Doublenik Trolls

Doubleniks, the two-headed Wishnik brand trolls, are much sought by troll collectors, and tend to be much disliked by everyone else. ("Please turn those around," my friends say when they visit. "It's like they're watching us...") Strange though they may seem, Doubleniks have strong folkloric roots: multi-headed trolls feature prominently in Scandinavian tales, although their toy counterparts are less frequently seen. Here are my three, or six, depending on how you count them, all made by Uneeda in the 1960s.

 

This is my favorite, a very high-color example, 

with premium "spiral eyes" and day-glo hair.

A trippy troll! 

These two feature cotton candy and vanilla mint color schemes. 

The girls on the left wear a vintage troll dress.

  

The Doubleniks at home. It's a bit crowded.

Teddy Bear Troll

This particular 1960s troll is one of the rarest and strangest in my collection. Measuring 19 inches tall, it features a vinyl troll face on a stuffed body of synthetic fur, along with, inexplicably, a patched hillbilly type vest. It's like a psychedelic cross between a troll and a teddy bear, and for this reason is frequently called the Teddy Bear Troll. It's yet another toy that tends to disturb people. As one observer put it, "he looks like he's just waiting for you to turn away so he can attack and eat you." I keep him in a securely closed cupboard.

Marx Trolls

Here are a few unusual 1960s trolls that were made by the Marx Company. The larger 3 inch troll was called "Lucky Lou", and came in several different expressions. His tiny companions, just 1 1/4 inches tall, are from the fantabulous Marx Troll Village, a playset I have yet to acquire. You'll be the first to know when I do, though!

Here's the Marx Troll Village. Not mine, but someday, someday...

 

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...