Darth Maul/I-5YQ - LC - Droid Factory (4 of 5)

In the novel Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, the Sith apprentice goes after an information broker who knows too much about a plan to destroy the Republic. The broker's modified protocol droid I-5YQ is left without an owner after the deadly outcome between his master and Darth Maul.

We received quite a few surprise choices by Hasbro for the 2009 Droid Factory Walmart exclusive series. Hasbro clearly dug around a little deeper this time into all the varying EU sources and came up with a very unique, but very strong grouping of characters. The Darth Maul/I-5YQ is definitely one of these more bizarre sets. While the figures are great and not necessarily strange, the combination is a bit awkward. And we are just not sure how many Star Wars fans might know about this particular story. Although this story was a New York Times bestseller, Darth Maul working with a droid just seems a bit unlikely in our books. But, hey, what do we know? It sold well for a reason. Hasbro certainly went in the right direction for these figures (significant retools or repaints or brand new accessories) showing that they can make something new out of something old. And for the most part, Hasbro really seems to make effortless strides towards using previously well-sculpted figures to translate some of these parts into ‘new’ figures. We applaud them for using the cream of the crop. It is quite impressive how old parts are nearly unrecognizable once they are tweaked to create new characters. Such is true for this set of figures. For example, you may be shocked to see how cleverly Hasbro utilized the 2007's TAC 4-LOM (30 41) figure for I-5YQ. Let’s just say that 4-LOM got significantly reinvented!

Darth Maul is a significant repaint of the figure from 2008's TAC The Sith Legacy Evolutions set, but the Darth Maul figure this time comes with a soft-goods cloak. The cloth robe doesn’t stay closed and it is made of a very inferior quality fabric. It is much too shiny and has a very wide weave. When not completely clothed, the collector can see that the reds on his body have come out crisper and brighter this time around and we think it is quite an improvement, albeit nearly unnoticeable change. He is almost identically painted to the Legacy Collection Darth Maul (BD05) action figure. He unfortunately still comes with the very outdated Episode I lightsaber and this is an expected issue. We didn’t expect Hasbro to create a new lightsaber just for this release. But we (collectors) have asked Hasbro time and again to design a new lightsaber but our cries continue to go unheard. We wonder what it will take for Hasbro to listen to our wishes here. I-5YQ is a significant retool. And while we would really like to consider this droid an all-new figure, we can’t. I-5YQ uses the arms and legs from 2007’s TAC 4-LOM (30 41) figure with a brand new head and body sculpt. The body has been cleverly designed so that the chest opens up to store a holocron. This little accessory is surprisingly well-detailed and fits perfectly inside his chest. A great deal of tooling went into this and we are surprised Hasbro executed such a well engineered concept for this figure (and its tiny accessory). We should count ourselves lucky! It is little details like this that make it all worthwhile.

The Darth Maul/I-5YQ Droid Factory duo is definitely one of the standout sets in the new series (but not the best) thanks to a very cool droid that can store a holocron in its chest. Darth Maul is always a safe bet for Hasbro and they chose a great version of him for consistent release. The two figures come packaged with the legs of the Dark Trooper (Phase III), so if you’re looking to build this one, this set is a necessary purchase. (Of course all of the five sets are required and you can’t pick and choose here.) Otherwise, you can always resort to eBay for the parts you need. Droid Factory seems to get a mixed bag of opinions, but for us, it whets our insatiable appetites for the most obscure and elusive Expanded Universe sources. And it gives us FREE bonus figures from Hasbro. This is what it is all about, folks. Plus, we want the Droid Factory premium to be around for as long as possible. As with anything, we can all help guarantee the future of great sets like this by voting with our dollars. We don’t recommend waiting around too long for these figures. Yes, the price is much higher, yes they are all fancy retool or repaints, but in the end, it supports a marketing platform that gives us extra figures for “free”. And so far they have proven to be incredibly strong sellers at the $17.00 MSRP. Don't wait or forever empty will your collection be without these fantastic figures. (Editor’s Note: Droid Factory with an emphasis on Expanded Universe sources this rare clearly didn't interest collectors. This collection didn't meet expectations and a second "planned" set of five more got canceled. Hasbro said that the Build A Droid figure in that set would have been a silver Dark Trooper Phase II figure.)