LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet review

The LEGO Star Wars Helmet Collection finally journeys into the prequel trilogy era in 2023, and 75349 Captain Rex Helmet aims to prove clones aren’t meant to be expendable.

Captain Rex once famously said ‘experience outranks everything’, and so it is that the LEGO Star Wars design team has now applied its years of experience on the Helmet Collection to its first prequel-era characters. One of those is the 501st leader himself, whose unique helmet fuses together both Phase I and Phase II designs.

It’s a tricky one to execute on paper, not least for being heavily customised by Rex in Lucasfilm’s animated The Clone Wars series. Couple that with sky-high expectations – for not only a fan-favourite character, but the first of two new Clone Trooper helmets – and 75349 Captain Rex Helmet has the weight of the galaxy on its shoulders. (Or it would if it had any.) Can it deliver for a hungry LEGO Star Wars audience? 

— LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet set details —

Theme: LEGO Star Wars Set name: 75349 Captain Rex Helmet Release: March 1, 2023

lego

Price: £59.99 / $69.99 / €69.99 Pieces: 854

LEGOMarch 1, 2023

— Where to buy LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet —

LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet is available to purchase from LEGO.com, LEGO Stores and through third-party retailers. You can find the latest prices across all retailers below.

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— LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet build —

It’s not a stretch to say that the LEGO Star Wars Helmet Collection offers builds unlike anything else in the current portfolio. In the Diorama Collection, you’re still building scenes anchored around minifigures, only on a base – see the difference between 75208 Yoda’s Hut and 75330 Dagobah Jedi Training Diorama; Microfighters are the same principle as building bigger ships, only vastly scaled down. But the helmets? They’re unique – at least as an assortment.

The variety within that assortment comes through in the particular character choices, colour schemes and so on rather than the build experience, which is mostly a case of adding sub-assemblies to a core constructed from seemingly endless brackets. There are a couple of exceptions (75327 Luke Skywalker (Red Five) Helmet springs to mind), but you won’t find anything that drastic across 75349 Captain Rex Helmet or 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet. By and large, both these builds stick to the same formula we’ve come to expect.

But that doesn’t mean they aren’t fresh. In fact, they lean better than many into what gives this assortment its variety – those character and colour choices – and 75349 Captain Rex Helmet most of all, for being arguably the most detailed set in this range yet. That’s pretty much all thanks to the source material, because this is easily the most unique Clone Trooper helmet in all of Star Wars. Go big or go home, says the LEGO Group.

Those details are faithfully recreated too, from the weld marks (stickered) that betray Rex’s brute-forced armour to the jaig eyes (brick-built, so cleverly) that decorate the top of his helmet. Even within the same framework of brackets and sub-assemblies, these details stand 75349 Captain Rex Helmet’s build apart from 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet, so you won’t feel too much repetition if you’re angling for both of these sets.

That’s true too through the less straightforward shaping of Rex’s helmet. At every turn you’ll spot clever construction to capture all the complex curves that define this kit-bashed helmet – which are successful in some areas more than others, and mostly work best when viewed from a distance rather than up close.

One place 75349 Captain Rex Helmet is perhaps less successful is also where it falls into the trap of repeating a previous build: the technique used to capture the base of the helmet is borrowed directly from 75276 Stormtrooper Helmet. It was divisive there and will probably prove divisive here, too, for how it trades the smooth tubes of its source material for jagged, stepped slopes. That said, it does keep things firmly within the sphere of ‘LEGO DNA’ the designers often talk up, and it also ensures a consistent aesthetic with the wider LEGO Star Wars Helmet Collection (if you happen to be displaying this next to 75276 Stormtrooper Helmet, for instance).

What’s trickier to reconcile is the strangely flat front edge of the helmet: the jaw of Rex’s helmet, which you can see on the back of the box (the comparisons on the packaging don’t necessarily do these sets any favours), protrudes forward much further than the LEGO version. It’s not a dealbreaker, but leaves you wondering what else might have been possible – or if nothing else was possible, whether Rex is really the best fit for this scale.

