Dam Troll Orange outfit and black hair

Troll Dolls also known as Dam Doll

We're an affiliate
This site is reader-supported. If you click through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Thank you if you use our links, we really appreciate it!

Trolls or Troll Dolls are also known as Dam Doll is a small plastic doll which has furry hair often in bright and slightly pointy styles. They were first created in 1959 by a Danish guy called Thomas Dam, they became one of Americas biggest toy fads in the 1960’s and have had numerous come backs and fads in periods during the 1970’s, 1990’s.

Thomas Dam was a fisherman and woodcutter and was struggling to afford a gift for his young daughter, so he carved a troll doll especially for her. When other kids saw the dolls they also asked for one and so the Dam company began to produce dolls using plastic instead. They marketed the dolls as a Good Luck doll. The dolls were very popular in many European countries in the 1960’s they were then introduced to USA soon after. They were one of the biggest fads in the USA from late 1963 right through to 1965. The original Dam dolls were high quality and featured sheep’s wool and glass eyes.

Dam Troll Orange outfit and black hair

In 2003 the Dam company restored their United States copyrights which stopped unlicensed production. When they tried again to re-launch the brand under the name of Tollz in 2005 it didn’t quite work, but I’m sure they will be back soon for another attempt.

The Dam company continued to make the trolls in Europe were popularity remained, in the USA demand shifted and due to a mistake in the original copyright paperwork some cheaper imitations were produced to try and capture market share.

During the 1990’s the marketers tried to sell the concept to boys using the lines of Battle Trolls and Stone protector franchises, and of course teenage mutant hero/ninja turtles, mighty max. These were met with mild and limited success to convert them.

Troll Dolls with Jewels in the navel