Review: Maul (Crimson Dawn)
Posted by CapnRex101,
Several different depictions of Darth Maul have been produced and the latest example is based upon the villain's surprising appearance during Solo: A Star Wars Story, controlling the Crimson Dawn criminal syndicate. This minifigure is now available and looks marvellous.
Beyond accurately replicating Maul's robe from the movie, this figure also includes an updated head which appears significantly better than other recent versions of the character. Hopefully this will be the best Maul minifigure so far!
Minifigure
Despite his enforced transition from Sith apprentice to criminal kingpin, Maul continues to wear black robes. These appear suitably intimidating and are looser than his original attire, thereby revealing red tattoos across Maul's chest. I think this design looks magnificent, matching the head and horns which compare favourably with the film and his bright eyes convey an appropriate impression of evil.
However, the most distinctive aspect of this minifigure is definitely the mechanical legs. Unique parts were designed for Maul in 75022 Mandalorian Speeder, although I think printing standard legs seems more accurate in this context. The layered grilles are perfect and I like the metallic silver decoration on each foot. Maul's metallic gold Crimson Dawn pendant is an attractive detail too.
Maul wields an imposing double-bladed lightsaber. This weapon previously belonged to an Imperial Inquisitor and the unique hilt created for these enforcers may therefore have returned here. However, damage to the onscreen weapon has removed the distinctive disc around its hilt so this metallic silver element is probably more accurate.
Overall
Darth Maul was among the most impressive Star Wars minifigures produced during 1999 but certain subsequent versions of this character have been spoiled by a disappointing head design. Fortunately, this minifigure looks perfect. I like the new head while the torso and legs each correspond exactly with the source material, featuring excellent detail.
This minifigure is currently available with the newest LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopaedia. The book has been executed poorly in my opinion, including many errors and inexplicably omitting various minifigures, but I would recommend adding this minifigure to your collection. Hopefully the book will be substantially discounted during the coming months.
I hope you have found this review informative. Let us know by liking this article and share your opinion of the minifigure and the accompanying book in the comments below.
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35 comments on this article
Minifigs are alwas better with minifig legs ;-)
Why don't anyone at Brickset.com ever talk about misprints? His left eye looks extremely off and derpy.
I very often see here pictures of minifigures with color bleeding and unaligned lines, but no one ever mentions that in the article text.
I photograph minifigures a lot. I can usually tell when a misperfection is visible only by a close-up shot, but some of the misprints I see are supposed to be clearly observable with naked eye.
The articles here are great and I take great joy in reading them, but I'd like popular websites to call out LEGO whenever there are quality issues (as Jangbricks does for example).
Man. It's too bad we'll probably never find out what happened to Kira, or how Maul went from being a kingpin to a crazy guy on Malachor.
Loving the dramatic header image. It's a pity the actual minifigure is a bit derpy. It's also a shame the actual book is subpar; Dorling Kindersley is, in my experience, pretty good at this sort of thing.
@HappyLEGOfan said:
"Why don't anyone at Brickset.com ever talk about misprints? His left eye looks extremely off and derpy.
I very often see here pictures of minifigures with color bleeding and unaligned lines, but no one ever mentions that in the article text."
Agreed, it's pretty common in reviews here. Take https://brickset.com/article/48193/review-70428-jack-s-beach-buggy - Jack's torso print is a) bleeding colour and b) the white isn't nearly opaque enough, and the reviewer's only comment is that it "featur[es] appropriate detail." I'd appreciate Brickset reviews to hold Lego to their proper standard better. Maul's eye doesn't bother me that much in comparison, but it should've been mentioned at least.
(For fairness, I should add that other reviews, such as 75971, at least mention opacity as a printing issue. And https://brickset.com/article/40832/review-75975-watchpoint-gibraltar is brutally honest about Mercy's infamous head printing too, so please Brickset - more of that!)
(Looks closely)
My Crimson Dawn Maul doesn't really look all that derpy. There's a slight bleed from the red onto his eye, but not enough that it bothers me.
I did put him side-by-side with my Microfighter Maul (who I think came with the Naboo battle as well), and their heads are almost identical, except that the latter is grinning.
