Darth Maul - EI - Action Collection

Darth Maul searches for the Jedi in the Tatooine desert.

A new Star Wars film means there is a new Star Wars villain. And for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the new Star Wars villain is Darth Maul. You can expect this fantastic new character to make an appearance in every single scale and sub-line Hasbro produced for the Episode I toy line, including the 12 Inch Figure Action Collection. Darth Maul is a powerful Zabrak Sith Lord that plays a major role in The Phantom Menace. His striking red and black tattoos on his face combined with his mostly black outfit make for an intriguing character. While the Episode I CommTech and Deluxe figures brought us multiple versions of Darth Maul to the toy line, the Darth Maul Action Collection figure brings a quality to the Episode I toy line that smaller-scaled figures don’t come close to providing. The Darth Maul Action Collection figure comes with a real fabric outfit, a double-bladed lightsaber with two removable blades, and a head sculpt that beautifully captures the evil of this dark Sith Lord possesses in the film. Darth Maul is a great-looking 12 Inch Figure and is a perfect addition to the inaugural wave of Episode I Action Collection lineup.

Let’s talk about Darth Maul’s portrait a little more. Hasbro captured the essence of this character perfectly on this figure. He isn’t grimacing or showing his teeth. But Darth Maul has an expression of a warrior, and he’ll strike fear in whoever crosses his path. The pain operations are gorgeous. Hasbro replicated his tattoo pattern wonderfully. And the colors are clean and neatly applied. There are no signs of overspray or misapplied paint anywhere on the head sculpt. Darth Maul is also well-articulated. Hasbro utilized older bucks to create the Star Wars characters, and this applies to Darth Maul as well. The standard points of articulation are included with Darth Maul. He can achieve a nice amount of poses, but the options aren’t limitless, and you will find that some of his movement is encumbered by his outfit, or simply the nature of his sculpt. Mostly, Darth Maul’s outfit allows for a great range of movement. It’s the lack of articulation that prevents achieving some of the more dramatic poses for this character. Despite its limitations, Darth Maul is an excellent release. He looks great and moves as needed (mostly).

Darth Maul does feel a tad light when it comes to the included accessories. As mentioned previously, Darth Maul comes with a double-bladed lightsaber hilt, and two lightsaber blades (in red). The design of the lightsaber accessory allows you to configure it in multiple ways like having both ends lit, or just one side of the other for some interchangeability. But other accessories like a pair of macrobinoculars, some commlink, or another piece of outwear would have been appreciated. Darth Maul feels a little too lightly accessorized. But it’s a great start, and we know that more Darth Maul figures in the Action Collection line will be offered in the future. Part of a wave that includes both Jar Jar Binks and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Maul nicely finishes off this inaugural wave of Action Collection 12 inch Figures by adding some of the “darkness” from the film into the toy line. Darth Maul will be one of the most popular Star Wars characters to ever grace the big screen, and it’s great that Hasbro is engaged with collectors by making fantastic toys based on him. Darth Maul has an MSRP of $19.99, and we feel that’s more than a fair price for this sub-line of Star Wars figures.