Good Luck Trolls

"Good Luck Trolls" is the name of the classic "Troll dolls" branding. It's one of the two Troll Doll-related brands that DreamWorks Animation has licensing with, the other being "DreamWorks Trolls" which is itself a license within the "Good Luck Trolls" branding. Both brand names form part of the overarching "Trolls" franchise. DreamWorks currently joint-owns copyright licensing with Dam Things owned by Thomas Dam's descendant, Niel Dam. Since Trolls World Tour, the brand name has slowly been expanding to include many new products within the "Good Luck Trolls" branding. Good Luck Trolls remains the flagship property, and DreamWorks not only owns a number of trademarks, but access to the full copyright of "Good Luck Trolls", including 52 related listings.^[1]

In 2024, the Good Luck Trolls celebrate their 65th anniversary.^[2]

About

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Note: Any doll that carries the "Good Luck Trolls" name prior to DreamWorks buying the trademark is considered part of Dam Things' "The Original Good Luck Trolls" brand name. Currently, the wiki does not cover the pre-DreamWorks era outside of the page "Troll Dolls", and does not cover Trollz. Please see the Troll dolls wiki for more information on the general pre-DreamWorks history.

Purchase by DreamWorks[]

The origin of the "Good Luck Trolls" is that they are the original name for Thomas Dams' Trolls, though the dolls themselves went by a number of names in the 1960s. The company used "Good Luck Trolls" and "The Original Good Luck Trolls" to signal the Dam Things company's Trolls were the originals during the 1980s and 1990s because of the number of fake Troll Dolls on the market during the 10 year period that Dam Things struggled over copyright issues. The name "Good Luck Trolls" has also been one of several variants as well, owed to the issue Dam Things had with licensing their dolls.

After failed attempts to re-launch the "Good Luck Trolls" brand in the 2000s, Dam Things went to Hollywood studios to find a company that would make a movie for them, receiving a great amount of interest. At first, DreamWorks were going to make a licensed product using the brand name, but DreamWorks bought the "Good Luck Trolls" brand off of Dam Things in 2010, with the purchase being completed in 2013 and continued to use the name from 2015 onwards. By which point they were using "DreamWorks Trolls" as the main basis for their version of Troll Dolls. The movie took much inspiration from the "Good Luck Trolls" as a result, but did not carry the "Good Luck Trolls" name in its title, but was still written as a love letter to the brand.

When DreamWorks took over the Dam Things trademark in 2010, it had existed since 1968, making it the oldest trademark DreamWorks currently owns, and the one to see the most use due to its registered first use being in 1959. DreamWorks filed for the trademark in 2006, and was awarded the trademark by the name on the 31st of July 2015, making 2015 the starting point for the brand name's existence as a DreamWorks property.^[3] Of the two, though "Good Luck Trolls" is the older of the two franchises, it is the youngest of the two Trolls properties for DreamWork to use under the "DreamWorks" name since all pre-released trademarks related to the final conceptualized version, are usually dated from 2014 onwards. DreamWorks, however, had a number of various attempts to trademark different Troll-related names prior to the purchase of the "Good Luck Trolls" from Dam Things. DreamWorks Trolls itself managed to successfully bring the Good Luck Trolls franchise back to form since the Troll Doll craze of 1992-1993 and is a large contribution to its re-launch since Trolls and Trolls World Tour.

For links to various sources, see List of Trademarks.

In 2019, the franchise celebrated its 60th anniversary.

2024 is set to be the 65th anniversary and celebratory dolls will be released to mark the occasion.

References in DreamWorks Trolls[]

Though they are kept distinctly apart from each other, small cameos of the dolls in the DreamWorks Trolls animated properties still occur. The dolls also are the basis for classic Troll Doll cameos in other media or any toyline that refers to Thomas Dams dolls and act as such main licensing placement holder for that design despite DreamWorks treating both "DreamWorks Trolls" and "Good Luck Trolls" as separate entities.

An early conception of Poppy more closely resembling a 1980s Good Luck Troll.

Fake Poppy from Trolls. It was loosely based on the 1990s Russ Troll dolls.

Trolls Holiday showing the original giraffe doll that inspired Cooper, Biggie as a 1960s "Dam Stuff" doll, and others as various Dark Horse Dolls, except for Fuzzbert, who's a modern Hasbro doll.

Poppy showing the Russ Dolls "Rainbow Trolls" hair coloration

In the Trolls: The Beat Goes On! episode "Wormhole", the Trolls encounter plastic Troll dolls based on the "1990s Rainbow Hair" Russ doll.

Lownote Jones, Val Thundershock and Poppy as dolls in "Flyer's Ed".

Branch as a modern Hasbro figure with a Dark Horse doll as an alien in Trolls Holiday in Harmony

Originally, Queen Poppy had a more 1980s appearance in reference to the Good Luck Troll appearance, she was also listed as a Rainbow Troll in the Trolls era alongside her father King Peppy, Branch and his grandmother, Grandma Rosiepuff. This was a nod to the Rainbow Trolls of Russ Dolls. In Trolls World Tour, Poppy gains multiple colored hair as a nod to the same Rainbow Troll Dolls. In addition, Trolls such as Cooper and the Funk Trolls, as well as Guy Diamond often reference the designs of Dam Things and other licensed Troll Dolls as a nod to DreamWorks origin of their main movie brand name. Barb is also considered a continuation of the appearance of the "Punk Rock" Troll Dolls, of which there had been several versions since the 1980s by Dam Things, Russ Trolls and other companies.

In addition, DreamWorks animations make a note to reference the "Good Luck Trolls" history in the ending credits of their Trolls films, specials, and TV animation.