@HappyLEGOfan - We do generally acknowledge quality issues, albeit only when they are considered widespread or especially significant. This minifigure, for example, does include a minor smudge beside the left pupil but this error only really becomes apparent during close-up photography and does not substantially detract from its design in my opinion.
Nevertheless, I will try to be more consistent in mentioning these problems in the future.
I must get this book. I don’t want the book but I can’t pass up that Maul. That’s as close as it can be to his look in Clone Wars season five. That is one of the best minifigures I’ve seen in a long time.
"Unique parts were designed for Maul in 75022 Mandalorian Speeder, although I think printing standard legs seems more accurate in this context."
His mechanical legs from "Clone Wars" were transformed/replaced to more normal looking mechanical legs for "Rebels" - which is closer in the timeline to Solo: A Star Wars Story, and thus that is why I'm guessing these legs are standard minifig legs and not the bigger more mechanical legs that were released with the Mandalorian Speeder.
Surprising to see THAT version of Maul, considering it has been a few years after Solo: a Star Wars story has already come out. I'm glad that it exists of course. But I was almost certain we would not see anything from the anthology films after they debuted. Vader's castle might be the other exception though.
We still need an AT-ACT that can be converted to a regular AT-AT. Or a UCS AT-AT. In fact, we need an AT-AT in general, it has been 6 years!
@Binnekamp said:
"Surprising to see THAT version of Maul, considering it has been a few years after Solo: a Star Wars story has already come out. I'm glad that it exists of course. But I was almost certain we would not see anything from the anthology films after they debuted. Vader's castle might be the other exception though.
We still need an AT-ACT that can be converted to a regular AT-AT. Or a UCS AT-AT. In fact, we need an AT-AT in general, it has been 6 years!"
Rumor has it and AT-AT is slated for later this year, so your prayers may be answered.
Ok, but why won't Lucasfilm just let Maul die? As cool as he is :-P
About the minfig itself, as someone who owns one of the awful "grinning" versions, I'm happy to see that they finally fixed it.
@HappyLEGOfan said:
"Why don't anyone at Brickset.com ever talk about misprints? His left eye looks extremely off and derpy.
I very often see here pictures of minifigures with color bleeding and unaligned lines, but no one ever mentions that in the article text.
I photograph minifigures a lot. I can usually tell when a misperfection is visible only by a close-up shot, but some of the misprints I see are supposed to be clearly observable with naked eye.
The articles here are great and I take great joy in reading them, but I'd like popular websites to call out LEGO whenever there are quality issues (as Jangbricks does for example)."
I am so happy you pointed me towards his lazy eye. I had a good laugh at it. :'D
This is a big surprise! But an excellent one. I must have this!
EDIT: I'm sad & disappointed to read here and on Amazon that there are problems with the book. Not only are there errors but less characters included in now fewer pages. That's a big shame. :-(
@CapnRex101 when is the other poll for choosing a future licensed theme coming, if at all?
@SinKiller_Nick said:
""Unique parts were designed for Maul in 75022 Mandalorian Speeder, although I think printing standard legs seems more accurate in this context."
His mechanical legs from "Clone Wars" were transformed/replaced to more normal looking mechanical legs for "Rebels" - which is closer in the timeline to Solo: A Star Wars Story, and thus that is why I'm guessing these legs are standard minifig legs and not the bigger more mechanical legs that were released with the Mandalorian Speeder."
To expand on this, he actually did get the normal looking cybernetic legs in The Clone Wars after meeting up with Death Watch. The original "chicken legs" built by Mother Talzin were fairly short lived.
That eye makes him look more like he looks when Savage Oppress finds him and he’s all psycho in the cave o Lothal minor. I just need more clone wars sets based off of the seventh season. This is about as close as you can get to his look without a special mini figure, which I still am hoping for a set with Maul and Ahsoka.
With respect to the book itself, the e-book release date has been delayed at least twice.
Could this be to correct some errors? Probably more likely it’s just the current global situation slowing things down.
It’s a shame as I think its the first DK Lego book to get an electronic version. I enjoy reading DK books on the ipad and although you don’t get the minifig it seemed a good compromise until the hardback version dropped in price.
