Grisly Iron Maiden 'Eddie' Figure Hits Toy Stores
PUSSSYKATT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - After 22 years of leering at heavy metal fans from Iron
Maiden album covers and the concert stage, the British rock band's tattered and
ghoulish mascot "Eddie" is making his debut in the world's toy stores.
At New York's annual Toy Fair this week, headbanging Maiden fans were on hand
to marvel at two new miniature figures depicting the grimacing skeleton, based
on the group's macabre artwork dating from the heavy metal heyday in the 1980s.
Eddie first spooked fans on the cover of Iron Maiden, the eponymous first
record named for a medieval torture device, in 1980, and continues to grace new
covers and even stalk the stage in a 12-foot tall costume when the band is on
tour.
Iron Maiden's outspoken singer Bruce Dickinson said the mascot -- depicted on
one new doll that is already in stores as a bloody hatchet killer in T-shirt
and blue jeans -- remains a sort of anti-hero for the band and its throngs of
fans.
The gory character is the "Clint Eastwood of monsters," said Dickinson, as he
unveiled a new doll styled as a lobotomized Confederate soldier grasping a
saber in one skeletal hand and a tattered Union Jack flag in the other.
He joked that the mascot was the sort of predator that would devour Detroit's
guitar-playing rock icon Ted Nugent if given the opportunity.
"Eddie exists in his own heroic world in Iron Maiden's music and always has
done," Dickinson told Reuters in an interview on the Toy Fair sidelines.
With its foray into the arena of miniatures, the band joins the likes of heavy
metal acts like Kiss and original Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne who have
marketed dolls.
Iron Maiden's demonic Eddie mascot was created by illustrator Derek Riggs,
based on a Kabuki mask that used to hang behind the band and vomit blood on the
drummer as they performed at bars in London's East End.
By this fall, both Eddie figures, which are being manufactured by toy designer
Todd McFarlane, will be available in stores for about $15 each.
Dickinson said he sees the statuettes selling well to Iron Maiden fans and to
figure collectors, who will appreciate the mass-produced sculptures as pieces
of art.
McFarlane estimates he will issue from two to 20 different Eddie dolls in
total, depending on demand from the public.
Dickinson chimed in, "Of course, there's a lot of Iron Maiden fans out there."
Last year, the band headlined a concert in Brazil, the Rock in Rio festival,
playing to an estimated 250,000 people.
One steadfast devotee of the group said during the Toy Fair that runs through
Thursday she was "positive" loyal fans would buy the new Eddies because they
would find them nostalgic.
Aside from the toys, Iron Maiden will be reissuing 15 studio and live albums
this year, including such hits as "The Number of the Beast" and "Powerslave" in
vinyl- replica packages with bonus tracks and multimedia content. Those
reissues will be released in the United States on March 26.
A brand new recording should be released before the summer of 2003 as the band
is planning a "big tour" for that time, Dickinson said.
"There is a new album out next year and of course there's going to be a new
Eddie," said the singer.
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