World Largest Troll Dolls Collection World Record

A SCHOOLGIRL’S hobby has landed her a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Sophie Marie Cross, of Ilges Lane, Cholsey, has broken her own record for having the most troll dolls – with a gruesome 545.

The 13-year-old Wallingford School pupil said she had no plans to give up her collection and is constantly on the look out for more of the dolls.

“I first started my collection when I was seven after my brother bought a small troll and I took a shine to it,” she said.

“I started to use my pocket money to buy them, going to car boot sales and toy shops and it just spiralled from there.”
The plastic trolls were created by Thomas Dam and his family, in Denmark, in the 1950s.

In 2003, the Toy Industry Association added troll dolls to its Century of Toys List, commemorating the 100 most memorable and creative toys of the 20th century.

Sophie Marie’s collection contains trolls ranging from a few centimetres in height to one which is 2ft tall. She also has ones that have eyes which light up and one riding a skateboard.

“I think they’re quite cute. They’ve got a reputation as being ugly but I quite like their faces. I’ve even got ones with light-up eyes,” she added.
Sophie Marie first approached Guinness World Records in 2007 when she saw someone on the Internet had 200 of the toys.

As Sophie Marie had 490 she wondered if it was a record, and following verification she was confirmed as having the world’s largest collection.

In May this year she gave an updated figure of 545; however, since then that number has climbed even further, to 570.
She said: “There are still dolls on the Internet that I want to collect and I don’t have all of them yet. I’ve also begun to collect Dr Who magazines and Beanie Babies.”
And she is not the only collector in the family – their fridge bulges with more than 100 magnets, her father collects lawnmowers and her grandfather engines.

Mother Karen said: “It’s a bit of a family thing. It’s nice to see her face light up when she goes to car boot sales and finds a new troll she didn’t have.”