Price: $69.99 / £59.99
Model number: 75343
Number of pieces: 693
Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 6 inches / 18 x 12 x 15 cm
Recommended age: 18+
Of all places, Dark Troopers first showed up in the Star Wars universe in a 1995 video game: Star Wars: Dark Forces. A first-person shooter released on PC and PlayStation One, it told the story of a secret Galactic Empire project to create an army of powerful battle droids – the Dark Troopers.
Lego hasn’t based this Star Wars Dark Trooper Helmet on an almost-30 year old video game though. Dark Troopers have more recently shown their face in the Disney+ series, The Mandalorian.
These Imperial forces are some of the most fearsome looking in the entire Star Wars universe and when it’s built, this Lego helmet captures it perfectly. But a few annoyances with the building process stop Lego Star Wars Dark Trooper Helmet being one of the best Lego Star Wars helmets around.
Lego Star Wars Dark Trooper Helmet: Design & build
Made up of 693 pieces, the Lego Star Wars Dark Trooper Helmet is the perfect project to complete in one sitting. It’ll likely take around two hours to build – perhaps a little quicker if you’re an expert builder. The building process is split over five bags, with construction first starting on the face and the internal structure of the helmet. The inside structure is the only place you’ll find any color on the helmet – with the exception of the fantastically creepy red eyes, of course.
The second bag of bricks sees you add the top of the head to the Dark Trooper Helmet. It’s pleasingly dome-shaped, with bricks cleverly layered to create a curved detail. It’s unfortunate that, since the entire helmet is black, you can’t easily see the shape and curvature of the helmet unless you’re up close, because there really is a lot of excellent detail here.
The next stage of the build sees you construct the stand then affix the helmet to it. If you’ve built a Lego helmet before, then you’ll be familiar with the process: each stand is identical, making it ideal to display multiple Lego Star Wars helmets side-by-side. The black plinth is neat and robust, and a printed plaque providing details of the model finishes it off nicely.
It isn’t until you’ve got the stand in place that the key details are added to the Lego Star Wars Dark Trooper Helmet. An angular mouthpiece and side panels are held on by joints, allowing them to be positioned and shaped accordingly. It’s a little difficult to line up both sides of the face to match (ours are a little off in our photos, as you might notice), so you’ll have to do some tinkering before the set’s ready to be displayed.
Our only real reservation about Lego Star Wars Dark Trooper Helmet is its use of stickers on the front of the model. There’s a sticker atop its head, just above its eyes, and five on the central mouthpiece. It’s a real shame these weren’t printed, as they’d have added some much-needed highlights to the set which stickers just can’t do. We can’t really complain about the model being entirely black – after all, it’s an authentic replica of a Dark Trooper – but it does mean it’s a little hard to make out the helmet’s definition until you’re up close.
Should You Buy Lego Star Wars Dark Trooper Helmet?
If you’re a collector of the Lego Star Wars helmets, then you should definitely buy Lego Star Wars Dark Trooper. The shape and structure of a Dark Trooper means this is something rather different from the rest.
But the sea of black pieces means it’s not the most exciting build, and it’s let down a bit by the use of stickers. If you’re just starting out, there are definitely better helmets to pick up.
Other Lego sets to consider
If the building process of a Lego Star Wars helmet is most important to you, we’d recommend checking out the Princess Leia (Boushh) Helmet - one of the most unique helmets in the range. But if you’re after pure aesthetic, how about The Mandalorian or Boba Fett?
If you fancy a bigger and more challenging build, perhaps consider this 2,314 piece model of everyone’s favorite droid, R2-D2. Or if space isn’t an issue for you, how about this giant Ultimate Collectors Series Republic Gunship?
