Savage Opress (The Clone Wars) - Maquettes

Savage Opress was once a common Nightbrother whose fighting prowess impressed Asajj Ventress. Transformed into a monstrous warrior by Mother Talzin, Opress became Count Dooku's new assassin and secret Sith apprentice. His loyalty, however, remained to Talzin. The Nightsisters leader gave Savage a new quest: to find his brother, Darth Maul, who had somehow survived his apparent death and was living in exile in the Outer Rim..

No matter what the latest Star Wars multimedia event, there will always be a new villain to round out the cast. In The Clone Wars however, a new villain would pop up around almost every corner. Whether it be a newly discovered Separatist leader, or some pawn of the Sith, The Clone Wars was full of rich storylines that helped explain things we just didn’t understand in the Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy (if you believed such things). Prequel Trilogy lover or not, there is little denying how cool of a character Darth Maul is. In The Clone Wars third season we learned of his roots…. and of his brother…. and it the plot was believable and well done. With even some ties to the evil Asajj Ventress, we all discovered more about the dark magic that surrounded many members of the Zabrak species as well as delve deeper into another new character who became the awesome new villain in the third season of The Clone Wars. The Clone Wars fans warmly embraced Savage Opress, the Dathomirian Zabrak Nightbrother who alongside Darth Maul became a Sith Lord. Handpicked by Asajj Ventress, he was to become her pawn so she could seek revenge against Count Dooku for betraying her.

Gentle Giant Ltd. has been slow yet steady at releasing characters from The Clone Wars series in their popular Maquettes line. Where we used to get anywhere from three to six in a year, we’re sort of lucky if we get one a year now. That’s alright though; with the increasing MSRP and the limited availability of funds anymore, less is more. Thankfully, the fewer pieces and the smaller editions sizes don’t translate into poorer quality from the artisans at Gentle Giant Ltd. Savage Opress was designed with amazing detail and his design further showcases the expertise of the brand. He is slightly taller than the other characters in the The Clone Wars Maquettes line, but he is in scale as he was taller than most of the other characters in the television show. Gentle Giant Ltd. modeled him after his transformation. Therefore, Savage Opress (The Clone Wars) has been created in his infamous black armor, bulked up stature and angry eyes. The piece is gorgeous and it appears that not one details was missed. Sculpted in a “walking forward” fashion, Savage Opress (The Clone Wars) is one of the more dynamic pieces in the entire The Clone Wars Maquettes lines. You will be impressed.

The gorgeous paint job is what immediately grabs our attention when looking at this piece. Savage Opress has dulled yellow skin, but it comes across brightly as the rest of his body, save for his hands, is dark and somber. The detail in the armor is stunning. The shoulder armor in particular give his the extra upper body girth that you’d expect from this character and it physically feels and looks like real metal. Obviously it isn’t, but that’s how impressive this piece has been sculpted. Savage Opress (The Clone Wars) falls outside our definition of what a true Maquette it. He comes apart in three pieces: body, hand with vibro-axe and display stand. Maquettes aren’t meant to come apart in pieces and this functions more like a statue than anything else. Thankfully it still fits it seamlessly with the rest of The Clone Wars Maquettes when fully assembled. Limited to only 650 pieces, this should prove the scale-back in the high-end collector base. We’re living in troubling times and there just aren’t extra dollars to “waste” on “superfluous” collectibles anymore. If your budget does allow such things, we highly recommend this beautiful polystone collectible. His edition size may last a little while, but once he is gone, he will be hard to track down.