Darth Maul (Star Wars Animated) - Maquettes

The whole idea behind Darth Maul collectibles that are rendered without him wearing a shirt all began originally with The Phantom Menace concept art. It was this design that was the catalyst to fully develop and define the character we have grown to love over the years. Hasbro has often created action figures based on this design, but they and other licensees haven’t been forthright in labeling the source of this exact iteration. They tend to get lazy and just say that “this is Darth Maul from The Phantom Menace”. The Research Droids Reviews here at Jedi Temple Archives however are a little more specific, and we want to clarify that besides the concept art from The Phantom Menace, the shirtless version of Darth Maul can also be sourced to Star Wars Tales, more exactly, the Marked storyline from that comic series. Admittedly, a shirtless version of Darth Maul is a little bit more interesting. You really get to take in his tattoo pattern, as it covers his entire body, and you understand the complexity of it and what he must have sustained to get them done. Expect more collectibles of this Darth Maul style for years to come, because it certainly resonates with fans and collectors alike.

Gentle Giant Ltd. was very eager to add Darth Maul into their popular Star Wars Animated Maquettes line. Taking cues from popular Hasbro figures, they too also decided to go with a shirtless version of Darth Maul for the Maquette too. It’s excellent in many ways, but it also isn’t accurate in one important way, no matter what Expanded Universe source you cite. Unless we have missed something altogether, we never came across any comic or book that explained that Darth Maul had honed his Force skills to the point of creating Force lightning. But that’s the direction Gentle Giant Ltd. headed in for this very nice high-end collectible. Darth Maul sits atop a newly designed base. It’s completely circular and has multiple points poking out from it throughout its entire circumference. Darth Maul’s attitude is cocky and he even looks a little bit agitated. In his right hand he is upholding a little batch of Force lightning. And in his left hand he is holding his signature double-bladed lightsaber. (The blades are removable so you have the flexibility to display him with or without a lit lightsaber hilt.) His left wrist also sports his Sith probe droid caller and it gives his personality an extra edge. It looks fantastic!

The paint job overall is good, but to be honest we did find a few instances of sloppily applied brush strokes that affect the integrity of his tattooed pattern. It isn’t terrible, but it’s enough to be annoying if you’re a stickler for neat paint applications. But overall, this is a very nice piece and in general should make collectors of this line very happy. It may even possess a strong enough appeal for those on the fence to fall over it and start up this very special and artful line. Then maybe it will not. But with only 2500 pieces produced of such a main character in the Star Wars saga, this collectible may be more difficult to acquire in the future. Gentle Giant Ltd. has definitely appeared to revisit what characters they release in the Maquettes line. With a scale back in the amount of Star Wars Animated Maquettes each and every year, they have to ensure that they’re picking the most viable characters for this line. Darth Maul is such a powerful character however, that they could probably give us another Maquette of him based on his appearance from Episode I and it would likely do just as well, if not better. We just know that we love this piece, and we cannot wait to see what gets released next.