''The Original Battle Trolls'' was a brand of

action figures An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are usually market ...

produced by

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...

from 1992 to 1993. They were made in attempt to market the popular concept of

troll doll A Troll Doll (Danish: ''Gjøltrold'') is a type of plastic doll with furry up-combed hair depicting a troll, also known as a Dam doll after their creator Danish woodcutter Thomas Dam. The inspiration came from trolls in old Scandinavian folklore. ...

s to young boys in the early 1990s.

Overview

Introduced in 1992 at $4.99 to $6.99, the trolls were marketed with the

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...

“Big Haired Dudes with Bad Attitudes” and were actually quite large at approximately 4 3/4 inches tall (not including roughly 4 inches of hair). The line did not establish a

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, vide ...

to provide a unifying narrative for the characters as a group. However each individual troll was provided a brief biographical profile (in parody of a G.I. Joe file card), and, details on their cardbacks as how to properly "neglect" them suggested that the owner hide them in "a dark, smelly place" and keep them "cranky, mean and ready to fight anything or anyone for years!". In association with their tough nature, many of them had facial stitches and their toes poking through their boots. The line featured 26 individual characters, two of which were

repaint A repaint is a toy, typically a figure or doll, that was created entirely from a mold was previously available; however, the colors of the plastic and/or the paint operations have been changed. Repaints differ from redecos in that repaints do not ...

s available in special "vehicle sets". Each Troll featured a single cut joint at the waist and included two handheld accessories. All but four had an accessory designed to launch a projectile by flicking with the finger. The individual characters were styled on either generic action/adventure themes (a pirate, a ninja, two Vikings, a robot, a policeman, a knight, a punk rocker, and a Wild West outlaw); athletes (an American football player, an ice hockey player, a boxer, and a skateboarder); military servicemen (a general, a navy diver, and an air force pilot); monsters (a vampire, Frankenstein's monster, a werewolf, and two cyclopes); or outright spoofs of famous franchises (

John Rambo John James Rambo (born July 6, 1947) is a fictional character in the ''Rambo'' franchise. He first appeared in the 1972 novel '' First Blood'' by David Morrell, but later became more famous as the protagonist of the film series, in which he was ...

, the

Terminator Terminator may refer to: Science and technology Genetics * Terminator (genetics), the end of a gene for transcription * Terminator technology, proposed methods for restricting the use of genetically modified plants by causing second generation s ...

cyborg,

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

, a

Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic Action film, action film series and media franchise created by George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with ''Mad Max (film), Mad Max'', and was followed by thre ...

-style villain, and

The Ultimate Warrior Warrior (born James Brian Hellwig; June 16, 1959 – April 8, 2014) was an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. Best known by his ring name The Ultimate Warrior, he wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from 198 ...

). While initially successful, the ''Battle Trolls'' line failed to achieve the popular success that the 'original' troll toys enjoyed. Though much of the line consisted of references to classic fiction and popular culture, it was retired in 1993 after a third, much scarcer run with 8 final characters. A fourth series was planned, but never produced. The

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

s were displayed at the 1993

New York Toy Fair New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. This featured a line of six villains called the ''Evil Horde'', including trolls styled after the Joker,

Swamp Thing The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental List of swamp monsters, creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or mo ...

, an

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

, and one that looked like a hooded executioner. A promotional photo of the group can be viewed online.Cawiezel, Marc H
''The History of Unproduced Alien and Predator Toys''
(August 2006). Retrieved 2017.05.25. Imitations of Battle Trolls were made by competing companies: "Troll Warriors" by ''Tyco'', "Troll Fighter" by ''Simba'', and "Troll Force" by ''Toys 'n Things''.

Characters

''Battle Trolls'' were introduced in three assortments.

Series 1 (1992)

*Sgt. Troll - a

spoof Spoof, spoofs, spoofer, or spoofing may refer to: * Forgery of goods or documents * Semen, in Australian slang * Spoof (game), a guessing game * Spoofing (finance), a disruptive algorithmic-trading tactic designed to manipulate markets __NOTOC__ ...

*Trollaf - a

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

*Trollminator - a

cyborg spoof *Troll-Clops - a mythical

cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

*Nunchuk Troll - a

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

*Cap'N Troll - a sea

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

*T.D. Troll - an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player (T.D. stands for

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

) *Count Trollula - a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by som ...

spoof with a

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

-like costume

Special sets

*Capture Net, with Bulls-Eye Troll (Troll-Clops

) *Trollasaurus, with SvenTroll (Trollaf repaint)

Series 2 (1992)

*Sir Trollahad - a knight (the name is a pun of

Galahad Sir Galahad (), sometimes referred to as Galeas () or Galath (), among other versions of his name, is a knight of King Arthur's Round Table and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He is the illegitimate son of S ...

) *Roadhog Troll - a

villain spoof *Super Troll - a

spoof *Officer PaTroll - a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

*General Troll - a military

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

*Trollbot - a purely mechanical

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

*Punk Troll - a punk rocker *Franken Troll - a

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...

Series 3 (1993)

*Jack CousTroll - a

navy diver A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

(the name is a pun of

Jacques Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful Aqua-Lung, open-circuit SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus). T ...

) *Troll-timate Wrestler - a spoof of

*Thrasher Troll - a

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

skateboarder *Quick Draw Troll - a

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

outlaw cowboy *K.O. Troll - a

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

(K.O. stands for

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

) *Wolfman Troll - a

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...

*Slapshot Troll - an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

player *Ace Troll - an

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

pilot

External links

Battle Trolls, Series 3 TV Commercial
*Tyco'
Troll Warriors
*Toys 'n Things
Troll Force
*Simba'
Troll Fighter

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Original Battle Trolls, The 1990s toys Products introduced in 1992 Action figures Dam dolls Fictional trolls Hasbro products Parodies of advertising