Received my copy of this book last week, and am pleased but do want to add that my Maul figure also has a similar misprinted left eye. I noticed it immediately and was slightly disappointed because I expect top quality from Lego. I saw that the review sample on Rebelscum has a misprint on the right eye. Luckily it is a minor detail, but the QC issue seems to be all too common.
As for the book itself, I have to say that for someone who only ever had the first edition of this minifig guide (with Han and is medal), this was well worth the upgrade. So many new figures have been released since then, and I have no way of telling which pages are reproduced from the previous (White Boba) book.
In the end though, I do wish they would find someone who has been collecting Lego Star Wars for 20 years to author these. A person who could easily avoid all the little mistakes sprinkled throughout.
Still think shirtless Maul is the best Maul
One of the best SW-figures this year. And a more or less mediocre encyclopedia. I am happy to own it. It will be displayed together with the Solo figures.
@BigGuy4U said, "To expand on this, he actually did get the normal looking cybernetic legs in The Clone Wars after meeting up with Death Watch. The original "chicken legs" built by Mother Talzin were fairly short lived."
You are correct . . . but even after the transformation of the "chicken legs" by Mother Talzin, they were still fairly large mechanical legs . . . whereas in Rebels his mechanical legs appeared to look like normal legs.
I'd love to see an article walking through the errors in the book! That would be fascinating.
Note: "Chicken legs" Maul actually first appeared in a 2005 comic book story, "Old Wounds," which had cyber-Maul confronting Obi-Wan on Tatooine in an attempt to kill young Luke. The story was non-canon, but the design was very overtly copied into Maul's reappearance on Clone Wars (the only difference being that comic Maul had much longer horns).
Notably, when Maul had his last appearance on Rebels and his final fight with Obi-Wan there...well, it was a very different version of the story. However, Obi-Wan did say "I will deal with this old wound" in a very obvious nod to the comic.
The only thing worth getting from the book! It looks like that eye misprint is consistent with other reviews I've seen. Hopefully, that was only in the first batch...
I also, having just purchased the book, would love to see an article on its errors! Pretty please.
@agrahmann said:
"I'd love to see an article walking through the errors in the book! That would be fascinating."
From what I hear there's so many errors and omissions in it that we could write a whole series of articles...
Printing issues? Look at the helmet...
https://brickset.com/minifigs/sw1073/t-16-skyhopper-pilot-detailed-belts
This is a really cool figure. The book isn't something I'll be buying though. I learned a long time ago that while DK puts out some great books on all sorts of things to me these encyclopedias are too pricey when the info in the book is sorely out of date as soon as the next wave of sets or movie or whatever gets released.
Hmm, I don't remember Maul appearing in Solo. I may have to rewatch that movie.
@SinKiller_Nick said:
""Unique parts were designed for Maul in 75022 Mandalorian Speeder, although I think printing standard legs seems more accurate in this context."
His mechanical legs from "Clone Wars" were transformed/replaced to more normal looking mechanical legs for "Rebels" - which is closer in the timeline to Solo: A Star Wars Story, and thus that is why I'm guessing these legs are standard minifig legs and not the bigger more mechanical legs that were released with the Mandalorian Speeder."
Death Watch provided proper mechanical legs to replace the ones Savage Opress improvised with.
@ResIspaLoquitor hopefully, that’s what the new Kenobi series will be about when it finally arrives.
I liked Solo a fair bit, more than most other people anyway. Maul might be a cool figure to get as he is one of my favourite characters, but judging by the book’s contents, I’ll wait for a sale.
One thing is how this particular book apparently is chuck full of errors, what really turns me off buying these books is how 2/3 of their thickness is taken up by a big dumb box-like structure to house the minifig - which feels particularly pointless unless you choose to keep the minifig in the book. I'd really wish they could come up with a better way to pack the minifig without compromising the book itself, like having a case on top or the right side which could be easily removed without damaging the cover.
BTW, am I the only one who thinks "hide the pain, Darth" when seeing the grinning variants of this figure?
@Robot99 said:
"Ok, but why won't Lucasfilm just let Maul die? As cool as he is :-P"
His story is resolved in Rebels.
I looked back at the reviews of the 2015 version of this book and the mistakes seem to be a common theme. I wonder why they cannot get the facts straight!