Monday, March 8, 2010

Batman Trolls

In the mid-1960s, Batmania swept the nation as a result of the hit TV show starring Adam West and Burt Ward. Batman iconography was extended to every product imaginable, including the contemporaneous fad toys, the troll dolls. Below are a few Batman related troll items from my collection.

First up is this large 5 1/2 inch Uneeda Wishnik Batman troll in his colorfully silkscreened costume. He retains his original, and unusual, bulging plastic eyes, but has lost his cowl and cape, which is typical for this troll.


Next we have a rather uncommon 3 inch troll wearing a one-piece winged cape and cowl. This troll is seldom seen, and it was really exciting to find one.


Conversely, here's the most commonly encountered Batman troll: a 3 incher wearing an odd red costume, perhaps to avoid licensing issues (some people call this a Robin troll, Batman's sidekick, but I don't think it looks like Robin's costume at all):


Lastly, here's my greatest Batman troll find: the Batnik Club Official Emblem, a sticky badge in the shape of a Bat Troll. Check out the highly detailed instructions for use on the back of its package! I haven't removed him yet, but it's awfully tempting...

 

 

7 comments:

  1. Holy trolly, these are certainly gems. What's with the glue-on bulgy eyes on the one the first one though?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't quite know why, but for some reason a small batch of these bulging-eye trolls was made in the 1960s, and were used mainly for Batman and Laugh-In tie-in trolls.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Too cute- These are my favorite trolls so far!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi there...Any idea of the going price of a Robin Troll

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello,

    I just saw one for sale online priced at $24.00:
    www.rubylane.com/shops/galaxydollsandtoys/item/RL-740. It's a cute one, too: has bright red hair.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello!
    My husband has a 14 inch troll doll from around 1960's. It has a denim blue cape, mask and "shorts." There are no markings on it to determine who the manufacturer was. Any idea on what it might be worth? mppappas@zoominternet.net

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nope, sorry: that one sounds like a stumper!

    ReplyDelete