I feel like I’m starting to become a broken record with the Sideshow product.  With each review I find myself becoming more and more entrenched in the 1:6 world.  The thing that stands out immediately is the head sculpt and detailing.  As soon as I saw Darth Malgus staring back at me, I was hopelessly in this figure’s pocket.  The exclusive unscarred head is both sinister and regal looking while expressing the stillness earned with extreme confidence.  The uneven skin tone and slightly visible veins give the sculpt age and a lifelike appearance.  The scarred head perfectly portrays a Sith Lord who has literally sacrificed his humanness in the pursuit of power.  Adding on the breather and Darth Malgus becomes the grotesque combination of broken man and machine that we have learned to expect from darkside disciples after seeing Vader unmasked at the end of Jedi. 

Even though I’m a newcomer to the line, I feel like Sideshow has turned a major corner with the heads on their figures.  Part of the reason I stayed clear of the line to this point is that figures I would have been interested in have been cursed with tragic head sculpts.  The head on the Jedi Luke Skywalker figure is unfortunately awkward.  The Bespin Han Solo figure’s head is so disproportionately large that the figure looks like a Team America marionette. Whatever head sculpt problems vexed Sideshow in the past clearly served as a learning experience and are firmly in the rear view.  Sideshow is in the zone now.

Moving down from the head, the figure continues the amazing detail.  The breastplate of the armor is tarnished and grimy.  I fear that under the photography lamps the realism of this piece won’t come across.  Attached to the breastplate is the cape, which hangs perfectly, and the hood, which has a wire that allows you to shape it naturally around Maglus’ head or hanging behind his back.  The gauntlets, and lower leg armor look realistically metallic and battle scarred.  The bodysuit features vertical stitching which calls back to the ultimate villain on whom the design of Malgus is clearly based.  Even the edges of the small armor components to the boots are worn. The figure screams battle tested.  My only complaint in this department is that the knee armor doesn’t stay in place as securely as I hoped.  It has a tendency to slide downward below the shin armor. 

As I’m taking the photographs, the narrative of the review usually starts forming in my head.  In the case of the Sideshow Darth Malgus figure, I was preparing a rant about the difficulty I had standing the figure.  It had a serious wont to topple over backwards.  It wasn’t until the last photograph that I realized that there is a way to lock the knee in place by hyperextending the joint slightly.  And with that, an almost complete and assuredly hilarious review vaporized.  For a complaint that is not the result of user error, the range of motion of the arms is somewhat limited.  Some of the more elegant Jedi dueling poses are not achievable.  But nothing about Malgus is elegant.  He is a menacing brute and Sideshow has certainly delivered on that aspect.  With that, this Darth Malgus figure is the first Sideshow product to earn a perfect score from me.  10 out of 10.

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Click here to order the 1:6 scale Darth Malgus from Sideshow

10/10 Bantha Skulls