Old Master Maul Black Series Review

 

I've been talking for a while about how I would start to do Black Series reviews here, and after taking some bad pictures, last week gave me a chance to shoot better pictures. And with my Vintage Collection Prequel figures in temporary storage, I figured it's time to kick off some Black Series reviews. And since today is the 25th Anniversary of The Phantom Menace, why not cover what is the best version of the movie's main villain in Maul! No longer Darth, but a dangerous man nonetheless. And if you only own 1 Maul Black Series figure, this is the one you want! 

As you can see in some of the photos below, Maul is quite flexible! Maul has 21 POA, and is surprisingly well balanced. Getting these photos was quite easy, and required little effort for some poses.  I had no tight joints on my figure. As to his lightsaber, well, more on that when talking about his lone accessory. While this Maul figure is similar to his appearance in both Solo and Rebels, it is based off his appearance in Battlefront II, and was an exclusive to Gamestop. 

Above, I have Maul in a couple action poses. Since his included lightsaber is too small for a 2 handed weapon grip, I used the one from Mandalore Maul. He can easily do that, with some effort. Maul benefits not only from the barbell hips, a feature 6 inch Black Series figures have had since the line's inception, but also the thigh swivels, which helped with the wide leg pose. But what really impresses me is the head sculpt. Simply put, it's amazing! And in one of the below photos you can see how it's superior to Mandalore Maul. You can also see the parts taken from Mandalore Maul and used on this figure. A very clever kitbash in my opinion. This is often seen in the Vintage Collection, but not as often in the Black Series. 

As you can see above, Maul can be paired with Rebels era figures. If I had Ben Kenobi, I would have gone for a photo of his final duel. But he's fought Ahsoka and blinded Kanan Jarrus. Zoom in on the top photo and you can better compare both Maul figures I own. The Lothal Ezra Bridger figure can help you recreate any Maul and Ezra scene from the 3rd season of Rebels. So he fits in with your displays. But if you want a Darth Maul figure from TPM in this scale, a new 3 pack has a brand new Darth Maul sculpt, and is currently available for preorder (hopefully it still is if it's not sold out). His lone accessory is his lightsaber, which if you keep the double blades, it's hard to get it to fit into his hand. Your best bet is to keep a single blade in it for loose display. It's my only "knock" on this figure.

Would I call this figure essential? In the Vintage Collection he would be. For the Black Series it's close. He works with Rebels figures, and in a pinch for Solo, but there's no Qi'ra figure from that scene in any scale as of this writing. But there are a few things I'd change in this release. The retail price was about $35, depending on where you buy this in the US. For the added price, a robe and a cane accessory should have been included. Still, it's not a bad figure. If you can find a version close to what I paid for it, get it! But be sure you have figures to interact with him, otherwise he'd be a boring figure. 

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