Learning how to ride a bike is a childhood rite of passage that has been passed from generation to generation since, well, probably since the advent of the bicycle itself. So, I would imagine that learning how to ride a speeder holds the same kind of importance in the Sith Master and apprentice relationship. Boy, I bet ol’ Darth Sidious was a proud old Dark Sider when little Maul finally got the hang of the balance and pitch of the hover bike down in his formative training years. So, get ready to relive those sentimental “that’s my boy” moments, because Bandai has brought Darth Maul’s Sith Speeder to life in their S.H. Figuarts line.
As I am sure you know, I am a total mark for the Star Wars S.H. Figuarts line, but up until now, I have been able to stave off my impulses when it comes to buying the vehicles. I skipped the Speeder Bike from way back when due to the fact that I already had THREE Black Series speeders, but when it came to getting in on this release, I did not hesitate for one second. This is a neat little vehicle from The Phantom Menace, and the price was right, so that, coupled with the fact the scout droid and a whole half of Darth Maul is included, made this an easy sale. Plus, I can now right the wrong of the movie with this piece because, instead of hopping right off of it to engage Qui-Gon Jinn, Maul should have used it like a jousting horse for Force’s sake, so you just watch out little Jinn figure, this time Maul is REALLY comin’ for ya.
If you are familiar with the S.H. Figuarts Star Wars action figure releases, this speeder resembles those closely, while and the same time, it is very different. Well, duh, right? This is vehicle and not a person, but this has all of the details and care and quality of a typical Figuarts release, but it is also pretty simple, and that is something that is not the case with most figures. I love SHF figures, LOVE them, but it is no secret that they can be incredibly complex in their design, and you often need “time” with them to go through all of the parts and get used to the particular traits of the individual figure. With this thought, the Sith Speeder is pretty much ready to go right out of the box.
Included in this set is the speeder itself, a stand for the speeder, new ‘skirt’ and hand pieces for the previously-released Darth Maul figure, and a the scout droid used to seek out the Queen in Mos Espa. The speeder is quite lovely in a utilitarian sort of way, and you get a chance to take in all of the details that you most certainly missed during its fleeting time on screen. This be SHF, the sculpt is meticulous and every vent, cushion stitch, and electronic detail is faithfully rendered. There is also a bit of scuffing and metal wear depicted, and I would imagine this is speeder as it was right when it came out of Maul’s ship, rather than after it tooled around on a dirty desert planet.
For the most part, the craft is made of one piece of hollow ABS plastic, and if you own any of the Galactic Trading Post Space Walls, you will know the feel of it in your hands. Due to the shape of this rig, and the fact that it hovers, I am going to guess most people will be displaying this on the stand, and there is a port at the bottom that makes the attachment easy, and it allows for movement around a bit of a “ball” joint, so x, y, and z-axis positioning is possible. I mean D-Maul just kind of speeds in a straight line on this thing in the movie, but you can add some dynamic positioning with this properly positioned. The base of the stand has a large enough circumference to make extreme angles possible without the fear of the whole thing toppling over. Oh, and since this is Bandai, of course there is a tiny plastic panel that covers the stand peg hole on the speeder when not in use. No detail missed.
The handle bars move up and down and the foot rests can rotate 360-degrees to help facilitate posing Maul. Now, I am careful with my SHF pieces as a general rule, but I would certainly recommend caution with these moveable spots because they seem especially fragile. The directions even make a point to call that out in Japanese and English, so you know you need to be careful. The handle bar movement is nice, but it only allows for so much variety in posing, but the Maul “grip” hands included also help with that. Those hand actually have an intentional wider grip than being firm on the bars, which is good because you don’t have to worry about breaking anything just to get the grips in place. The foot rests help with posing, too, but that is kind of limited as well, and that is caused more by the fact that the new skirt piece is nice, but Maul still cannot seat perfectly due to the sculpt. It isn’t any egregious by any means, but Maul pretty much has to sit up straight with his legs out and in the rests.
Finally, the little scout/probe droid that Maul sends out to find Qui-Gon and crew is also here, and it is a neat little piece. It is a pretty essential part of Maul’s entire arc on Tatooine, so I would consider it to be an essential inclusion, and it is rendered nicely. There is not moving parts or anything too fancy, the stand needed to keep it flying is not included, so that is pretty annoying, but the piece itself is neat and it will look great alongside the speeder on the shelf. I guess I just love getting stuff like this, and with the interrogation droid accompanying Tarkin in his SWB release, we are starting to get a bit of collection. Hopefully a Mouse Droid will be along soon.
So, I would not say that I REQUIRED this Sith Speeder for my collection, but I am glad that I got it. This was placed well as a Soul Web Store exclusive, so by the time you are reading this, it is sold out at most places. Since this was about the same cost as a regular SHF SW figure, it was worth it to me, but I actually enjoy many parts of TPM, so your opinion is likely to vary considerably. Hey, at least this got us a Darth Maul re-release, amirite? If you are still interested in this, you can get it HERE, but it will cost more than the original asking price.
