By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

In Brief: Since 1985, toy companies have been making AWA, WCW, ECW, and TNA wrestling ring playsets.




Author’s note: This is the second of a two-part feature on toy wrestling rings. The first article, which focused on toy WWE rings, was published on July 12 at this link .

In addition to the multitude of WWF and WWE toy rings produced since the 1980s, several other wrestling promotions have had their own toy wrestling rings as well. In most cases, non-WWE rings have been cheaply made and aren’t as sturdy. However, there are some that remain popular with fans today.

AWA

Remco made one of the first toy wrestling rings as a part of its AWA line of figures in 1985. The small ring was made out of sturdy cardboard and covered with a brown cloth canvas. The wooden posts were painted red and the ropes were the traditional red, white, and blue.

The ring was sold by itself and with a steel cage accessory, and Remco also produced two different battle royal playsets, which included the ring and seven figures. The rings often sat on retail store shelves for quite a while; at one point, the retail store Service Merchandise was clearancing out the battle royal playsets for $4.99 each. Today the AWA ring is incredibly tough to find, and a loose ring in excellent condition can fetch more than $100.

WCW

A variety of toy makers produced WCW rings over the years, including Galoob, OSFTM, and ToyBiz. The first WCW ring was produced by Galoob in 1990. It was a small, flat ring that was not very sturdy and came with a red steel cage accessory. Like many of the action figures from that toy line, the ring is very easy to find today at a low price. A more unique version of this ring was released in the UK, and came with an electronic sounds module. These are much more difficult to find today.

OSFTM, a small toy company about which little is known these days, produced a handful of WCW rings in the mid-1990s during that company’s boom period. These rings were very cheaply made, with thin ropes and flimsy corner posts.

In 1997, OSFTM produced a Kmart exclusive ring that featured a snap-on red cage accessory and a small electronic sound box, along with an early figure of the Crow-inspired Sting. These rings can be found pretty easily today for around $20 or $30.

A similar ring, sans the steel cage, was sold with toys of Lex Luger and The Giant, and can be found today for $10 or less.

In the late 1990s, Toy Biz took over the WCW line and released a few much-improved toy rings. Although these rings were not as sturdy as some WWE rings, they were considerably better than any WCW toy rings up to that point.

One of the most popular WCW rings today is a Toy Biz Splash and Bash floating ring that was released during WCW’s dying days. The unique ring actually floats in the water and contains several accessories such as water cannons, a slide and life preservers. A complete loose or packaged ring is difficult to find today, so it’s hard to assign a value to it. However, partial rings often pop up on eBay and if you have the patience, you might be able to assemble one from multiple auctions for a reasonable price.

Toy Biz also a produced a WCW Monday Nitro Arena playset, which came with a ring, entrance stage, lighting fixtures and more. A more basic WCW/NWO Smash & Slam ring came with an exclusive figure of “Mean” Gene Okerlund and can be found for about $20-25 these days.

ECW

OSFTM re-entered the wrestling toy market in 1999 with a series of ECW figures. Like the OSFTM’s earlier WCW rings, the ECW rings were very poorly made and flimsy. An ECW “wrestling ring gift set” included a ring, steel cage, and toys of Rob Van Dam and Sabu. Today these rings are somewhat tough to find, but aren’t very expensive; a loose ring in good condition will run you about $20, while a packaged set usually sells for $50, sometimes higher.

TNA

Toy Biz produced a series of TNA figures in the early-2000s that included the first six-sided ring. These rings were very small, however, and could barely fit two figures at a time. In addition, kids and collectors also complained that the ring posts didn’t stay in place, causing the ropes to collapse. Toy Biz offered a Six Sides of Steel playset that included a ring, cage accessory, and exclusive figure of Christian Cage.

Jakks-Pacific picked up the TNA license in 2010 and also offered a six-sided ring and a Six Sides of Steel cage. These rings were not big enough for the Deluxe Impact figures and could really only be used with basic figures and smaller discount figures, of which very few were produced.

In 2011, Jakks released a special “Hulkamania” ring, its first traditional four-sided TNA ring. This ring was designed in Hulk Hogan’s usual red and yellow colors and included Hogan-related decals. The ring also came with exclusive basic figures of Hogan and Sting.

None of the TNA rings ever sold particularly well, and if you check your local Toys R Us there’s a good chance they will have a few of these marked down on clearance.

There have been a variety of other rings released over the years, included a six-sided Lucha Libre USA ring from Toy Biz, a Rocky Balboa boxing ring from Jakks and several others. If you’re looking for a ring in which to display your figures, there are plenty of options available.

Reader Question

Several Torch readers have sent in e-mails commenting on their favorite lines of wrestling toys. What is your favorite line of wrestling toys? Send your comments, along with your name, to michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com . A future collectibles column will share Torch readers’s stories and comments about their favorite wrestling toy lines.

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