Darth Maul (Old Master) — Star Wars The Black Series #GG 23

Overview

Darth Maul (Old Master) at #GG 23 is the Gaming Greats Collection’s standout figure to date — a Battlefront II 2017 video game configuration of the iconic Sith Lord that detailed reviewers have specifically called out as a strongly-executed release. Released early August 2023 as a single-boxed GameStop exclusive. MSRP $28.99 (year-imprinted 2022). Three accessories: a lightsaber hilt and two removable red blades that combine into the character’s signature double-bladed configuration. 21-joint articulation with butterfly shoulders. The figure reuses many parts from the Black Series Clone Wars Darth Maul figure (id=29247), but the new head sculpt, paint application, and accessory loadout deliver one of the better-engineered Gaming Greats figures across the entire collection.

The Battlefront II Source

The figure is based on Darth Maul’s appearances in the 2017 Star Wars: Battlefront II video game from EA DICE. Maul appears as a hero unit in the game’s multiplayer modes — a premium spawn-in character that players can deploy for limited combat windows. The “Old Master” designation references Maul’s character arc: by the Battlefront II era (set across multiple Star Wars time periods including the original trilogy and prequel periods), Maul has aged significantly from his Episode I introduction, with the figure capturing the older, more weathered version of the character.

For collectors who played Battlefront II’s hero combat modes, the figure represents one of the game’s premium combat units in plastic form. For Maul collectors building the character’s chronological-arc display across multiple sources (Episode I young Maul, Clone Wars-era Maul, Solo-era Maul, Rebels-era Old Master Maul), the Gaming Greats version anchors the older-aged configuration.

The Clone Wars Maul Parts Reuse

For this figure, Hasbro used many parts from the Clone Wars Darth Maul figure (id=29247). Same body sculpt, same articulation, same Dathomirian Zabrak species body type. The differentiation comes through the new head sculpt (capturing the older Maul facial structure rather than the Clone Wars version’s appearance), new paint application (specific Battlefront II markings rather than the Clone Wars deco), and the new lightsaber accessory configuration.

This is the third Gaming Greats Collection figure to reuse the Clone Wars Maul body — the Nightbrother Warrior at #GG 05 and the Nightbrother Archer at #GG 10 also share the same body sculpt. For collectors who own multiple Dathomirian Zabrak figures, the body-sculpt overlap is consistent across the species’ representation in the collection. The head sculpts and paint deco distinguish the figures meaningfully, but the underlying body engineering is shared across four releases (Clone Wars Maul plus the three Gaming Greats variants).

The Phenomenal Head Sculpt

Detailed reviewers’ strongest praise for the figure is the head sculpt: the head sculpt looks phenomenal, and the paint application with the patterns on the face and arms looks great. This is meaningfully strong language compared to the standard “the head sculpt captures the character” assessment most figures receive — the Old Master Maul head specifically rises above the Phase 4 line’s typical head-sculpt baseline.

The Battlefront II Maul design captures the character’s older configuration with sharp definition: the specific facial structure, the Dathomirian horn pattern, the tattoo markings that define the character’s species identity, the proportions appropriate to the source material’s character model. Hasbro committed to capturing the character’s specific visual reading rather than substituting a generic Sith Lord likeness.

For collectors who care about how figures translate video-game character designs to plastic form, the Old Master Maul head is one of the better Phase 4 implementations. The character is recognisably the Battlefront II configuration rather than a Clone Wars-era Maul variant.

The Double-Bladed Lightsaber

Darth Maul came with a double-bladed lightsaber where both red blades can be detached from the hilt. Three accessories: the central hilt and two red blades. The dual-removable design supports the same display flexibility as Bastila Shan at #GG 21: hilt-only (saber stowed), single-blade (one ignited), or double-blade (both ignited for the character’s signature combat configuration).

For Maul specifically, the double-bladed weapon is the character’s defining visual identity across all source material — Episode I, Clone Wars, Solo, Rebels, Battlefront II. The figure’s accessory engineering supports the screen-accurate combat configurations the character requires, with the butterfly shoulder joints (covered below) providing the articulation flexibility for centre-grip weapon poses.

The Tight Ankle Joints

A specific engineering positive that detailed reviewers explicitly highlight: what Hasbro did exceptionally well on this figure are the ankle joints, which are VERY tight but functional and will guarantee that this figure is not going to fall over when on display. This is the inverse of the loose-ankle pattern that affects multiple Phase 4 releases — Cassian Aldhani at #AND 01, Vader Duel’s End at #OWK 15A, KX Security Droid at #GG 15, and Darth Malgus at #GG 24 all suffer from ankles too loose to hold the figure’s weight reliably.

