Sith Legacy, The - TLC - Evolutions

The menacing Sith emerge again and again through the centuries, teaching each generation their dark secrets. A thousand years before the Battle of Yavin, Darth Bane brings the Sith Order back from near extinction in his quest to reclaim their glory. His legacy is carried on by Darth Nihilus, who blights whole worlds in his desire to destroy the Jedi. Darth Maul serves a power-hungry Sith Lord who plots the elimination of the Jedi.

During the entire duration of the 30 (77-07) line, fans and collectors had to admit that Hasbro was very kind and gracious to all of us. Whether you are a strict fan of the movies or the rich Expanded Universe, there was something for everyone in TAC and the products all were of extremely high quality. Take for instance The Sith Legacy Evolutions set. The Evolutions product line was of course a collector-oriented so the figures would be made very well, but Hasbro went the extra mile to make all three figures even better. Technically, all the Sith in this set are from the Expanded Universe, although Hasbro designates Darth Maul from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Darth Maul never had a bare chest in the film and the inspiration for this concept actual comes from early Episode I concept art. Nonetheless, Darth Maul is probably the reason to purchase this package, but we’ll get into more detail about him shortly. The Sith Legacy Evolutions set combines a covey of very popular Sith Lords in one set and there is no denying that some of their designs are incredibly cool. Hasbro decided that all four Evolutions sets in the 30 (77-07) line didn’t have enough time on store shelves before the line look reset happened. So they carried forward all four into three separate waves for The Legacy Collection for a July 26, 2008 release date. Most fans were thrilled to see them again so soon. The Legacy Collection packaging may not be as exciting as the 30 (77-07) line, but there is something about repeated product in refreshed packaging that catches collectors’ attention.

One of our most favorite figures in The Sith Legacy Evolutions set is Darth Nihilus. Darth Nihilus an absolutely awesome and cool Sith Lord. Having an almost skeletal portrait (which if you look closely enough is a mask), he is perhaps the eeriest of the three evil Sith Lords in this three-pack. Hasbro expertly mixed wonderfully sewn soft-goods (with lots of natural looking tears and battle-damage) into the mostly plastic molded outfit. Although he has a ton of articulation, he remains rather static because the parts of his costume that aren’t cloth inhibit what should otherwise be fully fluid movement. Still, Darth Nihilus looks great right out of the package and we’re not sure if the extra utility he has is totally necessary for this action figure. Outfitted with a lightsaber, Darth Nihilus will indeed be a favorite Sith Lord in your collection. Conversely, Darth Bane may be the weakest figure in the set, but that doesn’t mean he is poorly made. There is something about him that is reminiscent of a character in the Marvel universe and that makes him look less Star Wars related in our opinion. Bane comes with the most accessories out of all the figures here. Included with him are the orbalisk chest armor, mask and gauntlets, removable cape and lightsaber. He looks very close to one Expanded Universe source we found, but Darth Bane looks very differently in most other sources we encountered. His face looks a little bit like a mean clown rather than a Sith Lord, but we are sure he will appeal to many fans of The Old Republic out there.

Darth Maul has been done very nicely too. He is well-designed and the sculpt is nearly perfect. He has some killer abs and a very muscular body frame including broad shoulders and chest. He has an amazingly gritty expression on his face and the paint job is pretty good. We are being picky, but we think the red paint may not be striking enough. It almost blends in too much with the black at times and there should be more separation between the two colors. After all, Darth Maul’s trademark is his tattoos. (Editor’s Note: This figure was rereleased in the Legacy Collection (BD05) and Hasbro addressed the brightness of the red color quite a bit.) Sadly, Darth Maul comes with a 1999 era lightsaber accessory. We’re perplexed at this point why Hasbro doesn’t see a need to update the lightsabers from the Episode I line and still include them with these newer figures. It’s almost unbelievable. They are dated and do not fit the modern look of these new action figures. All in all, The Sith Legacy is another great release in the Evolutions series. Yes, this is a straight repack of the set we received in the 30 (77-07) line, but it’s a noteworthy release nonetheless. We suspect great sets will be coming down the pike and if Hasbro keeps making them this well, we have a lot to look forward to in this line. The Sith Legacy Evolutions three-pack is certainly giving collectors to smile about and these three characters should make quite a splash in your collection.