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Friday, March 12, 2010

Horse Trolls

Dam Horse Trolls

Horses are definitely some of my favorite animal trolls! I love them so much, they tend to be a reoccurring feature in my troll art:



Dam horses come in two different sizes: the larger, 6 inch (7" to the top of their ears) Limited Edition horse, and the mini, 2.25 inch horse.

Limited Edition Horses



Dam had ceased making animals. In the 90's, Dam briefly produced a limited number (only 400 each) of 4 animal trolls (lion, large horse, elephant, & cow) that were based on their old, 1960's animal molds (except for the L.E. Horse - they weren't made in the 60's). They were only sold to Fan Club members at the time. L.E. animals came with a round, gold tag with the DAM logo on one side, and "Limited Edition" on the other. The horse was the only L.E. animal that had real mohair (the others had fun fur).

They came in two colors: Bay/Tan and Gray. They have brown airbrushing on their hooves, foreheads, cheeks, and along their spine. A slight orangey airbrushing was applied to their feathers (longer hair around their feet). Both colors have brown eyes.

Out of all the L.E. animals, the horse is the least common.



Mini Vintage Horses

These little darlings were made in the 60's, and seem to be very popular with collectors :-). The most common little horse troll is Bay/Tan, with orange airbrushing on the hooves, ears, & cheeks (though the cheeks are sometimes a pink blush instead). An uncommon horse color is chocolate. They have darker vinyl, and brown airbrushing.


Regular horse color with chocolate horse.


Chocolate pony

The most common eye color for the mini horse is amber. There are some little horses with different colored eyes (like the little horse with pink eyes below), but they are few and far between. Little horses also (for the most part) came with more natural colors for their mohair (white, black, tan, peach, yellow, brown, salt & pepper), but just like with the eyes, there are some uncommon ones with more wildly colored hair.


Mini pony to the left has his original (and unusual) pink eyes.

Little horses also sometimes came with felt saddles. They were very cute, and often had a felt heart on the sides.

(I'll try to find a photo of the saddle... :-) )

The L.E. horses do not have a Dam imprint, but the mini horses have 2: one on the bottom of their back, left hoof, and one on their tummy.




Dam Danish Horse Troll

There is a version of the mini horse that is more uncommon. It has the "squisher" version of vinyl (often associated with trolls made in Europe), and has an articulated head (whereas the regular mini horses' bodies were all one mold). Its airbrushing is darker, though sometimes he has white airbrushing on his nose. The Danish pony also has short, bushy mohair, while the regular pony has long, straight mohair. The ears are also a bit different; larger, more pointed, and perked up more than the regular mini.


Danish pony head, Danish pony, and regular pony with original tag.




This poor little Danish pony lost his body! So his owner Sherill got in contact with Soeren, who works at the Dam factory, and he made her a new body! (Isn't that nice??)


New body without tinting or airbrushing. A very "fresh-out-of-the-factory" look to it :-).


See how different the two skin tones are?


After dying and new mohair! Doesn't it look fantastic?!


Newly redone Danish pony outside with regular mini pony.


This photo shows the difference between the ears very nicely.


Rauls Horse Troll

Until a recent influx of minty Rauls animal trolls from Argentina, the Horse troll was one of the harder-to-find animal trolls that Rauls made. Like most Rauls animals, it has rabbit fur, but unlike most, it does not have the string attached to the top of his head. Its tail is part of its mold instead of hair/fur, and its made of thinner, softer vinyl. "Made in England" is on its tummy.




*All the photos in this post have been used with permission.