Sting's legendary in-ring career has spanned over 30 years now. During that time, The Stinger has worked for just about every major promotion ever, except ECW. As a result, wrestling fans have seen tons of Sting merchandise hit retailers over the years. This includes countless action figures, from various manufacturers.
RELATED:10 Wrestlers We Can't Believe Defeated Sting In A Singles Match
During Sting's long tenure in the wrestling business, the technology for making toys has advanced significantly. Action figures today are a far cry from the rigid, low articulate hunks of plastic that were around early in Sting's career. Regardless, it seems like every era of wrestling that featured Sting had at least one memorable Sting figure be produced.
10 Toybiz Evolution Of Sting Set
Despite having spent more time now outside of the promotion, Sting will likely always be more closely associated with WCW than any other promotion. After all, Sting truly was WCW's "Franchise" during the 90s. In just over a decade spent in WCW, The Stinger went from surfer to brooding vigilante.
This Toybiz Evolution Of Sting Set helped capture that transition through every stage. This set included three different Surfer Stings and three different Crow Stings. Four out of the six Stings come with either an entrance robe or t-shirt. This set has become a pricey collectible item today. For good reason.
9 Galoob UK Exclusive Sting & Lex Luger 2-Pack
Any avid action figure collector knows that the real value in action figure collecting comes from variants and exclusives. The Galoob UK Exclusive Sting and Lex Luger 2-Pack is just another example of that. In the early 90s, WCW tried its hand at turning some of its top stars into action figures.
The first series in Galoob's Superstars Of The WCW line featured Sting, Lex Luger, and many other top WCW stars. Oddly enough, Galoob's second series was released exclusively in The United Kingdom. This Sting and Lex Luger set was part of that series. Both figures were upgrades from their series 1 counterparts but Sting was the gem of the set. He came with a new pink and black paint job and even a molded entrance jacket.
8 AEW Unmatched Sting
In just over three years, AEW has managed to disrupt the status quo of the pro wrestling business. For the first time since 2001, there's a legitimate alternative to WWE programming. Furthermore, AEW has hit the merchandising game hard. They've struck while the iron is hot, pumping out tons of AEW products.
Perhaps AEW's biggest merchandising success has been their Jazwares action figure line. As part of AEW's Unmatched Series 2, the promotion released its first Sting action figure. There are three variations of it but they're all essentially the same figure. Considering the advanced technology readily available to toy manufacturers now, it's no surprise this Sting figure was a homerun.
7 Toybiz Slam 'N' Crunch Sting
In the early 90s, WCW was a horribly mismanaged promotion. This led to a widespread perception that they were a much lesser promotion and product than WWE. WCW likely added fuel to that fire by trailing so far behind WWE in terms of their merchandising department. Say what you will about WWE but they've always been a merchandising machine.
In the late 90s, WCW tried to match WWE by releasing updated action figures, produced by Toybiz. One of the great figures that came from WCW's Toybiz era was the Slam 'N' Crunch Sting. The figure captured Crow Sting's likeness very well and even came with an entrance jacket and collapsible dumpster.
6 WWE Elite 62 Sting
When Sting arrived in WWE in 2014, many fans thought it was long overdue. The Stinger had been the final WCW stalwart to never walk through the door in WWE. After his shocking debut at Survivor Series 2014, "The Icon" was a full-blown member of the WWE roster. This meant fans would finally be getting some long-awaited Mattel Sting figures.
RELATED: Surfer Sting VS Crow Sting: 5 Best Matches From Each, Ranked
While Mattel and WWE probably didn't pump out as many Sting figures as fans would've hoped, they crushed just about every Sting figure that made it to retailers. One specific fan favorite was the Elite 62 Surfer Sting. The figure came with an entrance jacket and a World Heavyweight Championship. It's arguably the best Surfer Sting ever produced.
5 Masters Of The Universe Sting
During Sting's time in WWE, the company and their toy manufacturer, Mattel, tried their best to squeeze every last bit of merchandise from the legendary performer as possible. At the time, Mattel was experimenting with smaller figures with similar articulation to their Elites. They had already released the WWE Retro line but those figures were inspired by the old Hasbro line and had little articulation.
Eventually, Mattel would release an interesting hybrid series, WWE Masters Of The Universe. It was a WWE-inspired spin on the Masters Of The Universe line. Some figures in that line weren't exactly great. One specific figure that was great though was their Sting. Aside from the silly mutant accessories, the figure is exceptional. It could easily fit in with WWE's new Superstars line.
4 TNA Jakks Deluxe Impact Joker Sting
In 2010, the action figure and collecting world witnessed the end of an era as WWE and Jakks Pacific parted ways after over a decade of being in business together. This opened the door for Mattel to step in and take WWE's action figure game to previously unseen heights. This left Jakks looking for a new wrestling promotion to work with.
As luck would have it, Jakks would end up partnering up with TNA as their official toy manufacturer. TNA was an obvious step down from WWE but Jakks produced some great figures for them during their run. One of them was this TNA Shop Exclusive Joker Sting. There aren't too many Joker Sting figures out there but this one, complete with a soft goods entrance robe, blows them all out of the water.
3 Ringside Collectibles Exclusive WWE Elite Wolfpac Sting
Similar to The Undertaker and Chris Jericho, Sting has found enviable longevity in a sport that isn't exactly known for that. Not that some wrestling careers aren't lengthy, but having a sustained run as a main event star that lasted as long as Sting's isn't common. Sting achieved that in part by never being afraid to evolve.
RELATED: Every Version Of Sting, Ranked From Worst To Best
Not all of Sting's incarnations are beloved though. His time as part of The nWo Wolfpac for example is a point of contention for many fans. Still, Wolfpac sting was immortalized with this Ringside Collectibles Exclusive Elite. It features Sting in his Wolfpac colors and comes with a shirt and baseball bat. This particular figure's price has skyrocketed on the secondary market.
2 Ringside Collectibles Exclusive TNA Legends Of The Ring Sting
TNA's history with the pro wrestling audience is a complicated one. At first, TNA was a darling indy promotion that somehow overachieved and made it onto cable television. After a while though, TNA's fans began expecting more from the renegade promotion in terms of competing with WWE. In 2010, TNA finally stepped up to the plate against WWE. They'd fail miserably.
However, 2010 wasn't all bad for TNA. That year, they inked a deal with Jakks Pacific to produce official TNA action figures. Perhaps the best TNA figure ever produced by Jakks was this Legends Of The Ring Surfer Sting. Jakks nailed the likeness and the soft goods entrance jacket trumps any sting accessory Mattel ever included with their figures.
1 WWE Elite Defining Moments Sting
In 2010, many WWE action figure collectors shed a collective tear when the Jakks Pacific era ended. In hindsight though, it's probably one of the best things to happen to the pro wrestling figure game. Mattel is far from a perfect manufacturer. They have their fair share of supply and quality control issues but they're the best toy manufacturer to ever work with WWE.
One particular Mattel WWE series that fans would love to see make a comeback is the Defining Moments line. That line featured arguably the best Sting figure ever made. The Defining Moments Sting Elite came complete with a soft goods trench coat and a baseball bat. The bead necklace that sting wore at Starrcade 1997 was also included, which was a nice touch. Overall, it's going to be hard for any toy company to top this Sting figure going forward.
