Review : LEGO Star Wars 75328 The Mandalorian Helmet

We continue the tour of the 2022 novelties of the helmet collection LEGO Star Wars with a quick look at the contents of the set today 75328 The Mandalorian Helmet, a box of 584 pieces which will be available from March 1, 2022 at the retail price of €59.99. I'm not making you a drawing, it's about assembling Din Djarin's helmet aka The Mandalorian in the series broadcast on the Disney + platform. On screen, the accessory offers a wide range of reflections on which the directors of the various episodes of the series never hesitate to linger, this will not really be the case here.

Indeed, it cannot be said that the LEGO version pays a brilliant tribute to the accessory worn by the bounty hunter. It is once again the codes of this range of derivative products launched in 2020 that take over and the upper zone of the helmet is, as usual, only a cluster of stepped studs.

It is therefore necessary to rely on the metallic headband which crosses the helmet from side to side to embody the expected roundness and shiny surface. LEGO will undoubtedly have considered that this product sold for €60 did not deserve to be covered with metallic parts and the result suffers a little from this choice which we will be sold as an aesthetic bias but which undoubtedly also has an economic justification. In the box, there are only fifty elements in metallic Silver, that's meager for a derivative product like this.

Assembling the helmet is rather pleasant, at first it feels a bit like building a big BrickHeadz figurine with its colored entrails and then all you have to do is connect different sub-assemblies with studs more or less visible on all sides. The angles of the side panels are well managed, the black T-visor is decent and the designer has done what he can to reproduce the "cheeks" of the helmet with their particular angles.

The result offers an effect that seems interesting to me seen from a certain distance but which struggles to convince me from a little closer. The vertical metallic bands placed along the cheeks seem a little alone in the middle of these shades of gray, the shine of the helmet is too suggested for my taste to be credible. The overall look of the model remains despite everything on arrival very acceptable. Quickly assembled, quickly displayed, this affordable derivative product should appeal to fans of the series.

As with other helmets in the range, whether they are Imperial or Mandalorian accessories, it will therefore be necessary to admit that the curves are only suggested and to accept that LEGO frankly wishes to differentiate its products from other interpretations of the same objects by manufacturers. toys or models.

The abundance of exposed studs on the upper surface of the helmet will not be to everyone's taste, however, and the shiny band that circulates around the construction will not be enough to compensate for the staircase effect that has become one of the emblematic markers of this range with well-defined codes.

The somewhat abrupt transition between the smooth side surfaces made up of more or less scratch-free parts and the upper area lined with tenons is on its side a bit disarming, especially when this helmet is seen from the side or from the back. It will really be necessary to play on the lighting of the exposure area to obtain an effect that takes advantage of the shadow areas and for this product to be highlighted thanks to a light gray which visually becomes a little more "dull". As on the box.

It is once again the public price of the product that will be the arbiter of the match: for 60 € at LEGO, you should not be too demanding and this helmet will not ruin the fans. The icing on the cake, not a sticker on the horizon in this box, I don't see what they would have been used for here anyway.

A small note about the fifty or so metallic pieces delivered in this set: the ink layer is uneven and it seems to be poorly applied in places. I'm not talking about the scratches linked to the friction of the parts in the oversized bags themselves thrown into an oversized box, but about the very imprecise application of the ink. It's a bit of a shame, you already have to settle for the union minimum for a product which by definition should give pride of place to reflections, it's a bit annoying to get more parts with a very random level of finish.

It's not worth making tons of them, fans of the series will undoubtedly be convinced by this model which will not cost them very much and which will allow them to show their passion for the character without having to bother with umpteenth ship and some figurines.

Those who do not like studs will have to turn to reproductions offered by other manufacturers, no doubt more faithful to the reference accessory but which do not combine two worlds associated for better and for worse for many years. : LEGO bricks and the Star Wars license.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at 20th February 2022 next at 23pm.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.