A close friend of mine, who is not a collector, bought me this figure when it was released.  Puzzled, I asked him why this figure.  It wasn’t out of ingratitude, but out of curiosity.  Non-collectors don’t usually buy obscure interpretations of characters as gifts for collectors.  The Power of the Jedi line was steeped with core characters from the Original Trilogy which is the more typical gift fodder.  His answer was simple.  It looked cool.  There seems to be something about the concept art figures that pulls people in.  Merely affixing the word “concept” to a routine Anakin Skywalker figure can propel it to secondary market stardom.  Perhaps because Hasbro decided to designate this figure as a “Sith Apprentice” instead of “concept art” is the reason this Darth Maul figure has never popped on Ebay.

The first impression out of the package is that the odd stance of the legs and positioning of the feet is a bit reminiscent of the first POTF2 Han Solo figure.  That Solo figure was near impossible to stand unassisted.  This Maul figure is a little precarious on its feet, but nothing like the POTF2 smuggler Han.  There is no articulation to undo the pre-positioning of the legs so this is the pose you have to dance with.  The hips do swivel, but unless the figure’s feet are flat on the surface, it won’t stand, so that point of articulation can’t really be engaged.  In a bit of an oddity, only the right elbow is articulated with a swivel joint.  Usually the articulation is symmetrical on the limbs.  This minor spot of articulation does allow the Maul figure to hold the dual ended lightsaber in both hands.

The head has an unfortunate paint application that gives a presumed unintended illusion.  The black peaks above the mouth are exaggerated and fall right at the corners of the mouth.  Considering the teeth were painted black, the mouth blends in with these black peaks giving the impression that they are part of the mouth and we end up with what looks like a Joker style smile.  The eyes give off a maniacal expression, which would work well in a vacuum, but when combined with the criminally insane smile, the Maul figure looks part evil clown.  The Zabrack horns on the figure’s head are blunt instead of the short spikes seen on the character.  This is presumably for safety reasons.  The concept art for Maul had a sadistic straight jacket quality and this aspect is captured well in the figure. As a figure that you’re likely going to arm with its signature weapon and stand on a shelf, it servers its purpose if you can get past the Joker grin.  4 out of 10.