I'm not an expert and am currently at work so I can't type a whole ton, but this absolutely was the case with gladiators. Though their profession was looked down on, gladiators were the sports stars of the ancient world and there have been examples in preserved sites (Pompeii, for instance) of toys made in the likeness of famous gladiators, as well as product endorsements from famous fighters.

The site I linked has more info on the topic, and the information I provided mostly comes from the biographies Cicero and Augustus by Anthony Everitt.

http://faculty.uml.edu/ethan_Spanier/Teaching/documents/CyrinoGaldiator.pdf

Toy gladiator from the British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/online_tours/rome/gladiators/gladiator_figurine_of_bone_or.aspx