LEGO Star Wars Captain Rex vs. Commander Cody helmets: which should you buy?

Only got the budget for one new LEGO Star Wars: The Clone Wars helmet in 2023? Here’s our guide to help you decide between Rex and Cody…

75349 Captain Rex Helmet and 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet will both arrive on LEGO Store shelves on March 1, alongside 75351 Princess Leia (Boushh) Helmet. We haven’t yet got our hands on Boushh – the only original trilogy character in the pack, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi – but we have reviewed Rex and Cody, which you can see here and here respectively.

We were pretty positive about both builds within those reviews, but if you’ve only got the budget or space for one, how do you choose which to go for? Let’s break them both down to find out which deserves to be top of your shipping list next month (or pre-ordered straight away).

Captain Rex vs. Commander Cody helmets build

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Unsurprisingly, both of these helmets share the same basic build process: a core built from seemingly unlimited brackets, on to which various sub-assemblies are attached. It’s an effective and enjoyable way to construct a LEGO helmet, so you won’t have a bad time with either 75349 Captain Rex Helmet or 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet.

For us, though, Rex’s helmet comes out just ahead of Cody’s: the unique shape of his headgear, which blends Phase I and Phase II designs, makes for a more interesting and engaging build. It’s a tricky one to realise at this scale (as we’ll come to), but the result is a build that stands apart in the LEGO Star Wars Helmet Collection.

Winner: 75349 Captain Rex Helmet

Captain Rex vs. Commander Cody helmets display

Which of these two sets looks best on shelves? We’ve put both of them together and displayed them both side-by-side and individually, and our answer is – without a doubt – 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet. That’s not to disparage 75349 Captain Rex Helmet: it’s still a fine interpretation of his unique headgear, and particularly all those weird angles and curves baked into its in-universe design.

But it suffers from the same issues as 75276 Stormtrooper Helmet, and ends up at the same place: a polarising build technique to capture the respiratory tubes around the bottom of the helmet. Points for consistency, but it’s still a little jarring to look at (even if it is more fun to build).

By contrast, Cody’s helmet benefits from bold and clean lines and angles from top to bottom – and yet still has just enough subtle shaping to maintain interest across build and display.

Winner: 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet

Captain Rex vs. Commander Cody helmets characters

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Choosing between Commander Cody and Captain Rex as characters mostly comes down to which of the two you prefer, which is too subjective for us to make a definitive statement on. What we can do is look at which of these characters is best suited to the LEGO medium, and in particular to the LEGO Star Wars Helmet Collection.

And in that regard, 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet feels like the clear winner. As we’ve already covered, the Phase I helmet is a better fit for blocky LEGO pieces, and particularly within the limited scale of this range – but beyond that, it’s also much more versatile than 75349 Captain Rex Helmet.

Where the 501st trooper’s helmet is unique in-universe, and much more difficult to adapt to any other Phase II character, Cody’s helmet serves as the perfect base for creating either another Phase I commander or even a regular Phase I Clone Trooper helmet. If you ever get bored of having the orange-tinted headgear on display, you can pretty easily swap it out for something else. Rex is just Rex.

Winner: 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet

Captain Rex vs. Commander Cody helmets price

Both 75349 Captain Rex Helmet and 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet retail for £59.99 / $69.99 / €69.99, so there’s very little to separate them in this department – not least because they come in at roughly the same size. To find a winner, we’ve fallen back on the trusty price-per-piece ratio – the value of which is felt more in the build process than the sheer amount of plastic.

That’s because while 75349 Captain Rex Helmet includes 854 pieces to 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet’s 766 pieces, most of Rex’s bricks are pretty small. But it does lead to a slightly longer build, so the 501st leader can have this one.

Winner: 75349 Captain Rex Helmet

Captain Rex vs. Commander Cody helmets verdict

We’re tied two for two there, which makes us think we shouldn’t have picked an even number of categories. But on balance, 75349 Captain Rex Helmet has only eked its rival by a hair in one of those categories – its price – so we’re giving the crown to 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet.

It’s a more successful interpretation of the character where it counts, and like the best LEGO sets, opens the door to many more possibilities. It’s tough on poor Rex, whose helmet is already much more difficult to pull off – so if you have the money and space, we’d very much recommend grabbing them both. They do look pretty good together…

Overall winner: 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet

75349 Captain Rex Helmet and 75350 Clone Commander Cody Helmet are available to pre-order now for £59.99 / $69.99 / €69.99 each, and will start shipping from March 1.

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