We review the new LEGO Star Wars TIE Fighter Pilot Helmet which was released in April 2020. Read our interview with the LEGO Star Wars Helmet designers.
Vital Statistics
Theme: Star Wars
Name: TIE Fighter Pilot Helmet
Item: 75274
Price: £54.99 UK/$59.99 USA
Ages: 18+
Pieces: 724
LEGO Website Description
Challenge your construction skills and evoke memories of classic Star Wars™ battle scenes with this LEGO® Star Wars TIE Fighter Pilot Helmet (75274) buildable display model! A wonderful gift idea for Star Wars connoisseurs aged 18+ and any experienced LEGO builder, the iconic contours and details of the helmet are beautifully recreated with LEGO bricks plus graphics stickers.
Build and display
This collectible Star Wars helmet has a base with a nameplate and is sure to grab attention displayed at home or in the office. And check out the other new-for-May-2020 LEGO Star Wars build-to-display model kits – Stormtrooper Helmet (75276) and Boba Fett Helmet (75277).Galaxy of fun!
The LEGO Group has been recreating iconic starships, vehicles, locations and characters from the Star Wars universe since 1999. LEGO Star Wars is its most successful theme, with a huge array of sets for play and display to delight fans of all ages.
• Show off elite-class building skills to construct this sleek Star Wars™ TIE Fighter Pilot Helmet (75274). A wonderful display model to delight any fan, it’s all about the beautiful LEGO® brick-built details.
• The iconic design of a TIE Fighter Pilot Helmet is replicated in LEGO® bricks plus graphics stickers to spark memories of epic Star Wars™ movie scenes, and the base with nameplate makes for a cool display.
• This LEGO® set is part of a series of collectible LEGO Star Wars™ build-to-display model kits – also check out the Stormtrooper Helmet (75276) and Boba Fett Helmet (75277).
• This 723-piece Star Wars™ construction kit delivers an immersive, challenging build for experienced LEGO® builders and makes the best birthday gift, Christmas present or special surprise for any Star Wars fan aged 18+.
• The TIE Fighter Pilot Helmet measures 7” (18cm) high, 5” (13cm) wide and 6” (15cm) deep – it doesn’t need much space for display, but its striking, authentic details are sure to catch the eye of every passerby!
• No batteries required! This collectible LEGO® Star Wars™ TIE Fighter Pilot Helmet building set offers a stress-relieving build with LEGO bricks only. So zone out and enjoy creating a beautiful display piece!
• Buying this cool building toy for a big Star Wars™ fan who is a LEGO® beginner? Don’t worry. It comes with easy-to-follow instructions so they can open the box and take on this complex build with confidence.
• There is a rich variety of LEGO® Star Wars™ sets to delight fans of all ages, whether they want to role-play scenes from the movies, dream up their own epic stories or just build and display the awesome models.
• No need to use the Force to connect or pull apart LEGO® bricks! Ever since 1958, they have met the highest industry standards to ensure that they fit together perfectly and with ease.
• LEGO® bricks and pieces are crushed, twisted, dropped, heated and analysed to ensure that this fun Star Wars™ building set meets the highest safety standards on planet Earth (and in every galaxy!).
Review
Released on April 19th 2020, the three LEGO Star Wars Buildable Model Helmets of Stormtrooper (#75276), Boba Fett (#75277) and TIE Fighter Pilot (#75274), were the first sets to be released under the new adult orientated 18+ theming, introduced by LEGO in an attempt to bring to lure more adults to the premium brand.
The packaging consists of a black portrait box featuring the helmet’s name and affiliation at the top, followed by a highlighted picture of the completed set and the LEGO & Star Wars branding. Running along the base of the box, a strip identifies the set’s target age, product number and piece count. Whilst the box states the target age is 18+, we can confidently state that these could be built by many from the age of 8+.
Today, we delve inside the LEGO Star Wars TIE Fighter Pilot Buildable Model Helmet (#75274). The TIE Fighter Pilot was first introduced in Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977, and the picture depicting the helmet on the front of the box looks fabulous.
Inside the Box
The set is comprised of 724 pieces and these are broken down into six numbered bags, each corresponding to the stages of the build. The one-hundred-and-forty-six page manual starts with a brief introduction by LEGO Star Wars Creative Director Jens Kronvold Frederiksen.
The Build
See below for a full time-lapse of the build.
The helmet is built in much the same way as a LEGO BrickHeadz figure, featuring may of the same elements. Bag 1 builds the main structure of the head using a variety of brightly coloured LEGO elements, which are concealed as the build progresses. This is placed on a black stand in the second bag, which is reminiscent of the bases built for UCS sets, albeit with more curved pieces.
Bag three adds elements to the front and sides of the head, and this is continued with bag 4 where we add flexible cables to each side of the head which will later be used to form the breathing tubes. It is here that we add the set’s only stickers which help form the sides of the mouth grill adjacent to printed elements. Round plates are used to help create the sensors and speakers on the sides of the helmet.
Overall
This was the first of the three helmets that I built, and it was an enjoyable build. Having built all three though I can see how this could become repetitive, and there are many similarities especially between the build of the TIE Pilot and Stromtrooper, effectively having the same mouth, lenses, air vents and filters.
Viewing this helmet from the rear or sides reveals a large number of exposed studs and I cannot help wondering if the inclusion of more slopes, similar those used on the top, could have help to alleviate this. From the front though, the TIE Pilot looks superb and recreates the iconic look of this trooper.
This has roughly seventy-five more pieces than the Stormtrooper and almost a hundred more than Boba Fett, so its price of £54.99 ($59.99 US and €59.99 Europe) seems good value when comparing with those sets. I just feel that these helmets should have been priced below £50 to make them more appealing to the targeted audience.
These look great on display, together or alone, and it will be interesting to see how many turn up on desks of those not already adult fans of LEGO (AFOL).
We thank LEGO for proving this set for review. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
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