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MEMORIES:
Jughead Jones remembers...I had one of those talking Troll dolls. I believe it had bright green hair, and when you pushed the ... More »
Posted on 08/19/07
PHOTOS:
Manufacturer:
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Troll Dolls have been everywhere. More modern generations can thank the retro-crazed 90s for the resurgence of a more-brightly hued version of the little lucky toys, while older generations can thank Thomas Dam, a Danish woodcutter who, as legend has it, simply didn’t have enough money to buy his lovely daughter a toy. Rather than put on a sad face over the whole matter, Dam went into Nordic fairy tales for a bit of inspiration and carved up a troll doll for his daughter. She loved it, dressed it up and showed it off to anyone that might take a look. Slowly but surely the ugly little doll won a spot in the hearts of the townspeople and thus, the beginning of the Troll Doll.
Troll Dolls, as we’ve come to know them today are generally short, potbellied, with big hands and feet and exaggerated facial features. A tuft of crazy-colored hair sprouted from the top of the troll’s virtually non-existent forehead; the lost strands of which were the troll’s calling card to anyone left sweeping up classrooms.
The first troll dolls came in the late 50s and it didn’t take long for those crazy Americans to catch onto the craze. The Troll Boom of the 1960s took in everyone from the hippies to the preps, and even Lady Bird Johnson who professed her love for the little dolls. With mass appeal, naturally, come look-alikes and more than a few wanna-bes. Of course, it probably didn’t help that Dam’s original copyright notice came with a flaw or two. Soon, there were “Treasure Trolls” and “Norfins,” “Wishnik Trolls” and many others with the same look. Luckily for the Dam family, the situation was righted in 2003, when a Congressional law allowed tem to restore their original
Throughout the decades, troll dolls have come in a variety of costumes and a variety of forms. Some could be found with Halloween themes like vampires and ghouls, while more pleasant versions, such as the bridge and groom, appealed to those of us not looking for a trollish fright. Some came with beards and others came with embellishments from earrings to the more-punked up nose-ringed troll dolls. Others were styled after athletes, superheroes, movie stars and even Teenage Mutant Ninja Trolls! Troll dolls are typically made of hard vinyl, though some can be found made of wood, porcelain, rubber and even hemp (perfect for Rastafarian dolls!). Troll dolls came in a variety of sizes, generally from 18-inches right on down to one and two-inch versions. With the school set, troll dolls could be found as pencil-toppers and kids could be found twirling their pencils around in an attempt to make the troll’s hair go wild.
The most valuable of troll dolls today come from the original manufacturer, Dam Things. Otherwise known as the Dammit, anyone who has one of these rare beauties can consider themselves lucky. Other valuable versions include the super-rare animal line, which included Troll versions of turtles, giraffes, alligators, monkeys, donkeys, pigs… you name it!
Popularity has come and gone for the Troll doll, and that’s not even including the troll doll backlash that happened in the late 1990s, early 2000s, after the massive exposure the toys found. Troll dolls are slowly working themselves back into the fabric of pop culture, which only shows that it’s hard to keep a good troll down.
