I agrre with u in some ways Poxoman, but have you ever seen a band other than Iron maiden been promoted through a creation which represents them meaning 'eddie',, i mean you never see saxon being promoted with the eagle or motorhead with the bomber thingy!,, i think maiden and there management saw the potential of 'eddie' and realy used his character to sell there music, even if it was just to get fans introduced to maiden,, then i guess the music took over,,lol i hope that makes sense and u know what i mean! lol,,, and crusader how about on the next maiden cover we have eddie dressed as julie andrews followed by dwarfs on a top of a hill singing the Sound of music!!!!!! heheheh