Sting

Sting

WWE basic figure

Mattel



 

This! Is! STING! WCW's answer to Hulk Hogan... until they bought Hogan out, that is.  Okay, maybe, with the facepaint and wild colors, he was the answer to his Blade Runner buddy, the Dingo Ultimate Warrior?  Oh, wait... they bought him out, too.  Man, Sting deserved better than to be pushed into the background!  I actually really enjoyed WCW before Ted Turner went nuts with the pocketbook.  Sting, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, The Horsemen, The Rock and Roll Express, the Midnight Express, the Fabulous Freebirds, The Road Warriors... heck I would even say that the brief tenure of the Shockmaster was more fun than years of NWO repetitiveness. 

Sting was the anchor, the crowd favorite.  And he was never better than in his earlier, surfer look era.  Sorry, "Crow" fans. While not quite as eclectic as the Macho Man, Sting had quite a number of costume changes.  This is the third Surfer Sting from Mattel, and it is so far the best.  The head scan on the previous releases really failed to capture Steve Borden.  Even though this one lacks the screaming intensity, it's pretty spot-on with who it's supposed to represent. 

 

This color scheme also has the other Sting figures beat.  The orange and blue really pops... so "90s!" The scorpion graphic is clean and clear.  Paint all around is pretty good on this figure.  The only downside I can see is that it's a basic figure and not Elite articulated.  Although it means giving Mattel easy outs with paint redecos, I would gladly welcome more surfer variations into my growing Sting army.