Sith Attack Speeder (With Darth Maul) - EI - Invasion Force

Preparing for assault aboard his formidable Sith attack Speeder, the sinister Darth Maul is able to enforce the will of Darth Sidious with stealth and intimidating force. This personal repulsorcraft provides him with lightning speed and maneuverability. Deploying twin laser cannons combine the element of surprise with devastating firepower.

Perhaps the greatest release of the entire Invasion Force line is the Sith Attack Speeder (With Darth Maul) set. Another example of what a modern Mini Rig would look like, the Sith Attack Speeder (With Darth Maul) pairs a miniaturized version of Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator with an all-new version of Darth Maul. And the final results are better than you think. With a smooth contour and curvy features, the Sith Attack Speeder takes on the Sith Infiltrator’s cockpit area and transitions it into a sit-down speeder. It works well. Now, the issue here is the redundancy. If Darth Maul already utilizes a Sith Speeder, does he also need a Sith Attack Speeder? Is the latter simply a more-aggressive version of the Sith Speeder? Or is its creation by Hasbro a way to help develop the Episode I line unnecessarily? You’ll have to decide. Regardless of its merit, the Sith Attack Speeder (With Darth Maul) is a great deal of fun, plausible as something “off-screen” and a wonderful modern tribute to the vintage Kenner line. While the Invasion Force line didn’t perform well at all at retail, the Sith Attack Speeder (With Darth Maul) set was one of the line’s strongest sellers.

The Sith Attack Speeder is a pretty impressive miniaturized vehicle. Hasbro added some play features which function like believable functions. For example, a button on the back of the vehicle deploys the laser cannons. Inside of wings that jet out is articulated cannons. It looks great. There is nothing to shoot out and no projectiles included here, but this action doubles the size of the vehicle, and it looks amazing. The control console is shaped like his macrobinoculars with handle grips, and we think this is the silliest part of the vehicle. But it works too. Hasbro also worked in what they call a deflector shield generator. We have yet to understand its purpose. Lastly, the rounded top sections are articulated and serve as shoulder harnesses to keep Darth Maul seated in place during rigorous travel. The included Darth Maul figure fits in the seated area perfectly. He also looks fantastic posed next to the Sith Attack Speeder as well. Hasbro also gave the Sith Attack Speeder a beautiful, yet simple, paint job. While mostly black and gray, the wings are painted in deep teal and it contrasts wonderfully against the mostly dark-colored palette of the vehicle.

At first glance, you might think that Darth Maul is a retool of the figure from 1999’s EI Sith Speeder And Darth Maul set. But it’s an all-new figure. Designed with a similar approach to the figure, this Darth Maul figure features all-new parts. He comes with soft-goods and a covered head, and he fits like a glove in the cockpit of the Sith Attack Speeder. Hasbro also sculpted a comlink on the figure’s left forearm. Not too many Darth Maul figures have this feature. Darth Maul is also hooded. This means they painted the face red, but they did a decent job on keeping the paint operations as clean as possible. Hasbro did an excellent job on Darth Maul’s soft-goods. The texture of the is wonderful, and they’re cut in a way that is sensible to the figure’s needs to be both seated in the Sith Attack Speeder as well as standing beside it with a natural drape. Darth Maul comes without any accessories, but this is true of all of the pack-in figures in the Invasion Force line. The MSRP is very generous and fair, so extra accessories aren’t included to keep the price set at $9.99. This is a fun set. But you have to accept that it’s an “off-screen” vehicle. That shouldn’t be difficult.