The first Living Dead Dolls appeared for sale in America in 1998[1]. They were craft dolls individually customised by either Ed Long or Damien Glonek. These customised dolls are called "handmades" by fans and collectors. The first doll was made by Long using one of his mother's doll kits. He showed the doll to Glonek, and they worked together to make 12 more. After the dolls sold out immediately, Long & Glonek decided to make more for sale. These original handmade dolls were sold exclusively through Glonek's horror memorabilia mail order company Unearthly Possessions, as well as at horror conventions along the East Coast. It was at one of these conventions, Chiller Theatre[3], that Mike "Mez" Markowitz, the founder of Mezco Toyz purchased one of the dolls. Mezco subsequently contacted Long and Glonek about manufacturing and distributing the dolls commercially[.
The first commercial series of Living Dead Dolls, Series 1, was released early in 2001 Since then, new series have been released roughly twice a year. On Halloween 2008, Series 16 was released. Series 17 will be released early 2009.
