As long as there have been stories, there have been villains. And as long as there have been villains, there are some who can be called truly iconic. Villains that stick with us. Villains that stand the test of time. Dracula. Darth Vader. And Sauron. Whether in his human form or in the form of the eye, the central villain from The Lord of the Rings has become one of the most recognizable villains in history. As such, when LEGO announced 11373 The Lord of the Rings: Sauron’s Helmet, it felt like a perfect fit for growing the LEGO helmet collection.

When BrickNerd was offered an early copy of the set, I was excited for a couple of reasons. For starters, I haven’t had a chance to get 10333 The Lord of the Rings: Barad-dûr, so this set provides another opportunity to acquire the stunning Sauron figure.

While the minifigure is the main highlight of the set for me, the helmet itself is also a respectable display piece. Also, I’m always down for another excuse to force you all to listen to me nerd out about two of my biggest passions: LEGO bricks and Middle Earth! So without further ado, it’s time for a quick history lesson on this iconic villain!

The World Is Changed

Whether it’s his armor or his tower of Barad-dûr, Sauron has a distinct and well-documented aesthetic. Black and dark silver coloring, tall, angular lines, and long, pointy spikes. While the visual style of Sauron may be well-known now, it wasn’t always as set in stone as it may seem. In fact, Sauron is never described in the books as wearing armor. (There’s also a lot of debate about whether he was ever actually a literal eye, but that’s a debate for another time.) Between Tolkien’s original writings and Peter Jackson’s films, a number of different depictions of Sauron’s humanoid form have been imagined over the years.

Probably the earliest visual of Sauron is a watercolor painting by J.R.R. Tolkien himself, painted in 1954 for the dust jacket of The Return of the King. It’s more of a sketch than a fully-realized depiction, but while it may be abstract, the arm reaching out across Middle Earth definitely carries a sense of menace. Notably, Sauron's form is much more naturalistic here than the heavily-armored versions we’re used to seeing.

Another early depiction comes from Greg Hildebrandt, half of the iconic Brothers Hildebrandt duo. While they may be best known for designing some of the original Star Wars posters for release outside of the US, they also made a multitude of artworks based on Tolkien’s work, including this work titled “Sauron the Dark Lord.” Once again, while the figure is cloaked and wreathed in shadow, the armor that is so synonymous with the character is once again absent.

Jumping forward a bit, we can see the origins of the armored look in some of Wētā Workshop’s original concept art for the character, designed by Warren Mahy.

Finally, with the release of Peter Jackson’s The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001, Sauron’s iconic look was secured, and now it’s hard to imagine him looking any other way.

Gondor Calls For Aid… and the LEGO Community Will Answer!

When LEGO first started releasing sets based on The Lord of the Rings in 2012, many were hoping for a depiction of Sauron, but it was not to be. It wouldn’t be until 2024 that we would get our first official Sauron in 10333 Barad-dûr. However, we were lucky enough to be treated with both the Eye of Sauron and his humanoid form in that set.

Of course, long before The LEGO Group took up the reins, the LEGO community was filling in the gaps with custom creations. Once again, I’ll be focusing on depictions of Sauron in his humanoid form here, although there are numerous stunning models of The Eye of Sauron as well.

Before LEGO even started releasing LEGO Lord of the Rings sets, AFOLs were coming up with their own custom minifigures based on the books and movies. Aaron Newman was one such AFOL, using a series of modified and custom pieces to design his own Sauron minifigure.

Seven years later, Aaron would return to the subject matter with a larger brick-built rendition of the character. The helmet is particularly impressive, using a combination of swords to recreate Sauron’s iconic spikes.

Lego Popo scales things down a bit, creating a brick-built character that’s probably more in scale with minifigures than an actual minifigure would be. Once again, the helmet is comprised of some cleverly-implemented weapon pieces.

Joe Minieri goes in a completely different direction, portraying Sauron’s looming silhouette in this Summer Joust entry. Texture is used effectively to differentiate between different layers while the eye brilliantly foreshadows Sauron’s future fate.

