Packaging - ****
While the actual box for the Star Wars figures (and all of Sideshow's stuff)
has garnered great praise, collectors have often complained that these works
of packaging art never make it to them in perfect condition. Sideshow
packed these interior boxes in a mailing box that was sized just to fit.
That meant any bend, push or smoosh on the exterior box resulted in damage to
the interior pack.
Not this time! They've made the mailer boxes larger, allowing for
styrofoam packing at the base and top of the interior box, adding a layer of
protection between the two. I'm betting collectors are going to be
extremely pleased.
Otherwise, it's all the usual great work. Nice graphics, great text,
and a completely collector friendly set of trays. The little plastic
neck brace is even included that keeps the nose from hitting or rubbing on the
top tray. And of course those nifty magnetic closures are on the flap as
well.
Sculpting - ****
Oluf Hartvigson did the honors this time around, and he did a stupendous
job. Small facial details on the bony spikes, brown wrinkles, and even
the texture of the lips is excellent. The small earring on the left ear
is present, and the size and shape of the critical elements - nose, chin,
ears, horns - is perfect.
Easily the single most important, critical, and outstanding feature of this
head sculpt is the simple fact that IT'S IN SCALE. He's neither a pin
head nor a melon noggin'. Maul shows how great a Sideshow head sculpt
can be when the planets are all properly aligned.
The expression is one of calm determination. I prefer something like
this, since it works with so many more poses than an extreme expression does.
There are four hand sculpts to go with these, two gripping, one 'force'
hand, and one open. These all look terrific (and are again, in scale)
and work properly both with the accessories and with tons of poses.
Maul is on the smaller body, and he's even a squeak smaller than
Luke. I added in a shot of the two together for scale. I'm happy
with his size, and with the improvements in this small body...but more on that
later.
Paint - ***1/2
While the sculpt is dead on perfect, the paint isn't quite as good.
That's not saying it's terrible though - just not a masterpiece.
There's a lot more detailed paint work on this face than normal, since he
has the funky tattoos. The eyes are good, although one's still a tad
lazy. The horns have the look of actual bone, while the edges of the
majority of the tats line up well.
There are a few blips and bumps with the tattoos though. The lines
aren't always clean, and not everything lines up perfectly. On mine, you
can see that the peak that comes down his forehead doesn't quite match up at
its point with the line that runs the rest of the way down to his nose.
Some folks have had edges of the 'moustache' that don't quite touch the
'beard', and while I didn't have that problem, I did notice something similar
in other areas.
I've already seen some touch ups where folks have completely blackened in
the lips, making it appear less like a moustache and beard. I think I
prefer it this way, but you can always alter it with a black marker. I
wouldn't do it unless I was positive I'd be happy with the final result,
however.
One other thing worth nothing in this category is that the body was cast in
black plastic, which matches the black paint pretty well.
Articulation - ***1/2
If you've been reading my recent Sideshow reviews, you'll notice that I've
been on their case to develop a body not with more articulation, but that
poses with a more natural lean and flow. Other companies have managed to
pull it off, and now Sideshow has to make improvements to keep up.
This body appears to have some of those improvements already. I found
it to be lighter than usual, but with tighter joints all around. The
body held more natural poses for me, and was quite easy to work with.
The wrist joints work well with the swappable gloved hands too, although I
thought there would be issues. The pegs that fit into the holes inside
the hands are quite small, and with the gauntlet of the glove being quite
long, I expected to have a hard time getting it lined up to reattach.
But that's not an issue, and it was a snap to get the various hands back on.
I do wish they'd also further improve the neck joint, since I couldn't get
the ball joint to hold any position other than straight up and down for very
long. If I tried to tilt it back or forward, it would move back to
center almost immediately. You know how much I love a ball jointed neck,
but it has to work well to allow you to give a figure personality.
When this figure was announced, folks were worried that he'd end up with
the same 'monkey arm' problem that plagued Luke. While his arms may be a
little long, it's really how you pose the sleeves and belt that make a huge
difference in how they appear.
The sleeves are poofy at the shoulder, and tight on the forearm. If
you extend the narrow section up past the elbow, scrunching up the poofy
section, he'll look like he has extremely long arms. If you bring the
poofy section down, scrunching up the tight section, it will greatly reduce
the look of long forearms.
Also, keep the belt riding lower on his hips, and the overall length of the
arms will look much better. If you push up his belt too far on his
chest, of course the arms will look longer. And he'll look like a little
old retired guy in Boca Raton.
Outfit - ****
This outfit is my favorite of the Star Wars line to date. Everything is
perfectly tailored, hangs naturally, and looks terrific.
