Darth Maul - SW [S - P3] - Collectible Figure And Cup

Darth Maul battles Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn in the heart of the Theed Royal Palace. The Sith mortally wounds Qui-Gon and almost defeats Obi-Wan. But Maul is caught by surprise when the Jedi strikes back and ends the Sith's life.

In an indirect homage-paying sort of way, Hasbro recreated collectible drinking cups and paired them with previously existing action figures in episode-specific gift sets. They went over well with collectors, but the action figures Hasbro included were significant steps backward in what could have been the perfect time to make enhancements and updates to older sculpts. In all fairness, Hasbro’s options were limited to what figures they could use as main characters. When it came to pairing figures from the Original and Prequel Trilogy, Hasbro just had four previous collections to cull their choices. So, obviously, when it came to the Episode I set they had to go back four or five years to choose an appropriate Darth Maul action figure. So that’s what Hasbro did. They chose 1999’s EI Darth Maul (Tatooine) figure, changed some of the deco (intentionally or unintentionally – we’re not sure) and added it to the Darth Maul Collectible Figure And Cup set. The figure has no other changes or updates to it than what we have already itemized. It’s an alright likeness of Darth Maul as he appeared before confronting Qui-Gon Jinn on the Tatooine desert, but it’s time for an all-new sculpt. We hope this is the last time they use this figure.

In Star Wars collecting, less sometimes means more for collectors and it seems that the less that is worked into a figure will often allow the aesthetics of the figure to appear nice, than a figure loaded with articulation. This is counterproductive when it comes to posing figures of course. We’re just making the point that seamlessness is a nice feature too. That’s where this Darth Maul figure succeeds, However, it fails miserably when it comes to posing. It feels like we should have received more options for this iteration of Darth Maul in the action figure line. In fact, we’re surprised that Hasbro didn’t release more versions of Darth Maul than they did for the Episode I line. It’s a step in the wrong direction to keep utilizing Episode I sculpts in the Star Wars “Saga” [Phase III] lineup. But at least they chose one of the better sculpts of Darth Maul from this line because it does capture the essence and feel of the character from scenes that have this outfit specificity. Darth Maul looks alright, but his articulation is essentially rendered useless because of the molded robes. And we don’t think the deco, albeit very cleanly applied, represents the true look of the character all that well either.

Darth Maul comes with a lightsaber accessory. He doesn’t hold it tightly, but it is possible to pose him with it. His arms have been designed to accommodate it, but other that one, two or three posing options, that’s about all this figure offers. Sure, the arms around the elbows swivel to recreate lightsaber swinging motion, but with the inability to articulate the shoulders all that well, this extra articulation is nearly moot. Underneath of the molded robes is a nicely tooled body complete with a swivel waist and swivel hips. And that’s about all we get here. For us, the best part of this gift set is the included cup anyway. It features multiple images of Darth Maul including a great close up image. The artwork from the logo to the various scenes forever captured in this rendering are beautiful and make the cup itself a wonderful collectible for collectors. Retailing for $9.99, this TARGET exclusive is fairly priced for what’s included inside of it. If you think $5 for the cup and $5 for the action figure, you could do a whole lot worse. This will undoubtedly be one of the most popular sets in the whole Collectible Figure And Cup line. Darth Maul has proven he is going nowhere with collectors. In fact, we just cannot get enough of him.