Who knew when Obi-Wan Kenobi cut him in half during The Phantom Menace that we would still be getting stories (and figures!) of Darth Maul twenty years later? This version of the disgraced Sith Lord and Crimson Dawn leader is another excellent figure from Hasbro. Representing Maul at the end of The Clone Wars, you will also want to have the Ahsoka Tano (Mandalore) figure that was released at the same time. You can see our look at that figure HERE.
Probably the most striking thing about Darth Maul (Mandalore) is the face sculpt. It is so incredibly realistic that it looks exactly like Ray Park’s portrayal in The Phantom Menace. Hasbro’s Photo Real Technology has been used to perfection. The yellow eyes really pop within the red and black face tattoos. The face sculpt has Maul looking very sinister but also cool and calm which makes it very scary.
Maul’s mechanical legs look great as well. They have a nice silver paint application that, although not as shiny as a vac-metallized figure, offers a very metallic look. The sculpt of the lower legs are true to the onscreen version too, with enough of a mechanical look that shows they are supposed be metallic parts.
With most Phantom Menace versions of Maul the only colour of his clothing is black but with this version the mix between black tunic and brown sleeves/pants is a nice contrast. The tunic is also open at the chest which reveals Maul’s red/black skin tattoos even more than usual. It’s an updated look with much less black, but it still looks great..and evil.
Darth Maul comes with his trademark double-bladed lightsaber that is packaged separately and he is able to hold his weapon in either style: separate blades for each hand or combined for double-bladed staff mode. The detailing on the saber hilts is well done with only one issue: when seperated a portion of the red blade sticks out of the end of one saber; needed obviously to connect the two hilts together, but a splash of silver paint would have solved that issue.
Along with the equally excellent Ahsoka Tano (Mandalore), the Darth Maul (Mandalore) figure is one fo the best new figures we’ve seen in the past few years.
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Mike Tarkin.com 