The pants are baggy, but fit nicely into the boot tops and stay
there. The various layers of the tunic are all made of high quality
material, and fit extremely well. Unlike some of the past figures, the
'straps' of material that run over his shoulders are not sewn to the outer
belt, so that you can simply pull them down to keep them tight against his
shoulders.
The belt is actually a wide chunk of leather, with smaller straps of
leather running across the face. It can ride nice and low on his hips,
and looks terrific.
The boot sculpt is very accurate to the film, but they are a bit big, and
made from somewhat cheap feeling plastic. I'm betting that of the few
complaints there are from buyers, most will revolve around the boots.
Still, the sculpt is top notch, and they help him stay standing in a ton of
poses.
He also comes with the funky cloak, once again with a wire running through
the hood to improve posing. The cloak is made from a very thin, gauzy
material, which is high quality and in scale. There's also a clasp at the
chest to hold it closed, but I think I would have preferred a snap. This
clasp tended to fall open on its own.
I've not been a huge fan of the cloaks in general in this series, but this
is one of the nicest ones.
Accessories - ****
Maul is loaded to bear, especially if you snagged the inclusive edition.
There's three regular double ended lightsabers with either edition - an
unlit full saber, a full saber with one side lit, and a full saber with BOTH
ends ignited. These all look terrific, and you can use them in any
number of ways.
The inclusive edition included two 'damaged' versions, after the full size
double saber had been cut apart. One is unlit, and the other is ignited
on one side.
The two damaged versions aren't as damaged as you might expect, but that's
actually a plus as far as I'm concerned. The one shorter damaged version
works well on his belt (the double ended full hilt is too long to look right),
and having a second half lit saber to use with the other half lit saber adds
even more display possibilities.
He also has his cool binoculars, and these can easily be held in one or
both hands, as though he's checking out the good guys from across the desert.
As I mentioned several times already, he has two sets of hands. The
set he comes wearing in the box is the gripping right and open left. As
accessories, he has a gripping left and 'force' hand left. These are all
very handy sculpts to use with the large number of sabers, giving him the most
versatility of any of the releases so far.
Maul comes with the usual display stand of course, but as usual, it's not
particularly necessary unless you're doing a wild pose.
Fun Factor - ***1/2
The lightsabers aren't particularly designed for serious play, but the figure
and outfit could actually stand up to normal abuse. And for a slightly
older kid who's a big fan - say 10 - this guy would be a ton of fun.
Unfortunately, at this price point most kids aren't going to get that chance.
Value - ***
While he's not cheap (at $55 from Sideshow), he's actually easily worth
that. The inclusive edition has a ton of goodies, and the outfit, sculpt
and paint all rate the price point. I'm still hoping for better articulation
over time, but this has even improved.
And don't forget that the regular version, sans the two damaged sabers, can
be found closer to $45 at some retailers!
Things to Watch Out For -
I'd take care with the softer thumbs on the gripping hands when popping the
saber hilts in and out, since they could easily tear over time.
Otherwise, this guy is quality stuff!
Overall - ****
Yep, Maul did it. He pulled the elusive four stars, and is the first of
the Sideshow Star Wars figures to manage it. A great head sculpt with
solid paint work, and excellent outfit and accessories, all helped push him
there. But you can't ignore the basic cool factor of the character
either, and his visually interesting design.
If you have the chance to hold this guy in your hands next to the Hasbro
version, you'll truly see just how amazing he is. Is he a Medicom?
No. While I think the sculpt, paint, accessories are certainly on par
with anything Medicom has done for Star Wars, I have to admit that the
articulation and outfit still have a little ways to go. But is he
$150? That would be a 'no' too, and at this price point, SIdeshow is
giving us some amazing quality.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ****
Sculpt - ****
Paint - ***1/2
Articulation - ***1/2
Outfit - ****
Accessories - ****
Fun Factor ***1/2
Value - ***
Overall - ****
Where to Buy -
He's a Sideshow 'inclusive' and has long since sold out there, but the regular
can still be had:
- Alter Ego Comics is carrying
the regular version for $46.75.
- Dark Shadow
Collectibles has him at $46.75 as well.
- Fireside Collectibles
also has him at $46.75. Are you sensing a pattern here?
- Amazing Toyz has him at $50.
- CornerStoreComics also has
him at $50.
- And if you're in the U.K., Forbidden Planet has him on sale for 30
pounds!
Related Links:
Lots of Sideshow 12" Star Wars so far:
- there's my reviews of Obi-wan, Bespin
Han, regular Anakin,
Kit Fisto, and Jedi
Luke.
- and there's a guest review of Qui-Gon,
and the SDCC exclusive
Anakin. KEEP SCROLLING DOWN FOR MORE PHOTOS!
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