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...

 

 

Vintage Troll Bank

In the wake of all the financial brouhaha of recent months, it's hard to imagine friendly neighborhood bankers back in the 1960s giving out these fantastic 6 1/2 inch troll banks, imported from Denmark and bracelet-tagged with the respective bank's name. But that's just what they did. I think we'd all like bankers a little more if they gave out trolls with every transaction. Perhaps I'll suggest it to the Treasury Secretary...

Tiny Trolls

These are some of the smallest trolls made back during the troll craze of the 1960s. Sometimes vended through gumball machines, these are carded variations, measuring just under 1 inch tall.

 

 

Stuffed Troll Dolls

Two of my favorite trolls are these 11 inch dolls made by Scandia House in 1965. Unique and charming, with friendlier expressions than a lot of vintage trolls, these feature vinyl heads on cuddly stuffed bodies. Relatively hard to find, these two are made even more special by their provenance: they came from the collections of Debra Clark and Pat Peterson, authors of the two classic guides to vintage trolls, the Troll Identification and Price Guide and Collector's Guide to Trolls.

Caveman Trolls

Perhaps because of the concurrent popularity of the Flintstones cartoon, many trolls appeared in the 1960s dressed as cavemen. 

Here are a few from my collection.

 

These 3 inch Uneeda Wishniks model the two most commonly seen caveman fashions: 

the furry loincloth and the animal print wrap.

Here's a very unusual large troll, measuring 8 inches tall
and wearing his original outfit. Made by the 

Bijou Toy Company in 1963,
his name is molded into his foot: "Neanderthal Man."

He's really unique: no other trolls look quite like him!