Darth Maul

For me the highlight of Episode 1 was the new Sith Lord Darth Maul. Sadly, he was taken from us too soon (unless you count the Clone Wars TV show).

Hasbro has decided to include Darth Maul as one of the first releases in their fledgeling Black Series of 6″ scale action figures. The Black Series is basically Marvel Legends done with Star Wars characters. It’s a great idea, and for the most part well executed. The sad thing for me is that I just couldn’t get excited to buy yet another line of Star Wars figures.

The people at Fun.com provided us with an opportunity to take another look at the line, and after handling Darth Maul, I am glad I did. This is a great figure. It has some small issues, but for the price point it’s great.

The Black Series packaging is dark and minimalist. I think it works for the bad guys but not so much for the good guys. Inside you get a plastic tray with all the accessories nestled inside.

The sculpt on Maul is fantastic. I believe the development of these was handled by Gentle Giant, so it should come as no surprise.

Darth Maul’s cloak is a soft rubber that moves with the figure. There’s also a soft rubber skirt as well as a cloth skirt underneath, which adds many layers of texture to the figure.

The face paint is amazing. The paint is crisp and clean with many applications.

The head and cloak is one piece, and can be removed. You need to lift the arms up to get them out of the holes, but the flexible rubber has enough give.

With the variant head attached and the cloak removed you get a much wider range of motion. You can also get a better look at the layering of the outfit.

You can attach his double bladed lightsaber via a peg to his belt.

Translucent red blades can be attached to the saber hilt. Each has a slight curve due to the material. If the plastic was more rigid, you wouldn’t see this.

The double blades look bad-ass.

You can separate the two hilts so that Maul can wield them separately.

The saber looks good with the cloak on as well. The connection between the two sabers is not that strong, so they have a tendency to bend when posed with two hands.

Like I said, Maul is a great looking figure, and it makes me re-evaluate my feelings about the black line. However I still have one nitpick with the line – the knee joints.

First, the joint is so large, it doesn’t bend naturally. Second, with the advances in action figure technology, why is it we have such large glaring holes on the side of the legs?

And is it just me, or is Darth Maul wearing Crocs?

Darth Maul, (and other Star Wars Black figures) are available at Fun.com