Friday, July 16, 2021

Action Figure Review: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper from Masters of the WWE Universe by Mattel

 
   Need another evil warrior to run amok through WWEternia? Then let's check out "Rowdy" Roddy Piper! Roddy Piper is one of the greats of wrestling and a larger than life persona who made a name in mainstream popular culture so it's cool to see him make an entrance into this line. I actually am a Piper fan due to his starring role in John Carpenter's They Live and it's exciting that Mattel is actually making a John Nada figure in their WWE Hollywood line, but I'm also a big fan of Piper running around in the land of 1980s toys. Back in 2007 Rowdy Roddy Piper was made a member of the Iron Grenadiers from G.I. Joe and now he's in Masters of the Universe (kind of). Pretty snazzy! Let's check out "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and see if the Evil Hot Rod can keep changing the questions just when the heroes think they know the answers...




The Facts:

Height: 5 3/4ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, calve swivels, swivel/hinge knees, balljointed hips, waist swivel, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, and a double balljointed head.

Accessories: 2 piece battle armor, 3 battle armor plates, axe, kilt, and minicomic.


Non-Scalper Price: $15



The Positives:

 

* "Rowdy" Roddy Piper definitely has a look that's very equal wrestling and barbarian. He's wearing a battle armor cuirass but it's designed to look like one of his famous white and red Hot Rod! t-shirts. He's also decked out in a kilt that's Skeletor's belt repainted. It's a pretty cool way to capture the wrestler's appearance and while he won't fit in seamlessly with the MOTU Origins line he is a pretty cool amalgam of the two properties.

 

* Mattel captured Piper in mid yell which works pretty well for this line. The headsculpts are somewhat caricatured, probably on par with the basic and Elite headsculpts from a few years back, but still able to fit in with the MOTU Origins line if you're mixing and matching.




* The MOTWWEU figures are built like the MOTU Origins figures.  While their bulky frames make the articulation a bit clumsy, they do feel like an evolution of vintage MOTU and wrestling figures. They're quite fun to play with and are very sturdy!

* They're also modular and the parts can be easily separated to make your own lazy boy customs!




* I love that Mattel turned Skeletor's armored belt into a kilt for Rowdy Roddy Piper. It's a very cool, very inspired move and it looks fantastic.
* We've seen this Battle Armor before with the Macho Man but here it's molded in white with some red highlights and the "Hot Rod!" logo. There are three panels: The standard "Hot Rod!" logo, and two with various degrees of damage across the logo. Here's the second degree of damage...



* And here's the third. Getting the armor on and off is a bit frustrating but swapping out the plates themselves is pretty easy.





* Piper also comes with the same axe as He-Man but this time molded in blue.






*  Behind each standard MOTWWEU release is a minicomic of sorts. It's only 4 pages (cover, bio, comic, and back page with cross sell art) but it looks cool and does offer some cool information on the role of the characters in WWEternia.










The Negatives:

* I'm not knocking Roddy's hair nor am I knocking his body armor but the hair does tend to push his head forward due to how high the armor sits. The neck peg probably should have been a bit longer!





* Rowdy Roddy's left boot is loose. It spins around freely and the ankle doesn't seem to have much support. This seems like your garden variety QC issue to me but it's still an annoyance.








   "Rowdy" Roddy Piper was probably the figure I was most looking forward to in this set but he's ultimately the one I find the most disappointing and it's hard to exactly put a finger on why that is. The design is good and I like his axe and swappable battle armor panels. I think it's the little QC issues like his super loose left foot and the way his head has to lean forward due to his hair butting up against his armor. He's still a Good and a 1/2 figure and a very cool character but he's not one of the standouts from this line so far. And that's a shame because "Rowdy Roddy Piper deserved greatness.


If you're a fan of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper then check out my review of the Super7 M.U.S.C.L.E. Roddy Piper!

For more Masters of the WWE Universe reviews check out the following:






2 comments:

  1. Mattel's doing a nice job of continuing this MOTU/Wrestling mashup series. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Believe me: I need no extra incentive to write about action figures based on MOTU and Rowdy Roddy Piper!

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