Finally, I made a bust of Sauron myself back in 2024 as a prize for the BrickNerd-sponsored Middle Earth LEGO Olympics.

But they were all of them deceived, for another set was made…

One Set to Rule Them All

In the land of Denmark, in the fires of Billund, the LEGO designer Jae Won Lee forged in secret a master set to control all others… but more on that later…

11373 Sauron’s Helmet is split across six bags and comes together pretty quickly. There are some fun techniques to angle the panels, but nothing too crazy. Below you can see how the set develops bag by bag.

As I stated earlier, the real star of the set is the Sauron minifigure. It’s great to have him available in a relatively affordable set, and he really is a magnificent minifigure. I’m really tempted to build some Second Age MOCs using him now.

Once finished, Sauron looks suitably menacing. I was impressed with the angles achieved, especially at the front. I’m not completely sold on some of the textures—the balance between smooth and studs is a little jarring at times.

My biggest critique, though, is the presence of some unsightly gaps. The central strip has a bit of room to be angled, but no matter what angle you put it at, you can still see some rather large gaps along the sides.

Luckily, the set is constructed in a remarkably modular way, so it’s pretty easy to deconstruct it and make modifications. With the exception of the panels of the side, most of the panels are connected by clips.

My solution to covering up these gaps wasn’t anything fancy; I primarily just added a layer of plates behind the central strip and a couple of pieces to the cheek panels on the sides.

Here’s what my modifications look like when finished. It’s nothing crazy, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to take the model apart and make changes.

I’ll leave you all with one final parting gift: that tuxedo cat cameo earlier wasn’t completely out of the blue. It turns out that Sauron’s helmet scales remarkably well with 21349 Tuxedo Cat—meaning you can create this masterpiece!

Things That Have Not Yet Come to Pass…

Overall, I have some mixed thoughts on 11373 Sauron’s Helmet. I think it looks really good, but I think it also has some room for improvement. Luckily, any desired changes are easy to make yourself. The set is also slightly more expensive than I think it should be. It’s the cheapest Lord of the Rings revival set so far (BrickHeadz notwithstanding), and a great way to get ahold of the stunning Sauron minifigure.

I am keeping it up on display, which is more than I can say about most sets, so that says something good about the set. However, at the end of the day, I’d still prefer playsets with more minifigures to adult-oriented display pieces. And a Collectible Minifigures series. LEGO, if you’re reading this, we need a Lord of the Rings Collectible Minifigures line!

I’m curious where LEGO plans to go from here. The Helmet Collection seems to be doing well with the Star Wars and Marvel Superhero themes, so I’m curious if we’ll get more large-scale models like this for The Lord of the Rings. Sauron is definitely a good starting point, being such an iconic and menacing villain, but there aren’t a whole lot of other notable helmets found in The Lord of the Rings.

The Witch King of Angmar could make for a cool helmet, but it would probably be too similar to Sauron’s. Maybe Gandalf’s hat or Gimli’s helmet? Personally, I think it would be cool to see some upscaled props, especially swords like Sting or Andúril. Only time will tell what the line has in store, but this set’s price seems to be a move in the right direction, so here’s hoping LEGO continues that trend.

LEGO Icons 11373 The Lord of the Rings: Sauron's Helmet is available for pre-order, launching March 1st, for around $70 US | $90 CA | €75 EU | £65 UK | $130 AU.

DISCLAIMER: This set was provided to BrickNerd by LEGO. Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.

What LOTR minifigures would you like to see in a Collectible Minifigures line? Let us know in the comments below.

Do you want to help BrickNerd continue publishing articles like this one? Become a top patron like Paige Mueller, Rob Klingberg from Brickstuff, John & Joshua Hanlon from Beyond the Brick, Megan Lum, Andy Price, Lukas Kurth from StoneWars, Wayne Tyler, Dan Church, and Roxanne Baxter to show your support, get early access, exclusive swag and more.