Number of the Beast (40th Anniversary) (Iron Maiden (Neca)) Review

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Number of the Beast (40th Anniversary) (Iron Maiden (Neca)) Review

Number of the Beast (40th Anniversary)
Iron Maiden (Neca) (Neca)Since 1980, the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden has made their mark on the world with plenty of awesome songs, and can arguably be considered one of the greatest bands of the genre. For years, NECA has worked with Iron Maiden to produce a couple collectibles of their mascot, Eddie, with the latest release commemorating the 40th anniversary of their hit single "The Number of the Beast."

The packaging is much like what you usually get with NECA, presenting the original album cover by Derek Riggs on the front, and plenty of shots of the figure itself on the sides and back. It's simple, but it works. However, there are a lot of plastic ties holding in everything on the inside, so get your scissors handy.

Eddie sports somewhat rough, decayed skin, being based off a photograph of a severed head hanging from a Vietnamese tank (yes, really), and wild hair fit for a rocker. David Silva did a good job replicating Eddie's appearance, with accurate expression and great texturing on the skin and hair. The hair is somewhat translucent, giving it a bit of realism. The paint on the skin makes use of various contrasting colors and highlights, matching the original album art, and it all looks great. If I have complaint, though, it's the pupils. They're supposed to be small flames, and it looks like they tried to replicate that here, but they didn't turn out right.

As opposed to making Eddie a standing action figure, NECA opted to sculpt him in the pose he makes on the album cover, with a deep, hunched over stance. And because of this, they chose not to give him any real articulation in the legs (more on that below). Despite this decision, he looks amazing. Standing around 5 1/2" tall, Eddie's body has the same skin texture for the arms, along with various wrinkles in the shirt and pants. The paint is very well done too, with wash in the paints, use of yellow highlighting in the shirt, and little to no issues.

As mentioned above, Eddie has no real leg movement due to how they executed him, but he does at least get ball-jointed ankles, which helps keep his feet flat and stable. All the movement is really in the upper body, with barbell head, chest, and waist, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, and wrists, and swivel biceps. The joints were a little stiff at first, but he got moving well real quickly, and you can pull off some great poses thanks to there being plenty of range everywhere he moves. He can barely move his legs, and even then his posing is some of the best I've seen in a NECA figure.

For accessories, Eddie comes with a little figure of the beast himself: Satan. Satan stands about 2 1/2" tall up to his head, and the sculpt is great. It matches the cover almost perfectly, and he also gets movement at the head (ball), wings (swivel/hinge), and tail (swivel). If there's one thing I'd change about him, it's the paint. Don't get me wrong, it looks great, but he should have a brighter look with a bolder shade of red. His pitchfork is a separate piece that fits in his right hand, and he plugs into a rocky base containing a river of lava, a couple flames, and a little Eddie marionette for him to control.

As for Eddie himself, he gets three small extras. There's a little piece of rocky terrain with a flame that plugs into his left foot, and it can help to give him some extra stability. He also has a flame that fits into his left hand, and a severed Satan head for his right hand. The Satan head comes from the artwork for the Number of the Beast single, and it looks great. The colors are noticeably different, being yellow as opposed to red, but that matches the artwork. The accessories fit into the hands well, but it can take some effort to do so.

Overall, Eddie is just amazing. He looks great, poses well even with less articulation than usual, and the accessories are great for plenty of display options. If NECA can keep doing things with this license, I'm more than happy to get everything they do with it.

- 10/25/23