Legendary metal gods Iron Maiden have certainly come a long way since their early days of playing tiny pubs, and the same can be said for their equally legendary mascot, Eddie, who started out as a rudimentary head that spewed smoke from his mouth (and was known as “Eddie the ‘ead” as part of their stage backdrop, and went on to become a metal icon in his own right.

Each Iron Maiden album cover features a different incarnation of the Eddie character, and many of the covers (in particular the classics painted by Derek Riggs) have become as iconic as the music itself. When the first, self titled, album was released, Eddie hadn’t quite settled into his trademark look, but by the time the second came around, a legend had been born. The notorious cover for their second album, ‘Killers’, originally featured Eddie brandishing a bloody axe in one hand and the severed head of Margaret Thatcher in the other. Deemed too violent to release, the severed head was painted out and the cover was approved, with just her gore-covered hand visible, clutching at Eddie’s bloodstained shirt.

The third album was to feature an image of Eddie that would become a staple of Heavy metal iconography for decades to come. The album was The Number of The Beast, and the cover depicted a giant Eddie controlling the strings of a puppet Satan, which struck a chord with the metal scene and adorned T-shirts, posters and the like for years to come. With each album, and each successive image of Eddie, the demand for figures and other items based on the character and his many guises grew to boiling point, and in 2002, during the massive rebirth of Iron Maiden’s career following the release of the ‘Brave New World’ album. The first action figure based on the legendary metal mascot was produced by licensed toy giant McFarlane Toys, and depicted Eddie in his ‘Killers’ era incarnation, complete with Axe and snarl.

From there, the demand for further figures grew, but they wouldn’t be made by McFarlane, as the license soon shifted to another big name in action figures, namely NECA. A new age in Iron Maiden merchandising had begun.

Many of the following action figures were created by the famous toy manufacturers NECA. Some are no longer in production and are highly sought after collectibles, but there is still a great range of Iron Maiden action figures available!

THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST 18” EDDIE FIGURE

Art Asylum created this magnificent looking figure of Eddie based on the artwork to the third Iron Maiden album, ‘The Number of the Beast’. While the large format figure and his little devil accessory looked superb, they weren’t the sturdiest of figures to be made, and the packaging left a little to be desired. Nonetheless, the figure has become a highly sought after collector’s item ever since the production ended its run in 2004.

NECA SERIES 1

The first series of NECA-made Iron Maiden Eddie action figures was released to much acclaim from fans in 2005. The range began with two figures based on famous Iron Maiden album covers, namely ‘Piece of Mind’ and ‘Somewhere in Time’. Both supplied with diorama bases and accessories, they proved to be very popular with Maiden fans and the demand for more grew.

NECA SERIES 2

More officially licensed Iron Maiden Eddie action figures arrived in 2006, with NECA’s second wave, which consisted of high-quality figures inspired by the ‘Live After Death’ live album and the ‘Phantom of the Opera’ single sleeve. Once more setting fans alight, they proved to be the perfect accompaniment to any Maiden-stuffed CD shelf. The superb ‘Live After Death’ figure remains a popular item today.

SOMEWHERE IN TIME EDDIE

NECA were also responsible for the stunning 18” Eddie figure based on the artwork from the ‘Somewhere in Time’ album. Like its 7 inch counterpart, it features full articulation and accessories, but as well as its huge size, also includes a light up eye and a motorized arm, both of which are motion-activated. Packed in an Iron Maiden themed window-front display box, this has proven to be the most popular of all of the Iron Maiden figures released thus far, and remains a very popular item amongst metal collectors, probably down to the sheer size of the piece.

UPDATE: PHANTOM OF THE OPERA FIGURE STILL AVAILABLE!

It has come to light that the Iron Maiden 'Phantom of the Opera' figure is still available from quality outlets. The figure was previously thought to be scarce, but some suppliers are still able to get hold of it!

Headknockers? Shouldn't they be headBANGERS in this case? The range of officially license IRON MAIDEN EDDIE HEADKNOCKERS is a constantly popular subsection of Iron Maiden's masses of merchandise, and why the hell not? Every home needs a nodding Eddie that can headbang along to '2 Minutes to Midnight' with you!

These resin-cast headknockers, also produced by NECA, are excellent additions to your Iron maiden collection. There have been five released so far, including the following:

PIECE OF MIND

LIVE AFTER DEATH

SOMEWHERE IN TIME

THE TROOPER

NUMBER OF THE BEAST

Each features the customary oversized head, mounted on a spring so that you can knock the head to and fro. Individually packed in authentic IROIN MAIDEN themed packaging (each based around the artwork for the album that each headknocker depicts), they still look cool despite their comedic nature. Some were offered in window-front display boxes, but others such as the ones based on The Trooper, Somewhere in Time and Number of the Beast, came packed in sturdy boxes with no window panel, ensuring the resin items within arrived in fans homes in a decent condition!