Darth Maul - LC - Basic (BD05)

The Sith apprentice of Darth Sidious, Darth Maul's skill and ferocity are matched only by his fervent dedication to the way of the Sith. His entire body is covered with intricate tattoos in order to demonstrate his devotion to the dark side, as well as to terrify his opponents.

Although this exact figure has been around since the very early start of 2008 (right before the 30 (77-07) line started winding down), Darth Maul based on his concept art was actually first attempted in action figure form by Hasbro years before it. If you rewind your collector mind back to 2001, we got a brief set of four deluxe figures (and not the best-selling mind you) in the Power Of The Jedi line. There we first saw our first less-clothed Darth Maul action figure and the packaging even specifically advertised its inspiration from the concept art as well. It was a pretty great figure for its time, but by 2009 standards, the figure is essentially a pre-posed moveable statue. And while that is an oxymoron in and of itself, it barely could move in ways we could have hoped, even thought it was clear Hasbro did try to step up their sculpting technology as much as they could for the time. The concept figures are making a solid return to the basic figure line. While they are likely not to come back in full force like the McQuarrie figures, they will be making frequent appearances in the basic figure line. This Darth Maul figure is right at home in this line and an incredibly sculpted figure. Thank the makers at Hasbro, because they jettisoned this figure to the forefront of action figure splendor thanks to its excellent sculpt and super-articulation. This awesome Darth Maul figure sees its first basic carded release in the Legacy Collection despite being available twice in 2008's TAC The Sith Legacy which was also reissued as 2008's TLC The Sith Legacy Evolutions sets.

You will likely not want to know this, but the basic figure is indeed slightly different than the Evolutions figure. The red paint is now more striking and brighter but it certainly isn't enough to call it a repaint. (Well, actually we do consider this a repaint - you will have to decide this for yourself.) Also, his eyes look a little different from the original. Hasbro has been successful at getting factories to improve and tweak things and these barely visible changes are clearly a result of this. It is great to know that figures can continue looking better with a little nudging. Paint is everything when it comes to action figures and the better Hasbro can paint them, the happier collectors are! Of course, not everything can be perfected. Darth Maul still comes with his severely outdated 1999 lightsaber. Please Hasbro, it is high time to get a newly sculpted lightsaber! When it comes to accessories, Hasbro should not be using old parts with new figures. The combination doesn't work too well together and the differences in technology between the actual accessory and the new figure are rather glaring. Collectors have voiced for quite some time now that Hasbro would design a new lightsaber for Maul (utilizing modern technology), but it has yet to come to pass. We hope that Hasbro listens to the collective cry for a new Darth Maul lightsaber as we have been wanting this for quite some time now.

Darth Maul was a prime candidate to round out The Phantom Menace wave of figures that opened up the red phase of the Legacy Collection. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest selling action figures Hasbro has ever created and it appears that both kids and collectors alike cannot get enough versions of him into their collections. And while this is one of the better Darth Maul figures out there, we hope that Hasbro has plans for a more definitive Darth Maul action figure based on his appearance from Episode I. They could essentially just tweak this version and perhaps wrap him up in layers of soft-goods. We would also wish for a slightly better face paint application including very accurately replicated eyes. It seems that is it quite difficult to catch the exact alarming look in his Sith eyes. Very few (if any) Darth Maul figures have captured this well. It appears that Hasbro doesn't have to do much to make the definitive Darth Maul figure. They are almost there and this figure is definitely darn close. As one of the repack figures, you don't need him to build the awesome Build A Droid L8-L9, but if you did purchase him, you could skip one of the new figures. Star Wars collecting is full of so many choices, isn't it? Consider your options, because if you passed on the Evolutions sets, this is your change to grab a truly remarkable Darth Maul action figure.