Review: Star Wars Black Series Sebulba, The Phantom Menace, Galaxy Collection Fan Channel Wave
- Mephitsu
- May 22
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 1
“On the front line, the reigning champion, Sebulba from Pixelito. By far the favorite today.”
Sebulba, the Dug Pod Racer from Episode 1, was released into the Star Wars Black Series in May 2025 as part of the wider Galaxy Collection for The Phantom Menace. Sebulba was part of a smaller Fan Channel retailer wave of three figures, the other two being Shaak Ti and Luminara Unduli from Attack of the Clones. Sebulba is number 06 in the Phantom Menace series, utilising the established sandy yellow secondary colour on the character and movie names and on the side artwork. This side art, also repeated around the back of the box, connects directly to the Darth Maul release from 2024.
The back of the box is split between the repeated artwork, and a small multi-language background of Sebulba, one of the Outer Rim’s most successful Podracers, and his crafty, and sometimes vicious behaviour. The figure itself is set into the inner tray with a colour coordinated sandy yellow backdrop that incorporates an image of Sebulba’s Pod Racer speeding through the Tatooine landscape.
As he was on screen, Sebulba in action figure form is an interesting design. It starts with a reasonably standard torso complete with brown leather-like racer's vest with a two-tone horizontal strip design. From this, there are a set of legs that connect into the shoulder socket, as is the Dug anatomy arranged. These legs feature similarly designed multi-toned brown wraps and panels terminating with a pair of splayed four-toed feet which show a flash of Sebulba’s purple skin tone that quickly transitions to pale flesh with sculpted, but unpainted toenails.
The arms come out to the lower hip section which is wrapped in a silver skirt piece, almost chainmail in its design. Unlike the ‘legs’, the ‘arms’ are uncovered save for some wraps at the elbows and wrists in brown. The skin tone is clearer to see here, radiating between a mottled purple skin tone at the top of the arms to a very pale flesh tone underneath and out into the extended four fingers.
Sebulba’s large head protrudes from the neck of the torso piece with a slightly darker flesh tone than the arms & legs but with similar purple mottled markings across the top, down over the snout, and similarly back and down over the crown of the head and into the neck. The likeness to the CGI Sebulba is good, capturing his deep-set sinister eyes along with the fin like ears, the mouth tendrils and the large dog like mouth and snout. Sebulba is also sporting his braided tendrils behind his eyes with red, green, and purple painted beads.
Proportionally, our Sebulba Black Series figure is fairly screen accurate, but is perhaps slightly larger than the CGI character as shown during the movie. Most records have the Dug measuring 1.1m in height. At 4 inches tall, the figure would convert to being around 1.2m in total, about 10% bigger than he perhaps should be.
This oversizing may be a conscious decision for production, and doesn’t have too much of a bearing if you are posing Sebulba with his Episode 1 contemporaries such as Anakin or Jar Jar Binks.
Sebulba features two accessories, the first being the Gorg carcass that is stolen by Jar Jar and spat out, landing on Sebulba while he relaxes in the Mos Espa marketplace. This is a very limited detail piece, cast in a garish green finish with simple painted eyes and no other detail. The feet of the Gorg are folded over, creating a hook that allows Sebulba to hold it in his right gripping hand. Like a few recent Black Series accessories, the sculpt and finish feel cheap and lacking detail, and almost as though they are from another cheaper line than the Star Wars 6-inch Collector Series.
The second accessory is much better, a softer plastic Podracing Helmet, as worn by Sebulba during the Boonta Eve race. It is cast in brown plastic with two large round eye lens featuring clear plastic lenses. Two side cut outs are shaped to go round Sebulba’s ears, meaning the helmet sits naturally on the Dug’s head without looking oversized or clunky.
Sebulba has 17 points of articulation despite his unique physiology. These are all pinless and all relatively simple single joints, considering the slimmer nature of the Dug’s arms and legs. The splayed feet present a reasonable platform for posing Sebulba standing, but balance is key here, particularly if you extend the arms out too much or lean him forward or backward. The feet do include a peg hole, so an aftermarket pegged stand will stabilise him if needed. The arms are relatively wide-ranging and can be very expressive, able to rub together as though scheming to win a race, or holding his head, or adjusting his Podracing helmet. The head has two jointed sections at the base and top of the neck, while there is a waist joint tucked in behind the skirt piece, adding a touch more central movement in the main body.
Sebulba is another impressive execution of an alien species within the Black Series, perhaps the most interesting to date, considering the physiology with engineering around the reversed arms and legs position that still allows the figure to stand and express itself fully for display, either alone or facing off against Anakin or Jar Jar. The flight helmet is glorious and exactly what should have been included with the Anakin Skywalker Episode 1 release.
The main negative of the set is the Gorg, which is ugly and lacking in detail and feels very out of place. The release may have actually been better perceived if it was left out altogether. Considering Sebulba’s relatively limited interaction with the main Star Wars Universe it is great to see Hasbro supporting these background and tertiary characters in the 6-inch line, providing the hope that nothing is off the table - although I suspect this is the last Podracer we will see so don’t go getting your hopes up for a Ben Quadinaros release.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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