NECA Bob Marley

## Bob Marley

Promotional image for the original Bob Marley prototype

In the NECA Cult Classics page, I talked about the unreleased Zombie Ed figure that was planned for release on store shelves, only for several of its molds to be turned into cheap Chinese bootlegs. Well as it turns out, there was another figure NECA planned to release that ended up having the same fate and was based on a rather iconic musician.

## **Summary:**

Robert Nesta Marley (February 1945 - May 11th 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and musician. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady, as well as his distinctive vocal and songwriting style. Marley's contributions to music increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide, and made him a global figure in popular culture for over a decade. Over the course of his career Marley became known as a Rastafari icon, and he infused his music with a sense of spirituality. He is also considered a global symbol of Jamaican music and culture and identity, and was controversial in his outspoken support for the legalization of marijuana, while he also advocated for Pan-Africanism. Marley began his professional musical career in 1963, after forming Bob Marley and the Wailers. The group released its debut studio album *The Wailing Wailers* in 1965, which contained the single "One Love/People Get Ready"; the song was popular worldwide, and established the group as a rising figure in reggae. The Wailers subsequently released eleven further studio albums; while initially employing louder instrumentation and singing, the group began engaging in rhythmic-based song construction in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which coincided with the singer's conversion to Rastafarianism. During this period Marley relocated to London, and the group embodied their musical shift with the release of the album *The Best of The Wailers* (1971). The group attained international success after the release of the albums *Catch a Fire* and *Burnin'* (both 1973), and forged a reputation as touring artists. Following the disbandment of the Wailers a year later, Marley went on to release his solo material under the band's name. His debut studio album *Natty Dread* (1974) received positive reception, as did its follow-up *Rastaman Vibration* (1976). A few months after the album's release Marley survived an assassination attempt at his home in Jamaica, which prompted him to permanently relocate to London. During his time in London he recorded the album *Exodus* (1977); it incorporated elements of blues, soul, and British rock, enjoyed widespread commercial and critical success. In 1977, Marley was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma; he died as a result of the illness in 1981. His fans around the world expressed their grief, and he received a state funeral in Jamaica. The greatest hits album *Legend* was released in 1984, and became the best-selling reggae album of all time. Marley also ranks as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of more than 75 million records worldwide. He was posthumously honored by Jamaica soon after his death with a designated Order of Merit by his nation. In 1994, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. *Rolling Stone* ranked him No. 11 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

## **Action Figure:**

In June 2010, NECA announced plans to release both a 7" and 18" action figure of Bob Marley and was specifically based off his performance with the Wailers "Live at the Rainbow" in London during the 1977 tour they held to support their album *Exodus*. Even though they planned to do international concerts across the United States, the Exodus Tour was subsequently cancelled after its London performance due to a serious toe injury that Bob Marley received during a football friendly game with journalists.  The figure would have had Marley in the blue denim outfit he wore on stage, a large microphone with stand as his accessory, and posed to look like he's singing with his eyes closed and left arm up in the air. Given that NECA already did a few action figures of other iconic musicians (Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Freddie Mercury), Bob Marley would've fit in just fine with their line-up and was set to release for August 2010.  However, both the 7" and 18" action figures of Mr. Marley were cancelled for reasons that are not quite confirmed. Some say it was due to either Bob's family disapproving of his likeness or that the molds got stolen.  The latter is the most likely explanation as a few bootlegs of the 7" Bob Marley prototype can be found on eBay going around for $11 to $33.  Some were sold without packaging and are missing the microphone accessory originally planned to come with it. No one is for sure about where the 18" molds are, considering it would cost a lot to reproduce them in such a large scale.
While the original Bob Marley prototypes may be **LOST** to this day as NECA may not even possess the models anymore, the bootleg copies, while imperfect and rare to come by these days, are the closest thing we have to these figures which technically makes this case: **PARTIALLY FOUND.**

## **References:**

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob\_Marley
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus\_Tour
3. ↑ https://www.figures.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10855
4. ↑ http://www.oafe.net/blog/2014/09/soon-forget-necas-unreleased-prototypes/
5. ↑ https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?\_sacat=0&\_nkw=marley+action+figure