That’s really the crux of it, because this is maybe the most complex helmet shape the LEGO Group has attempted outside of the Stormtrooper, and – in the interests of that aforementioned consistency – 75349 Captain Rex Helmet must fit into a predetermined template. The most successful sets within that template are those that can keep things simple – Boba Fett, The Mandalorian – and certain compromises need to be made with characters like Rex. (You can see that too in the mouth, which struggles in a similar way to 75304 Darth Vader Helmet.)

For our money, those compromises toe the line of acceptability – but don’t cross it. The important bit really is that this is still a recognisable rendition of Rex through the lens of LEGO, and with one eye on the usual limitations of part palette and scale, that’s perhaps all we need from a LEGO Star Wars helmet.

— LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet characters —

The LEGO Star Wars Helmet Collection doesn’t include minifigures, but if there was ever a set in this range that would have benefited from one, it’s 75349 Captain Rex Helmet – if only to bring down the astonishing aftermarket price of the 2013 minifigure. Fingers crossed we see the return of Rex in a LEGO Star Wars set later this year…

— LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet price —

75349 Captain Rex Helmet includes 854 pieces, and when first seeing that number on the box we were worried the RRP would jump to match 75304 Darth Vader Helmet – the only other set in this collection that can rival its part count. Thankfully, Rex’s helmet holds fast at £59.99 / $69.99 / €69.99, which feels about right next to the rest of the LEGO Star Wars Helmet Collection.

In isolation, though, is it worth £60? That’s a tough question to answer, because the finished model – like the rest of the helmets – isn’t very big at all. These are dense builds, with plenty of tiny parts, so the value proposition really comes down to whether you prioritise the build experience or the sheer volume of plastic. If it’s the latter, wait for a sale.

— LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet pictures —

— LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet pros and cons —

Between its involved build and ample pockets of screen-accurate detail, 75349 Captain Rex Helmet offers a recognisable and accomplished rendition of the 501st leader’s unique helmet. It’s not perfect, clearly wasn’t easy to pull off, and arguably presented a risky choice for the LEGO Star Wars Helmet Collection – but in what’s now the subtheme’s fourth year, the designers have managed to overcome the odds to deliver a successful Clone Wars character.

Maybe experience really does outrank everything…

75349 Captain Rex Helmet pros75349 Captain Rex Helmet cons
Engaging build experienceOne too many compromises to fit this scale
Intelligent design, especially for brick-built markingsReused technique for base of helmet will still be polarising
The most detailed helmet yet

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by purchasing your copy of LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet using our affiliate links. Thank you!

— Alternatives to LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet —

The growing LEGO Star Wars Helmet Collection has plenty of alternative characters to choose from, not least another Clone Trooper in 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet, which launches alongside 75349 Captain Rex Helmet. If you like this format but prefer original trilogy characters, check out 75304 Darth Vader Helmet and 75327 Luke Skywalker (Red Five) Helmet. For something a little more current, there’s always 75328 The Mandalorian Helmet.

— LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet FAQs —

How long does it take to build LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet?

LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet takes roughly 90 minutes to put together. The final model isn’t massive, but it is pretty dense, and there’s some fiddly construction to achieve all those angles.

How many pieces are in LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet?

75349 Captain Rex Helmet includes 854 pieces, which is the most of any LEGO Star Wars helmet to date. It trumps 2021’s 75304 Darth Vader Helmet by 20 pieces, but comes in £10 / $10 / €10 cheaper.

How big is LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet?

LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet sits in scale with the rest of the helmet collection, measuring 21cm tall, 12cm wide and 13cm deep. You won’t have too much trouble finding somewhere to display it.

How much does LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet cost?

LEGO Star Wars 75349 Captain Rex Helmet retails for £59.99 in the UK, $69.99 in the US and €69.99 in Europe, and is available now.

Author Profile

Chris Wharfe
I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.

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Chris Wharfe

I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.

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