Danish sculptor Thomas Dam produced the original troll doll. Ink Drop/Alamy. In early 2017, brothers Justin, Travis and Griffin McElroy had just wrapped up a live-taping of their hit podcast ...

Thomas Dam never intended to be a toymaker. This Danish baker found himself out of a job after World War II, and he ended up creating the original troll dolls (and elves) for his children and ...

Through the decades, Trolls have been made by a handful of different toy makers, with the original Dam trolls being the most valuable to collectors. Dam Troll Large Monkey Boy Sailor £190. 15.

A smiling troll. | Justin Taylor, Flickr // CC BY 2.0 Even though Thomas Dam lost his creation to the public domain in America in the '60s, his company soldiered on in Europe. The '80s saw another ...

The 1965 Viking Dam Troll model, similarly, sells for anything from £40 to £175 depending on condition. ‘Giant’ versions regularly rake in up to £200, with both the 1979 Henry version and ...

Dam dreamed of a troll movie, even experimenting with Claymation before his death in 1989. But the family business Dam Things became tied up in efforts to stop imitators.

Groom has dozens of examples of Dam trolls from the 1960s, marketed in the U.S. under the name Norfin, as well as the Wish-nik dolls from the same era that were made by Uneeda Doll Co.