Viking Helmet: The Cold Hard Truth

[Nick]

The vikings never wore the horned helms in battle anyway, look at this discussion:
viewtopic.php?t=5003
Therefore, I do not approve of these helmets, and I voted 'two thumbs down'.

[Damien]

Two thumbs way down.

Let's see.. in concerns to firmness of set:

Like TwoTonic -- I don't think that these helmets fly off just by looking at them. But I use a slightly less complicated test than TT. Put each kind of helmet you own on a figure.. toss all of your figures into your preferred (preferrably full) LEGO bin.. now dig around in the bin for pieces for about twenty minutes.

Any helmet that is still on the figure after this is set firmly.


In any event, the Viking helms I own are most definitely too 'loose' fitting for my tastes.



Regarding design:

I concur that the helmet sits way too high on the head. I don't even consider it a historical problem -- just a design problem. Regardless of if it's historical or not - -I don't think it looks good. Not to mention the height of the helm, especially combined with horns, just further exaggerates the proportions of a minifig.

The horns, in my opinion, are incredibly lame. That lameness is furthered by the fact that the helm cannot be worn without them (taking note that I don't think the 'dragon wings' look any better than the horns). If LEGO had made the design of the horns like every other plume -- then the helm might be serviceable, as it could be worn without the horns without looking stupid.

And when I say they're lame.. I say that from a historically -neutral- perspective. Historical or not -- I don't like them.


Regardless of historical accuracy -- the helm, in my opinion, is just poorly designed and goofy to a fault. I like fantasy helmets, and I don't demand historical accuracy, so for me that's not even an issue. The helm is just plain craptastic.





While other toy lines and companies collapse on themselves, like Hasbro, LEGO continues to break new ground. I think that's a good thing. It is -good- that LEGO wants to keep producing totally new pieces. So I don't mean to come down too harshly on them -- this particular design was simply a failure, in my opinion. It happens to the best companies. I say better luck next time, but they let me down on this one.

[Blueandwhite]

Not my taste. The horns are ok, but the helmets are useless without them. Hopefully we'll see a second helmet next year, as these ones really aren't doing it for me.

Later.

[LEGOFREAK]

yah - I voted ok but not great. I really thought they would sit further down on the head, and I dont like how they look without the horns. I like the color though and the shape. Just not crazy about the way they sit.
and yeah.. they are loose.
I am experimenting with plugging the holes and putting some extra stuff in the helmet to make it sit tighter, but nothing is going to change how high up it sits. (at least nothing that I am going to do)
so for me I have little pile of helmets, a bunch of horns being pressed into service as teeth for beasties (boo yah!) and a bunch of new vikings with old helmets.. and I love 'em
like ttk said - I love the shields, the axes, the torsos, the faces.. they just let me down with the helmets. ( I am still buying the whole line. )

[Damien]

I'm still buying the whole line too, eventually! Just will probably end up Bricklinking away all of the helmets.

Although first I might try sanding down the openings for the horns, filling the leftover holes with greenstuff, and repainting the whole thing. But I'm not sure even how that'll look, or if I'll have time to do it.

[HenrytheV]

Well, my 3 Viking lonboats just got here today, and I have to say I'm impressed. I like how the Vikings themselves look, but the helmets don't look just right. I wish the horns didn't stick out that much. I might have to butcher an antenna and stick some of it in the holes. So, overall, I give it "Okay but not great". Oh, and my helmets stay on just fine

[Morgan19]

The color and horns I don't mind so much, but the base helmet itself is horrible: as others have mentioned, mine also do the wobble thing and sit much too high on the minifig's head. They just look silly.

m19

[JPinoy]

I actually like the design of this new helmet. I keep the horns there, (because) the way I use the Vikings are based on the Norse from the game AGE ~of~ MYTHOLOGY.

[Norro]

Two thumbs way down.

Let's see.. in concerns to firmness of set:

Like TwoTonic -- I don't think that these helmets fly off just by looking at them. But I use a slightly less complicated test than TT. Put each kind of helmet you own on a figure.. toss all of your figures into your preferred (preferrably full) LEGO bin.. now dig around in the bin for pieces for about twenty minutes.

Any helmet that is still on the figure after this is set firmly.


In any event, the Viking helms I own are most definitely too 'loose' fitting for my tastes.



Regarding design:

I concur that the helmet sits way too high on the head. I don't even consider it a historical problem -- just a design problem. Regardless of if it's historical or not - -I don't think it looks good.

This sums up both my definition of firmness and opinions of the helm. Thanks much ; )

God Bless,

Nathan

[eNiGMa]

I got my fortress yesterday, and after a bit of "testing," I concluded that I like the new helmets. They look fine, at least to me, on the minifigs. Without the horns, I can only see a little bit of "head" near the bottom of the holes--nothing too distracting from the fig or helmet themselves. Also, mine stay on quite firmly--only two of them move when bumped, but it takes quite a big bump.

I guess I'm just one of the lucky ones.