By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

In Brief: Roddy Piper's toys have presented him as the WWF's top heel of the 1980s, a hero of the early 1990s and even as a villain fighting against G.I. Joe.

Action Figure Evolution #22: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper




(1) 1984 LJN WWF Wrestling Superstars Series 1. In the 1980s, Hulk Hogan was the first wrestling toy most kids got. When they needed a bad guy for the Hulkster to fight, most looked for a toy of Roddy Piper. “The Rowdy One” was Hogan’s top foe during the early years of Hulkamania, as the two battled at the Wrestling Classic, the War to Settle the Score, WrestleMania, and even on Saturday morning cartoons. Piper’s original figure featured a white “Hot Rod” shirt painted on and a removable plaid kilt, and it’s hard to find one in decent shape today. Most of Piper’s toys took a pounding, leaving just scraps of the t-shirt and no kilt.

(2) 1991 Hasbro WWF Series 2. Roddy Piper retired in 1987, but was back in a WWF ring by 1989. He spent much of 1990 and 1991 as a commentator, and then engaged in a feud with Ric Flair at the end of the year. This figure is similar to Piper’s old LJN figure, with a white “Hot Rod” t-shirt and a kilt. This figure is much smaller and has noticeably longer hair.

(3) 2000 Toy Biz Power Slam WCW Wrestlers. Piper spent the late-‘90s reliving the mid-‘80s in WCW, battling old rivals like Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair before being tossed into a thoroughly embarrassing and nonsensical angle with Vince Russo. This figure comes with a set of bagpipes and has piper in a kilt, black “Reality Check” t-shirt and black leather jacket.

(4) 2007 Hasbro G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary Convention. The Rock spent the last couple weeks laying the smack down on Cobra Forces in “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” but he never had to deal with a Cobra enemy quite like Roddy Piper. Hasbro released a limited edition figure of Piper as the “Iron Grenadier trainer” of Destro’s evil forces. Sgt. Slaughter, The Rock, and William “the Refrigerator” Perry also have G.I. Joe figures, but only Piper fought for the bad guys. This extremely rare figure usually sells in the $350-500 range.

(5) 2009 Jakks-Pacific Best of Classic WWE Superstars. Jakks made several figures covering Piper’s WWF career, from his early Piper’s Pit days to his hideously offensive match in blackface with Bad News Brown. One of Piper’s best figures is this one, which captures Piper during his brief run as Intercontinental Champion in 1992. Just like many other figures, Piper is in his traditional gear: white “Hot Rod” T-shirt and red and white kilt, and also comes with the IC Title. It’s a simple figure that captures Roddy Piper better than perhaps any other.

(6) 2011 Mattel WWE Entrance Greats. During a time when Hulk Hogan was coming to the ring with “Eye of the Tiger” and the Road Warriors were using Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man,” the heel Piper chose to irritate fans with the uncool sounds of bagpipes. Over the years, as the fans warmed up to Piper, they began to appreciate the sound of the bagpipes as well. This Entrance Greats figure of Piper comes with a set of bagpipes, a removable shirt and kilt, and a stand that plays a portion of Piper’s bagpipe entrance music.

PWTorch Collectibles Specialist Michael Moore can be reached at michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com .

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