Darth Maul & Sith Speeder - EI - Action Collection (Exclusive)

A generation before Star Wars: A New Hope...

In a galaxy far, far away, an evil force is gaining strength and threatens an entire civilization. Two courageous Jedi, a young queen, a Gungan outcast, and a slave boy named Anakin, band together to save a planet under attack as the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance.

When the viceroys inform Darth Sidious of Queen Amidala's escape from Naboo, the Sith Lord dispatches his apprentice, Darth Maul, to investigate. Darth Maul tracks his prey to the desert planet of Tatooine, and like an anxious predator, awaits word of the Jedi's whereabouts from his Sith probe droids. After pinpointing the enemy on the outskirts of Mos Espa, Darth Maul slices over the terrain fast and low, and swoops upon his unsuspecting prey with a display of swordsmanship like no other.

After pinpointing the enemy on the outskirts of Mos Espa, Darth Maul slices over the terrain fast and low, and swoops upon his unsuspecting prey with a display of swordsmanship like no other.

The adventure continues with this exciting introduction of exclusive figures from Star Wars: Episode I! Authentically styled with incredible detail, each fully poseable figure features a realistic costume and accessories to recreate all the excitement of the movie.

COLLECT THEM ALL!

The Sith Speeder does not use weapons, shields, or sensors; Instead, it achieves hawk-like speed and incredible maneuverability with its potent repulsorlift angles. This one-person craft is Maul's preferred mode of transportation.

When you have an incredibly and staggeringly cool character like Darth Maul, the licensee needs to act on that extraordinary character and produce as many collectible toys of it to strike while the iron is hot. Typically, when it comes to the Action Collection line, Hasbro only produces one of each character. The Action Collection line is more tightly focused than the 3.75” scale line, and there is a reason for that. They take more money to produce, take up more space, and the line is only meant to accent, and further extrapolate the main focus of the CommTech figures. The Action Collection line also provides a higher end of collectible figures for those Star Wars collectors looking for soft-goods, enhanced articulation, and a healthy dose of accessories with the Star Wars figures they purchase. Darth Maul was part of the first wave of Action Collection figures in the Episode I line. The figure turned out well. But now Hasbro elevated that release with the Walmart exclusive Darth Maul & Sith Speeder. This release of this Darth Maul possesses a better likeness (while showing his teeth), and collectors get a 12”-scaled Bloodfin Sith Speeder for his to ride. What more could you want?

The revised Darth Maul takes the original Darth Maul to a significantly higher level. We are fond of the first release of Darth Maul, but this new version looks more like the onscreen character. Darth maul showed his rows of teeth often in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, so it’s nice to see a 12 Inch Figure copy that expression so wonderfully. You feel the anger in Darth Maul’s heart when you look at this figure. He looks like someone with whom you don’t want to mess around, and you sense the urgency in his face that he is on a mission that will include death and destruction. He comes with a Sith probe droid commlink accessory. It fits loosely on his left hand, and it’s cast in silver plastic. It has a nice amount of detail, but we wish it clung tighter to his hand. Also included with Darth Maul are a double-bladed lightsaber hilt and two removable red lightsaber blades. The hilt, because of the packaging materials, is bent, and the blades don’t shoot out straightly as much as we’d like to see. It would have been better if Hasbro tooled the lightsaber hilt in a more rigid plastic so that it would keep its shape regardless of the packaging materials.

The Sith Speeder is done quite nicely too. It’s impressive to have a vehicle produced for the Action Collection line. We never thought we would see anything like this until now, but Hasbro did a wonderful job of recreating this vehicle for the Action Collection line. And Darth Maul interacts with it perfectly. Darth Maul fits like a glove in the vehicle’s seating area. The Sith Speeder, also known as the Bloodfin, is large, but not THAT large where it feels out of place in the line. The Sith Speeder has a simple design. You’re not going to find a whole lot of features here. But Hasbro did add articulated handlebars, an engine door (with engine detail inside) and “invisible” landing gear so that the vehicle looks like it is hovering while remaining balanced for display in your collection. Hasbro painted the Sith Speeder beautifully too. You’ll find brown and tan colors throughout its paint job, but Hasbro also gave some of the panels a wood-like appearance and texture. Again, the Sith Speeder is a simple design, but it has substance and fits into the Action Collection line seamlessly. Overall, we’re impressed with the Darth Maul & Sith Speeder set. This line isn’t for everyone, but products like this will only draw more fans.