In How to Train Your Dragon, Stoick the Vast is heard complaining about taking his son Hiccup fishing, only for Hiccup to be distracted and go hunting for trolls. Although the film came out long before the Trolls franchise, it was later confirmed that the trolls he was looking for were the ones based upon this franchise, and it was a nod to the upcoming Trolls film. As a note, How To Train Your Dragon also has a Scandinavian setting since it's based on Vikings.

Licensed Dolls

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When speaking of the "Good Luck Trolls", there are two different versions that form the brands' name and identity. In the period between Trolls World Tour and Trolls Band Together, the brand has expanded to include more and more items.

DreamWorks Good Luck Trolls[]

The series began to see used as a brand name starting with the 60th anniversary of the "Trolls" name.

The brand is attached to all modern "Classic" Troll Doll-looking dolls. While still part of the overall "Trolls" franchise, it's considered a separate entity to the main "DreamWorks Trolls" brand. They don't have their own separate storyline, making them a strictly "toyline-only" brand. While "DreamWorks Trolls" carries the DreamWorks logo above its own, DreamWorks tends to brand their logo separately on the back of "Good Luck Troll" licensed merchandise instead of including it in the name like "DreamWorks Trolls". The original 2015 version of the "Good Luck Trolls" logo, however, had included the DreamWorks logo.

Unlike DreamWorks Trolls, the dolls keep the tradition of being typically nameless, and come based upon the classic 1980s and 1990s generic designs. They have colored hair, and most have the classic tan skin and smiling faces. They often have a gemstone on their belly. Though hair colors vary, the most common featured hair color is the rainbow one, which was popular in the 1980s and 1990s, and is also referenced in Trolls media.

The brand name was also used alongside the main DreamWorks Trolls brand by Erin Condren, who did designs based upon both in 2022.^[4]

Until 2020, all DreamWorks "Troll" toys were not required to carry the "Trolls" or "NAN" mark. The Good Luck Trolls also did not carry the mark for some time after, but as of 2022 now often carry the mark as well to signal their official status as licensed "Trolls" merchandise, however, Dam Things "Good Luck Trolls" do not have to carry this logo.

List of products[]

A number of companies have since made "classic"-looking dolls.

• In Series 10 of the Hasbro Miniature Figurines, a couple of Troll Dolls were featured. This is currently the only time a classic Troll Doll design has been featured alongside DreamWorks Trolls dolls.
• Hasbro also did a series based on the design. Unlike the other versions of the design, these Trolls do not have tan skin, instead having a colored tone because they're based more closely on the Dark Horse designs.
• Funko released a series of dolls based on the design.
• The World's Smallest released a series of dolls that are meant to be the smallest Troll Dolls ever made.
• Trollify was a promotion with Kidrobot and contained both vinyl and plush dolls. They are noted for their designs on classic movie monsters, with Troll Doll toys being made based upon Chucky, Frankenstein, Tiffany the Bride of Chucky, The Bride of Frankenstein and Michael Myers. However, their products are made for collectors and not children's play.
• Tubbz - by Just Geek were a series of rubber Duckies based upon the dolls.

In 2022, MAC released a cosmetic range under the "Good Luck Trolls" branding.^[5]

Dam Things Good Luck Trolls[]

Dam Things have an agreement with DreamWorks that allows them to continue to produce their dolls independently from DreamWorks, despite DreamWorks being the licensing holder, however, DreamWorks do not produce dolls in the Scandinavian area. This is a licensing agreement between the two companies that allows Dam Things to continue its traditional Troll dolls without DreamWorks interfering with them. The result is both sides of the "Good Luck Trolls" brand have very different approaches to Troll Dolls within the brands name.

While all "Good Luck Trolls" by DreamWorks are meant to be toys, Dam Things own "Good Luck Trolls" are strickly collector items. And of the two, only the "Good Luck Trolls" by Dam Things carry the "Dam Things" name, while DreamWorks "Good Luck Trolls" typically do not. Both carry the "DreamWorks" licensing. One notable different is how the Dam Things Good Luck Trolls look, which strays from the 1990s Russ Dolls appearance. Dolls can often be sculpted to look more realistic, and therefore are more defined than DreamWorks dolls, with more characteristics, personality, and detail inserted into every doll, mimicking the older 1960s original dolls more closely than modern Troll Dolls. Alternatively, the dolls produced are artistic and while looking like the Dolls of the 1990s, do not have the same appearance but are made of a variety of materials such as metal and decor such as paint on them.

The current owner of the company is Niel Dam, who took over the company after Thomas Dam's death.

Trivia

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• The current "Good Luck Trolls" logo is based upon the one used by Dark Horse in 2011-2012 for their dolls. Hasbro and Funko had used a different logo for their releases. No details on the reasons for the different logos are currently known.
• Red Velvet also did a "Red Velvet loves Good Luck Trolls" promotion.^[7]
• Dam Things being allowed to continue to produce Good Luck Trolls, is a type of agreement known as a Grandfather clause. This term applies to political, licensing and services that change over time, but allow pre-change circumstances to be maintained. The reason for the Grandfather Clause is mostly out of respect and/or honor held by a company, the law or a goverment to uphold its past agreements and demonstrate that a party is trusting of their word.
• Due to issues with copyright, many of the franchise's copyrights are much younger than their related trademarks. While the trade mark for the main property dates back to first use of 1/1/1959, the related copyrights mostly are dated to 2013. At this point the copyright was jointly held by Dam Things and Niels Dam, and DreamWorks.
  • Both the copyright and trademarks of Good Luck Trolls also never included the Trollz, despite it being an official property under the Good Luck Trolls franchise. This remains owned by DiC Entertainment, even though the related company no longer exists and is now owned by Cookie Jar Entertainment.

References

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