Favorite trolls... Gone.

Please. Don't ever put your valuable trolls in your suitcase.

Yes, I know you're not supposed to put anything worth value in your suitcase. Yes, I had reasons why I had to put them in there. Yes, I was part of the population that didn't realize it could ever happen to me. Yes, I have gone through every step to try and get them back. And yes, I am devastated.

Thank you so much to the amazing friends out there that have been so kind in helping me deal with my loss.

*I have since discovered that both my boy and girl sawdust trolls were also in my suitcase.

"The Nursery Group"

"The Nursery Group" were Dam's adorable babies, consisting of "newborns", "infants", and "toddlers". The newborns (model #510) were in lying down positions, the infants (model #511) were sitting down, and the toddlers (model #512) were standing.

They most often had short, cropped hair, or short, fluffy hair. Every now and then you'll see one with long hair, but not very often.

They have been a long time favorite of mine. Several years ago, I did two Photoshop pieces to illustrate each pose found in the Nursery Group.

They would often come in a plastic container with handles:

Dam Prototype Trolls

Prototype = A first or preliminary model of something, from which other forms are developed or copied.

When developing new ideas for trolls, a prototype would be made first to test it out. Not all ideas went on to be produced. Many times the reason for this would be complications due to mechanical reasons, such as difficulty getting it out of the mold. Often prototypes are not airbrushed, or have simple airbrushing, with out eyes and hair. It is really, really exciting to find one - only a very few, if not just one, are ever made.

The following are rare prototypes that didn't make it to production.

 

This guy is really cool! He has 3 faces that you can change. You twist the orange knob on the top of his head, and it turns his head inside his helmet to reveal the next face. Its a little hard to turn his head - the noses of the other faces impede the rotating process.

The angel is the first prototype that I fell in love with. Her wings are part of her mold, and since she is made to be suspended and flying, she is unable to stand on her own. I was told that her wings made it difficult to pull her out of the mold. The hair and eyes on the angel below are not actually attached to maintain the integrity of the prototype :-). 

Søren Petersen (he worked at the Dam Factory for many years) was experimenting with making baby animals. Above is the baby giraffe prototype he made (standing with the dog prototype, reindeer prototype, and rare spotted cow).

The Bee, before and after airbrushing.

This guy is incredibly cute! His eyes would have been probably painted on.

The Viking's head rotates side to side, and the face plate of his helmet comes down. I love how detailed he is!

This little Penguin is just precious. The photo on the left shows his bank stopper, and the photo on the right shows his Dam imprint.

In the 60's they made a really beautiful prototype of a Santa and Reindeer. There's only one of these in known existence.The set was broken up and sold separately several years ago. Sherill became the lucky owner of the Reindeer. For Christmas in 2009, the Dam Company released (to much excitement) a Santa and Reindeer set that was inspired by the prototype (though it looks rather different).

Large Reindeer prototype with rare small Reindeer.

 Reindeer with rare Dam riding stick horse head.

The Viking's head rotates much like the Knight's does.

There are an extremely small handful of these young monkeys. They come with both rooted hair (which is more unusual), and regular glued mohair.

Young Monkey with Forrest clothing.

Rooted-haired boy, and another that Stuart remade into a girl.

Young Monkey prototype (in the middle) with other Monkeys.

Making of Trolls Video

I've always thought this video was too cool. It is a 1991 video, posted by Soeren Petersen (who used to work at the Dam Factory), about the making of trolls. It is in Danish  with no subtitles, but it is really neat to watch.

"Troll Hole"

One of the Yahoo Damthings group members posted this NPR link. It talks about a feline museum, but at the end, it has an amusing, troll related addition :-).

Types of Hair

Recently on the Damthings group, a question on the different types of troll hair was asked, and I thought Timm gave a very nice answer:

Naturals:

Icelandic wool - long , soft - weight can vary

Tibetan - very soft /usually curly but not that long- 1-4 inches normally and lighter in weight

Mohair - finer than icelandic, not so much under coat and usually shorter- very soft as well

Sheep Wool - many of the the trolls produced in New Zealand use this hair- shorter, coarser and curlier - looks great for the boy trolls

Hemp - the Arensbak trolls use this natural fiber for the hair/body- very straw like but softer

Man Made:

Acrylic - typically coarser than than natural, not as long- 3 inches about the max

Nylon - these are long , thicker individual strands

Saran - this was an early troll hair used on the Marx trolls- flatter strands , not very long, tend to be brittle

Polyester - there are a few type of Japan trolls that use this hair- soft, no backing, tends to be wavy

Coarse Polyester - some of the Wishniks used this hair- very long, very coarse- like a brillo pad, no backing and simply one end glued to the scalp. Does not hold up or brush well.

Fashion Show

One of the things I love to do is to try and find new outfits for my larger trolls. The 16 inchers (Livvy, Henry, & Greta) have the most doll-like proportions of the Dam troll line, so therefore have a greater possibility of fitting into pre-made doll clothing. "Possibility" is definitely the word for it though - most clothing does NOT fit. Their arms are big, and their chest is small. It is an adventure to try and find clothing that I can alter without it ruining the look of the garment. Build-A-Bear is often a good place to start. There are a lot of returns, and a lot of alters, but it is so exciting to see your troll looking so cute! Iggys are another large sized troll that I love to try and outfit.

Since this is something that tends to be a continual process, this post will be updated periodically with new looks.

The following are what my girls are currently wearing :-).

Suzette


Marcella

Chelsea

Kimi