to get a full reconstruction. You get what you pay for.
So this is atypical of Deepeeka's quality control? If the vendor had mentioned it was a factory second that would have been one thing...
History-Revisited already had the Krefeld for $200 plus shipping, so I had no reason to assume it was a factory second, as this helmet tends to go for less than it's Mainz version
It is a sad thing, but many, many objects offered for sale as "off the shelf and affordable" items, be they gladii, pugiones, spatha or helmets, are of low quality, both in materials, workmanship and in authenticity. But as long as vendors make a very good profit as middle-men with no real interest in improving the quality of the pieces AND as long as these items are still being bought by people for way too much money, this is how things will stay . The infamous Trooper is a case in point, I believe most here will agree this is a crap product when compared to originals, but it is still a bestseller and thus is kept in production.
It is also sad it goes well beyond "you get what you pay for", as the margins are high and products COULD very well be dramaticly improved without raising the production costs significantly, if only producers would take the trouble to do so. The drive however is on cheaper, not better. This drive is created by some vendors, not the producers! Presently, bad copies are made from previous bad products and there has been not so much a standstill as even a slip backwards in quality.
Both Adrian and Christian have in the past succesfully put in a lot of effort to improve the quality of the goods they offer, for which they deserve full credit, by the way.
Quote:I don't know of any item from Deepeeka, that would be authentic. And this quality is usual from them...
So far I have not seen a single helmet that is really authentic...
Would need to be from historical correctly produced raw materials, processed with the historical methods etc. Would probably cost a fortune.
I purchased this helmet from a ebay seller named Kitchenerz, though I did NOT buy the helmet through ebay. I saw he sold several Deepeeka items and asked if he could get a hold of the AH6054K, which he was able to, and I purchased it from him with paypal. From my understanding, he never touched or saw the helmet, it came straight from a warehouse on the East Coast, he is located in Arizona I believe
What is everyone's opinion? I own a Deepeeka Gallic helmets A & H, segmentata, and formerly several other helmets including the old style Italic D, and never before have I seen such poor workmanship from them.
Jay says his Italic D looks great and doesn't have the same mistakes, how should I proceed? Contact the seller and try and get a replacement or partial refund?
Something I've learned when buying online is to get a picture of the actual item that will be sent to you and if necessary a picture with a measuring tape beside it. This helps out a lot! Although to my dismay I broke my rule when buying my hamata from Al Hamdd and of course...it's too small!
No harm in telling vendor and asking what can be done.
"The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones"
Quote:What is everyone's opinion? I own a Deepeeka Gallic helmets A & H, segmentata, and formerly several other helmets including the old style Italic D, and never before have I seen such poor workmanship from them.
Are you really sure it's from them? I mean, I am BOMBARDED by requests from Chinese manufacturers who only clone Dpka stuff, but wihout any quality control that I know of.
Robert Vermaat MODERATOR FECTIO Late Romans
THE CAUSE OF WAR MUST BE JUST
(Maurikios-Strategikon, book VIII.2: Maxim 12)
Quote:Are you really sure it's from them? I mean, I am BOMBARDED by requests from Chinese manufacturers who only clone Dpka stuff, but wihout any quality control that I know of.
I suppose not, Robert. The helmet has other unpictured flaws, such as a lighly crooked browguard and an ugly slot which the browguard is secured on the forehead and a poor welding job between the bowl and neckguard, and the brass decorations appearing to be sloppily applied.
Not to mention the various scratches along the helmet. Like I mentioned this is the first significant quality control problems on a helmet that I have seen from Deepeeka, perhaps Gagan might be around to say something?
. The infamous Trooper is a case in point, I believe most here will agree this is a crap product when compared to originals, but it is still a bestseller and thus is kept in production.
