Okay, I'll admit it. I'm obsessive about TROLLS.

It all started when I was about 10 years old (MANY years ago), when I received my first troll as a gift. I LOVED the ugly little face my first troll had and the long, straight, brush-able hair. I named her Thumbelina, after my favorite children's story. (At that point, I had several dolls and a cat with the same name!) My troll collection back then was limited to a family of four, who lived in a vinyl "Troll House." (pictured) I even made little felt clothes with lace and rick-rack for some of them.

One of my trolls, with apricot-colored hair, was very well-taken-care-of, because she was my "handicapped" troll. My brother, who was well-known for doing dumb evil-older brother stuff, ran over her with his bicycle and threw her in the street, where she was ultimately run over by several cars before I rescued her. After that terrible week, I guarded her with my life and tended to her like a worried little nursemaid. She always got the best spot in the Troll house, was always the first one I played with each day, and was always the last one I said goodnight to each night. Her name is Esmeralda. So now we have the 2 sister trolls and, of course, there were the mother and father trolls. There was no room at all for evil older brothers. My little Trolls and I spent many happy hours together - they even helped me to adjust to a new life in a new home far across the country and away from all my friends and relatives! My little Trolls went with me to another new home a few years later, but by this time, I had stopped spending so much time with them. Mostly, my little Trolls stayed locked up in their little Troll house after that.

My little Troll family of four lived happily together in their little Troll house for many years. Every year or so, I would peek into the little house to make sure they were all still okay. Sometimes, I would let them out of their little house for a couple of days so I could look at them for awhile. When I became an adult and moved out on my own, my Trolls came with me to my first apartment. They met everyone who came to visit me, and delighted all my guests. They still lived in their little Troll house most of the time, though.

One year, I met and made friends with a woman named Barb who told me she liked Trolls, too. We decided that we were both just Trolls way down deep inside ourselves. We had especially "Troll-like" days that we enjoyed telling one another about. Those were the kind of days where your hair just wouldn't do what you wanted it to, your face just didn't look right, you felt fat, you were in a really bad mood, and you just felt like a TROLL! One day, in the early 1980's, Barb gave me a Jester Troll after an especially Troll-like weekend (I'd been sick with the flu). I put the cute little red-and-white Jester Troll in my little red car and drove all over town, looking at him, laughing at his little grinning Troll face, and remembering how much I LOVED Trolls. I had a TROLL re-birth.

I pulled my original little Trolls out of their little Troll house and started looking at them a lot. I then took them to work so I could look at them all day. I displayed them so that everyone who came into my office could see them and admire them. Soon, people got the idea that I loved Trolls, so they started buying them as gifts for me. Every time I received a new Troll, I screamed with glee because I felt SO happy, and it made me smile for days! The more Trolls I got, the more I loved them! Pretty soon, I had acquired about 50 new Trolls that people had given me as gifts, and then you couldn't find Trolls in the stores anymore.

I just LOVED my little Troll collection, and so did everyone else who came to see me in my office, whether it was a business or social call. Even the hardest-ass businessman would soften and smile when he saw my Trolls!

Then in October of 1998, I discovered EBAY, and saw that there were literally HUNDREDS of Trolls for sale. I went wild! I now have 192 Trolls in my collection, and am acquiring more all the time. My favorites are the Trolls made by RUSS, in cute little outfits. Each one has its own personality, and I still feel that tremendous joy when I look at them!