G.J. Joe Rowdy Roddy Piper

Written by Ralph on 13th June, 2008

In the 80’s you had the creation of two “celebrity” G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero action figures. The first was Sgt. Slaughter and the second was former Chicago Bears player William “The Refrigerator” Perry.

In 2007, there was another celebrity immortalized as a G.I. Joe, Rowdy Roddy Piper. If you don’t remember Piper, than you probably never watched any wrestling during the 80’s. He was known for his signature kilt and bagpipe entrance music and earned the nickname “Rowdy” by displaying his trademark “Scottish” rage. Piper was THE bad guy in Professional Wrestling. Whether it was fighting Hulk Hogan and Mr. T at the original WrestleMania or leading the “bad guys” on Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling, Piper was the character you loved to hate. He actually still make appearances on shows such as WWE’s RAW and Smackdown till this day.

This figure was a JoeCon exclusive for 2007, and has a limited run of 1,000 pieces. It came packaged in a special 25th Anniversary card and actually looks pretty decent. According to his filecard, he is a trainer for Destro’s private army – The Iron Grenadiers.

There pretty pricey now however – up to $400.00 in eBay auctions. You can get one much cheaper (if a hundred bucks or so is much cheaper) if you keep your eyes out for them. This one for example, is currently at $250 with a day to go. They do show up surprisingly frequently, given the print numbers too. Also, a large portion of them are signed, as RRP was present at the conventions.

There is a lesson to be learned here. Limited Release Convention exclusives are a must buy. Be it classic video games, comics, or action figures. Just take a quick Google search first, and see what the releases from other years are now selling for.

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One Response to “G.J. Joe Rowdy Roddy Piper”

Ken Douglas on April 23rd, 2009 10:46 pm

These figures were produced for shock value & peg seekers. The truth is, this figure was never actually released to the masses. It was just a ploy to get the collectors into the stores to seek out this figure & then offer it exclusively to collector barons. Show me a SINGLE PICTURE of it out on a peg in a store and I will show you a doctored photo.

~Duq