A Guide to LEGO® Star Wars™ Helmets: Part One

Star Wars: Rebels™ reveals both Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn as collectors of helmets – and the LEGO® Star Wars™ Helmet Collection allows you to become one too!

Star Wars features no shortage of characters with helmets, ranging from anonymous Imperial Stormtroopers to sinister bounty hunters. The LEGO Group launched a series of adult-oriented models inspired by some of these iconic helmets in 2020, which has since grown to include fourteen impressive sets... so far. Here, we’ll give you a head start into the range…

Imperial origins

It’s clear from the Original Trilogy that the Galactic Empire has an affinity for helmets, as many Imperial personnel wear helmets as part of their uniforms. The range started with two such characters, as well as a bounty hunter favored by the Empire.

The TIE Fighter Pilot Helmet (75274), Stormtrooper Helmet (75276) and Boba Fett Helmet (75277) were all released in April 2020, among the first 18+-branded sets. These three make ideal display companions, not just for their affiliations in the films but also for their strikingly contrasting colors: black, white and sand green.

Naturally, the Stormtrooper and the TIE Fighter Pilot helmets share certain features, making clever use of curved slopes and round engine elements to recreate their bulky ‘cheeks’, where atmospheric filters would be found. Their differences are interesting too, as the top of the Stormtrooper’s domed helmet is designed with layers of plates connected in multiple directions, while the pilot’s helmet includes flexible breathing tubes, with train wheels forming texture.

Boba Fett, on the other hand, offers a totally different building experience, as his angular helmet consists primarily of panels around a black visor. The distinctive T-shaped visor is an essential feature and is neatly outlined in dark red, exactly as shown in The Empire Strikes Back™ and Return of the Jedi™. The model designer, Niels Frederiksen, was even able to include the dent on Fett’s helmet, which was acquired in a Western-style duel with Cad Bane during the Clone Wars, many years before the pair faced off in The Book of Boba Fett™.

Lord Vader has arrived

As iconic as the Boba Fett’s, the Stormtrooper’s and TIE Pilot’s helmets are, many fans were surprised that Darth Vader’s sinister helmet was absent from the initial series. Thankfully, the much-anticipated Darth Vader Helmet (75304) debuted one year later, including over 800 pieces, significantly more than the previous helmets.

This model also becomes a little more complex, recreating the distinctive mix of curved and angular shapes from Darth Vader’s helmet onscreen. The sculpting of his triangular respiratory filter is particularly ingenious, capturing even subtle details of Vader’s iconic mask. This set remains available from LEGO.com today, a testament to its popularity.

The Scout Trooper Helmet (75305), by contrast, was the smallest helmet yet produced, with 471 pieces. Despite this, it’s no less detailed than other helmets in the range, including the Scout Trooper’s specialized visor and auditory sensors, ideal for scouring the Forest Moon of Endor for Rebel, or indeed Ewok, activity. No detail escapes the Empire’s gaze…

In its first two years, the Helmet Collection was off to a great start, though the focus remained on a specific part of the Star Wars saga. This would change in 2022, and we’ll explore this evolution in Part Two.