The Old Master Maul figure ships with ankle joints calibrated tighter than the Phase 4 baseline — stiff enough that posing requires deliberate movement, but functional across the figure’s full articulation range. The result is a figure that holds dynamic combat poses without joint drift, supporting reliable standing display across multiple configurations.

For collectors who’ve struggled with Phase 4 ankle quality-control variance, the Old Master Maul demonstrates that Hasbro’s engineering can deliver reliable joint stiffness when the tooling commits to it. Whether this represents per-figure tooling variance or a deliberate design choice for this release is unclear, but the result is one of the most stably-standing figures in the Gaming Greats Collection.

The Soft-Plastic Shoulder Bells

The shoulder bells are made out of very soft plastic, which will move out of the way once the arms are raised high. Same engineering positive that distinguishes the Republic Commando line and other better-engineered Phase 4 trooper releases — soft plastic shoulder armour accommodates full arm articulation without forcing the bells to dislodge during pose changes. For a lightsaber-wielding character with butterfly shoulder joints, the soft-bell accommodation supports the screen-accurate two-handed combat configurations the character requires.

The Glossy Lower Legs

A specific paint detail worth flagging: the glossy and metallic-looking lower legs look good. Most Phase 4 figures use a matte plastic finish across all body components; the Old Master Maul’s lower legs ship with a deliberately glossier finish that captures the character’s mechanical lower-body prosthetics. The visual distinction between the matte upper body and the glossier lower body adds meaningful display depth without breaking the figure’s overall paint coherence.

This is the same kind of finish-variation detail that distinguishes the better-engineered Phase 4 droid figures (K-2SO’s slight metallic finish, the KX Security Droid’s metallic body). Hasbro doesn’t apply finish variation consistently across the line, but where it appears, it elevates the figure substantially.

Articulation

21 joints. Ball-jointed top neck, ball-jointed lower neck, butterfly joints in the shoulders, ball-jointed shoulders, ball-jointed elbows, ball-jointed wrists, ball-jointed upper body, ball-jointed hips, swivel thighs, swivel joints in the knees (left/right), swivel joints in the knees (up/down), ball-jointed ankles. The dual-axis knee articulation (left/right + up/down) is unusual within the Phase 4 line and provides additional dynamic-pose flexibility for the character’s combat configurations.

Combined with the butterfly shoulders and the tight ankles, the Old Master Maul has one of the better-engineered articulation configurations in the Gaming Greats Collection. The figure can adopt screen-accurate Sith Lord combat poses across the full range of motion the character requires.

The Mural Collection Position

The Old Master Maul sits at the twenty-third position in the Gaming Greats Collection mural display. For loose display, the figure works best alongside the other Battlefront II figures (Imperial Rocket Trooper at #GG 01, Jet Trooper at #GG 06, Umbra Operative ARC Trooper at #GG 09, General Grievous Battle Damaged at #GG 25) for a Battlefront II hero-units ensemble, or alongside the various Black Series Darth Maul releases for a Maul chronological display. The figure also works alongside the Nightbrother figures at #GG 05 and #GG 10 for a Dathomirian species ensemble.

Secondary Market

Single-boxed GameStop exclusive, August 2023. Aftermarket prices on the secondary market have generally tracked at or above the original $28.99 MSRP, with strong demand from Maul collectors and Battlefront II completionists. Verify the lightsaber hilt and both red blades are included. No production variants documented.

Verdict

Darth Maul (Old Master) at #GG 23 is the strongest Gaming Greats Collection figure to date. The phenomenal head sculpt captures the Battlefront II character configuration cleanly, the tight ankle joints provide reliable standing stability that most Phase 4 figures lack, the glossy lower-leg finish adds meaningful paint depth, the dual-axis knee articulation supports dynamic combat poses, and the soft-plastic shoulder bells accommodate full arm articulation across the figure’s range of motion.

The reused Clone Wars Maul body is the figure’s only meaningful negative — collectors who own the Clone Wars Maul or the Nightbrother figures are buying duplicate body tooling. The accessory loadout is the standard saber-and-blades configuration without additional secondary equipment.

Buy this figure if you play Battlefront II, if you collect Darth Maul across multiple sources, or if you appreciate when Hasbro commits to engineering quality on a single release. The $28.99 MSRP is fair for the engineering quality, and the figure represents the Gaming Greats Collection at its better-engineered moments. Galactic Figures’ assessment is direct: this Black Series Darth Maul figure turned out very well and should make gamers of the video game or Darth Maul collectors very happy.

The Battlefront II Old Master Maul. The figure with the phenomenal head sculpt and the tight ankles. The strongest Gaming Greats release to date. GameStop exclusive, August 2023.

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Part of Star Wars The Black Series | Phase 4 Gaming Greats Collection. Related: Nightbrother Warrior P4-GG-05 | Nightbrother Archer P4-GG-10 | General Grievous (Battle Damaged) P4-GG-25.