The Lord of the Rings films are currently celebrating their 25th anniversary (we’re feeling old), and LEGO is marking the occasion with a new set for the beloved theme. LEGO Icons 11373 Sauron’s Helmet is the first helmet set from The Lord of the Rings, and is also the first helmet set to include a minifigure: the Dark Lord himself. We’re not sure if this is a one-and-done or if we’ll see more helmet sets in the theme, but let’s cast our all-seeing eye on how the helmet line meets the fantasy world!
LEGO Icons 11373 The Lord of the Rings: Sauron’s Helmet | 538 Pieces | Available March 1, 2026 | US $69.99 | CAN $89.99 | UK £64.99
The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
The Box and Contents
The box is the standard size and shape for the various helmet sets, though it is nice to see The Lord of the Rings logo on a smaller set that isn’t a GWP. As someone that purchased (and loved) all of the recent larger sets in the theme, I’m always still hopeful that we’ll see smaller sets return. This feels like a good start.
The interior contains 6 bags, which I was delighted to see are once again all paper and recyclable. It seems we’re finally reaching normalcy with paper bags. The instructions are plain white (I really miss the old bright and thematic Lord of the Rings instructions booklets), and it’s a thrill to not have a sticker sheet in this one.
The Build
The build itself is not overly complex or much different than what we’ve come to expect out of the helmet line. The core structure is similar to most other helmet builds, and the base and stand for the helmet are almost identical – save a couple of changes here and there, most notably for the minifig stand. Bag 1 is entirely dedicated to the stand, as shown below.
With Bag 2, we begin placing some SNOT bricks and various clips that will eventually allow us to shape the curvature of the helmet. I always love seeing bright interior colors in these builds.
The third bag is a fun one, and contains a bunch of different slopes and curved pieces that I really like. Sauron’s helmet is very jagged and distinctly shaped, and LEGO pulled out the full arsenal of parts here to try to get it right. With this bag, we build the front and rear of Annatar’s helmet.
With Bag 4, we build the Dark Lord’s face. It’s a lot of dark bluish gray. I think the eyes look great, but my favorite detail is the inverted corner arches (part #4190) near the bottom of his helmet that are used to give it the iconic jagged look. This is my favorite part usage in the set and favorite visual feature on the final build.
The fifth bag is smaller, and we are filling up some of the backside of the helmet here. We’ll look at it more later, but this is my least favorite part of the build. It’s quite boxy and doesn’t have a lot of detail.
The final bag is the heavy hitter. First, we finish up the helmet and put together the three large horns that will be the defining visual feature in the set. The remainder of the bag is dedicated to the minifigure and a wonderfully printed plaque for the front of the build. We get a full Sauron minifig and 3 rings to spare (beware, Elven Kings under the sky).
The Sauron minifig in this set is the same figure that appeared in Icons 10333 Barad-dûr, and it’s just as great as ever. The printing detail on the legs, torso, and head is fantastic, and the helmet mold is a thing of beauty. I own Barad-dûr and love this figure, but it’s so nice to see it available at a more affordable price point so that more people can enjoy it as well. I’d find myself picking up many more helmet sets if they all came with their minifigures!
Here’s a side-by-side look at the Sauron from the helmet set (left) and my Sauron from Barad-dûr (right) to confirm that they are identical. The only difference is that Sauron from the Barad-dûr set appears to have misplaced his ring at some point.
The Finished Model
The final build is a tall and imposing helmet build that will put all of your other helmets to shame with its height. The helmet is entirely dark bluish gray and thus not very exciting color-wise, but it matches the minifigure and source material fairly well (though his armor has more of shine to it in the films).
The helmet looks pretty great from the front, especially the inverted corner pieces toward the bottom of the helmet, but it begins to lose its appeal the more you get to the side or back. It’s a bit boxy and has a lot of exposed studs. Fortunately, it’s a helmet set and is designed to sit on a shelf facing forward – so not much of an issue here. I do think it looks very nice from the front.
One thing that stuck out to me upon my first view was just how tall the two primary horns were. The instructions state that the design team had access to the WETA Workshop Sauron helmet to measure and capture the proportions, but these look taller in comparison to the rest of the helmet than anything I can see in the films. They’re also scaled very differently from the horns on the included minifigure. Fortunately, it seems like a very easy fix if you want to make an adjustment.
Final Thoughts
Sauron’s Helmet is a fun addition to The Lord of the Rings theme at a price point that’s much more accessible to most than other recent releases. While it’s mostly monotone in color and a bit boxy on the sides, it makes for a nice display piece from the front and looks great alongside helmets from other themes. Most importantly, it comes with an incredible minifig that is currently only available in a $460 set (and is selling on Bricklink for an average cost that is higher than this entire set). That’s a win for us, a win for builders, and something that we would love to see continue in the helmet line.
I was happy with this set and wanted to keep the building going, so I challenged myself to try to create an accompanying build to display alongside the helmet. The One Ring was of course a requirement, so I put together Sauron’s soon-to-be-dismembered hand. If you thought hands were hard to draw, you probably haven’t tried building one yet (I hadn’t). I’ll keep making adjustments to it, but I might be addicted to the Lord of the Rings LEGO props now.
Will we see more sets in this sub-theme? A Witch-King helmet feels like it would fit right in here, but there’s also plenty of room for Uruk Hai and Gondorian helmets, Wizard hats, Dwarf helmets, crowns – the possibilities are endless! Hopefully this set is a sign of things to come.
LEGO Icons 11373 The Lord of the Rings: Sauron’s Helmet | 538 Pieces | Available March 1, 2026 | US $69.99 | CAN $89.99 | UK £64.99
