Before 2014, the Guardians of the Galaxy was a rather obscure Marvel comic series. Thanks to the team’s introduction in Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the bunch of rag-tag criminals became Marvel icons. As well as heading on their own adventures, the Guardians played a key role in the Infinity Saga and will soon return in the final adventure as a team. Ahead of Volume 3 heading to cinemas in May, Star-Lord’s unique helmet becomes the latest headwear to become a buildable LEGO display model. How does it compare to other similar sets? Here’s an early look at Star-Lord’s Helmet.
Product Details
Immerse yourself in an advanced model-making project and capture the style and excitement of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy with LEGO® Marvel Star-Lord’s Helmet (76251).
- Set Name: Star-Lord’s Helmet
- Set Number: 76251
- Pieces: 602
- RRP: £69.99/$79.99/79.99€
- Number of Bags: Bags x 4
- Stickers: N/A
- Instructions: Booklet x 1
- Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & General Retail from April 1st
The range of sets of which Star-Lord’s Helmet is part was first introduced with a series of sets inspired by Star Wars characters. These were soon followed by similar sets based on characters from both the DC and Marvel universes. This wide range of characters makes it tricky to give them a collective name as not every set is a helmet. This is especially the case with the other Marvel-themed sets which have included Spider-Man villains Carnage and Venom along with Iron Man. Star-Lord’s Helmet, which is technically a visor, becomes the fourth Marvel-themed displayable helmet/head.
As it’s more of a visor than a helmet, the set is built slightly differently from past sets. It lacks a core which is often the point to which the detail of the set is added as well as being a way to anchor the set to its display stand. It’s the stand which is where the build begins. Thankfully the style of the display plinth remains uniform across all the sets. The actual build of the visor is a little more traditional, although you still build plates which are then added to create its detail, it doesn’t feel as complex as similar sets.
Almost all the detailing of the visor is achieved with physical elements, some features require detail on the elements to truly represent them. Surprisingly these are all printed. There’s not a sticker in sight and the appearance of the build is all the better for it. Printed elements include the two 3×3 flat round tiles used for the eyes and the large sloped piece around the mouth area, plus the small display plaque on the stand.
There are a couple of interesting elements used to create some of the visors details, such as telephone receivers lining the mouth section and minifigure action pegs used to create valves. It is a little tricky to make sure the tube-like breather vents are lined up neatly, these are mounted on balljoint connectors so can be positioned in different ways and can easily be misaligned should they get knocked.
Overall
When I first saw images of this set, I thought it was odd the hair wasn’t included. After building it, I can see why it was omitted. It’s much better without it, not only would hair turn the set into a dismembered head, it would so remove the set’s most unique feature. I’m not entirely sure if the Star-Lord’s Helmet was designed to be a pot of sorts, but the fact you can store things in the head is quite fun. Although I very much like the set and the impressive little features it has including dropping the use of stickers in favour of printed pieces, the pricing of the set is questionable. It has a fairly low piece count compared to some of the other helmet/head sculptures but also sports one of the highest price points. Unfortunately, this seems to be something other Superhero sculpture sets have suffered with. This is a shame really as this is my favourite of these sorts of sets as it looks very cool, it was great fun to build and it even provides an unnecessary functional use once complete, it’s just vastly overpriced.
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This set was provided by the LEGO Group for purposes of review. The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group or Disney. Providing a set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
