Darth Maul (Final Duel) - POTJ - Basic

This mysterious and highly trained Sith warrior uses his physical and tactical abilities to further the goals of his Master, Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Maul's anger and hatred of the Jedi fuel his powers with the dark side of the Force.

Coming up with a new and exciting version of Darth Maul is quite similar to coming up with an exciting and unique version of Darth Vader. That means that’s it possible, but it requires a little bit of creativity and thinking outside of the box. The Power Of The Jedi line has already proven this successful with Darth Vader. Hasbro created the brilliant Darth Vader (Dagobah) and Darth Vader (Emperor’s Wrath) and they were embraced successfully by collectors. So what would it take to make a Darth Maul action figure that also would fall outside of their first extinct. You may be surprised to find out that it would be a Darth Maul figure based on the final moments alive in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Collectors can welcome the nifty Darth Maul (Final Duel) into the basic figure line. It’s a pretty good action figure that has minimal articulation, but a very nice sculpt, clean paint job and an action feature that is actually pretty darn cool. All of these characteristics work together to produce an overall very satisfying version of Darth Maul. And even kids and collectors who may feel that they have gotten their fill in the Episode I line will feel that this is new enough to warrant a new purchase.

Darth Maul (Final Duel) brings the best worlds to collectors. He really has an excellent likeness. Some of the paint operations aren’t exactly perfect. There appears to be a little too much black color in the nose area, but from both sides of his profile we can’t find much to complain about at all. The lines are very clean, the colors looks great (despite their relative simplicity) and the sculpt is essentially flawless. One thing working against Darth Maul (Final Duel) is his center of gravity, but this has more to do with his inhibited movement in the hips because of the plastic molded lower robes. You literally cannot attain any movement in this area at all. Darth Maul (Final Duel) can actually break down into three separate parts: the upper body, the lower body and the lower robes are also a separately sculpted piece. (Then the lightsaber accessory is the fourth part.) The upper body attaches to the lower body section via a fairly strong magnet. This has been done so you can recreate the last scene in Episode I in which we see Darth Maul living, right before Obi-Wan Kenobi slices him in half and he falls down into the shaft in pieces. What’s really cool is that Darth Maul (Final Duel) possesses and expression which sort of works for this scene almost perfectly.

We have to credit Hasbro for creating a version of Darth Maul that we don’t have yet. So he isn’t an instant bore or anything. Besides, he nicely complements the 12” Sith Lords Darth Maul figure that also split in two. It’s nice to have everything in both scales whenever possible. Keep in mind that you cannot get a lot of movement out of Darth Maul (Final Duel) however. So if you’re content to just display him in your collection and/or utilize his action feature, than this action brings more to the line that you could possibly want. But if you’re looking for the best ne articulated Darth Maul, well, this isn’t the one you have been waiting for because he certainly lacks in that area. But otherwise you should be happy with the aesthetics of the figure because it really does look very nice. Darth Maul (Final Duel) is absolutely a fresh new take on Darth Maul. His likeness beats anything in the Episode I line, and it’s sets the stage for great Darth Maul action figures for the future. And lastly, it’s based on a climactic scene in The Phantom Menace and you can finally recreate that scene identically to how it was seen in the film now. Darth Maul (Final Duel) has its plusses and minuses, but we believe that you’ll find it will be a very likeable action figure.