It is true, that in the 1960’s DAM had a factory in Tauranga, New Zealand. Trolls from this factory are very rare and hard to find. Many of these trolls are probably still in New Zealand. I do not have a lot of history on the original factory most of what I know has come to me by folks who live in that area. The DAM trolls were made during the 1960’s under license to Danish born Kristian Nyboe Pasgaard who immigrated to New Zealand around 1949 with his wife and two children. He exported the trolls to Australia through the 1960’s. Kristian passed away in 1969, but his sons continued to run the business until the trolls fell out of favor in the 1980’s. The factory was not in business very long, therefore ANY  of the DAM trolls made in New Zealand are a rarity prized by many collectors. The factory made both standard DAM trolls and DAM animal trolls many have unique body colors or outfits specific to this NZ location only.

    

 New Zealand ELEPHANTS– are a true delight. They came in very “unusual” vinyl colors-  light peach, blue, pink , cream and a rare white elephant. These New Zealand elephants are distinguished by their dark toes and are marked with the Thomas DAM  stamp on their foot. They also have a cut out “coin” slot in the middle of their back. They have short thick wool hair and dark colored amber glass eyes. These unusual vinyl colors are rare and very hard to find, depending on condition, you can expect to pay anywhere from $600 and higher for them.

  

Unusual “blue”  and “pink” elephant banks made in New Zealand. Notice the black toe nails and dark amber colored glass eyes. Grey elephant has two holes on his back where a bank slot could be made. They are marked DAM Made in Denmark on bottom foot. It is the body color and bank slot that  help identify them as made in New Zeland, please note that these are NOT a pink or blue color painted on top of the vinyl bodies.

(photos posted with permission from current owners)

 New Zealand LIONS—are the “rarest of the RARE”  like the giraffe the lion has NO bank slot in it. Hair is longer on the giraffe. The hardest thing is to prove any lion was actually made in NZ as they have NO markings. The only reason we sure that the lion shown in the photo below is because it was located in NZ and belongs to a NZ troll collector. The NZ lion has airbrushing along the back of his spine, his tail is in an upright position like his American made DAM lion cousin. But unlike his American made DAM lion cousin the glass eyes are darker and body is squishy (see photo showing how easy it is to compress his body). I hesitate to even guess a starting prices on these NZ lions as I have ONLY seen one in my entire life and that is the photo you see posted here. This lion is like some mythological creature that collectors wonder if they really existed or not.  As a collector if I had one, I would not sell it . . . .     

All New Zealand trolls have real wool hair and glass eyes.  Some have hard bodies & some have soft/squishy bodies. Animal trolls from New Zealand are very hard to find and you can expect to pay a higher price for them.

  

      The regular DAM troll boy and girl trolls are stamped on their foot with the NZ mark (see photo at bottom). They are also stamped on their back– Thomas DAM in a circle. Photos shown are of New Zealand boy & girl trolls in their original felt outfits. Notice that BOTH sexes have big ears (same mold was probably used). They are made of a more squishy vinyl. The clothing on the boy is unique to the New Zealand DAM troll, also notice that “buttons” are used on the outfit of the girl instead of the rivits/snaps used on the trolls that were made elsewhere. Glass eyes and genuine wool hair were also used. Some smaller trolls were even made in “colored” vinyl check out the BLUE troll made WAY before the “TROLLZ” movie . . .  No other  DAM factory produced trolls of unique colors. You can expect to pay a premium price on these vintage DAM NZ trolls made of unusual colors. Even the normal boy & girl NZ trolls will fetch a higher price than their American or European made cousins.

        Any of the DAM trolls from New Zealand are very hard to find and depending on condition & if they have their original clothing, you can expect to pay anywhere from $ 75 and up for them.