Pros : Well designed to give us two significant looks for Maul. Head sculpt is excellent. Face marking paint are very crisp
Cons : Articulation is a little limited, particularly the arms. Saber hilt a bit oversized and miss-shapen
The Star Wars Black Series launched in the Summer of 2013 with the four brand new 6" scale Action figures from across the Star Wars Universe. Alongside the established Original Trilogy figures like Luke and R2 was the prequel favourite Darth Maul.
The first phase of the Black Series was the impressive mat black box with a window that wrapped round the right hand side displaying the figure and accessories. The figure cardback was also black, which did mean a figure like Maul didn't particularly stand out when boxed. The colour was added via the lighting strip which was orange, the same colour was used for the figure name and numbering.
Round the other side, the spine was plain black. The rear of the box had a neat image from the Phantom Menace of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon facing Maul, but this had been converted to a stylised black and grey image. Above this sits a few lines about Maul confirming he was "the evil Sith Apprentice".
Out of the box the figure was sat in an inner plastic tray, that itself sat in the inner cardboard backing card. Maul had his sabers sat to his side, with an alternative head above his shoulders, and his macrobinoculars at the other side of his head.
Out of the pack and the sculpt on Maul is impressive, even by the standards today some 5 years later. The facial markings are bold red and neatly painted. The eyes are suitably menacing with the orange iris and black pupil.
This first look for Maul is from Tatooine where he was wearing his all encompassing cloak. The cloak is cast in a black rubber and the hood is part of the sculpt and is fixed to the head. There is no paint apps, but the depth of the sculpting of the folds does add some natural shading and highlights.
It is in these robes that we would expect to see Maul using his macrobinocular as he searches the Tatooine desert for his quarry. Despite their size the macrobinoculars are very well painted with at least 4 individual paint colours being used including some tiny red and black buttons.
The macrobinoculars sit into either hand, but are easiest to fit in the right. The elbow articulation sadly doesn't allow them to be raised up so Maul is looking through them.
The unique thing about this Maul figure was the way Hasbro tackled giving him a second look. The head and the cloak are all attached, so as you pop off the head the cloak comes off with it, revealing Maul's inner robes and outfit beneath.
This is where we now bring in the second head, this clips into the ball joint left by removing the cloaked head. This operation is smooth and a tight fit once the new head is in place.
Like the first this sculpt is very impressive, an extremely faithful representation of Ray Park as Darth Maul. Again the red and black markings are neat, despite the small lines especially around the chin. You can now also see Maul's horns which are painted in a bone yellow colour.
The outfit revealed by removing the cloak is more black sculpted plastic, but in a variety of finishes. While the top half and legs are a matt black the wide belt is a gloss finish as are boots and gloves. There is even some soft goods black cloth built into the skirt for another differing texture and to aid articulation.
In the cloaked version Maul didn't have a great deal of movement. Without the cloak the figure is much more maneuverable and has 16 points of articulation.
The head is ball jointed, as is the waist so that it doesn't just rotate it also leans the upper body back and forth. Arms are ball jointed shoulders followed by a single elbow and a pivot wrist. The single joint elbows are the biggest hindrance on the figure as we saw when posing the binoculars and as we will see in some fighting stances in a little while.
Maul's legs are ball jointed hips with a thigh swivel and double jointed knees. There is then an ankle rocker. These do allow a wide range of movement and poses, including kneeling. However because the trousers are so baggy the stance on Maul is always very wide and the hips are quite loose and want to slide apart into a much wider stance. The ankle rockers are also ratcheted and as they click into position this doesn't quite match up with what the rest of the legs are doing so often Maul is posed with his feet off the ground at one side. These issues do make posing difficult.
Maul is armed out of the box with two light sabers. Of course we know that in the movie these were connected and he only wielded these towards the end of the Phantom Menace when the double bladed saber was snapped.
Each saber blade is removable from the hilt so you can choose to pose with or without blade(s) ignited. The hilts then connect together by means of a plug and socket to create the larger hilt piece.
When connected, but used as a single saber hilt as seen on Tatooine - the hilt is very large, and out of scale to the figure. It should be much slimmer and shorter. It is cast in a grey plastic with some slim black lines and red buttons down its length.
The saber can be held in either hand.
However, the lack of double joints in the elbows makes fighting stances a little more difficult. While Maul can hold the saber with both hands these tend to be quite relaxed poses rather than offensive ones. My favourite look is probably the broken saber where Maul can wield a blade i heah hand.
When not in use there is a hole on Maul's belt which corresponds to a notch on one of the saber hilts. That means the saber can be hung on the belt, but I would only every use the half with the peg in it as hanging the full double hilt on the belt looks a bit odd.
As a debut figure for the Star Wars Black Series, Maul was hugely impressive. While he still holds up with the current line in temrs of looks he does have a few niggly issues like the oversized saber hilt, the wide leg stance and limited articulation and the lack of double jointed elbows ina figure who is reknowned for his extreme action poses.
Maul is amongst the most sought after figures to date, and has also been "knocked off" by a number of Chinese sellers - so make sure you are getting the a genuine article if you are buying a Maul on the secondary market.
I score Darth Maul a 4 out of 5.
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