Custom Nesting Dolls

At first it looks like a wonderfully painted, if simple wooden doll. But when you pick it up and look closer, you notice the doll separates into two halves. And hidden inside? A new, slightly smaller doll. But wait… inside this smaller doll, there’s yet another even smaller doll. And another… and another! When you finally take out all the dolls it’s a cornucopia of characters, perhaps 5 or 7 in all. What began as a single humble doll has become many, all stacked and nested inside each other. This is the enchanting fun of the Russian nesting dolls, also known as matryoshka or stacking dolls.

Custom matryoshka dolls are great canvases for corporate characters that show relationships that involve a series of different people. They’re terrific mediums for starting conversations with prospects, connecting with clients at trade shows and for memorable sales staff leave behinds. Custom stacking dolls also make cool corporate merchandise.

How it Works

A nesting doll is a set of figures of decreasing sizes that are stored inside each other. The inner figures are only discovered when the outermost layer is opened. Also known as stacking dolls, nesting dolls can be stacked together and displayed as one, or separated to display as a happy family or set of characters.

History of Russian Nesting Dolls

Word is that a seven-in-one wooden doll was observed in Japan by a Russian businessman during his travels abroad, and he took a set back home with him. In 1890 an artist named Sergei Maliutin visited the businessman’s estate, saw the dolls, and reproduced a sketch of them from memory. He then had it carved out of wood and painted by other artisans. While the original Japanese doll featured images of the Seven Gods of Fortune, the revamped Russian version had eight layers featuring siblings in order of size. The doll design made its way West, winning an award at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris, and ultimately became recognizable around the world.

Custom Nesting Dolls

Together we can create your very own unique version of this classic toy. We can help bring to life an idea you already have or we can help spark your creativity by providing strategically chosen concepts. It's up to you!

Concept and Design

Our custom matryoshka dolls are designed to celebrate a profession, industry, market, client-base, staff or community. We'll make the most out of your marketing investment by designing dolls that recipients will cherish, show to friends and colleagues, and display proudly.

Every layer is a blank canvas, ready to be designed and decorated. Graphic design can be applied to the nesting dolls with paint, screen printing, laser engraving, decals, engraving, and many other ways. The paint can be applied either through stencils or traditionally by hand.

If you’re still working on which characters to create as original nesting dolls, we recommend using the dolls to show transition or change:

Big > Small
Old > Young
Outside > Inside
Fantasy > Reality
Complex > Simple
Covered > Uncovered
Past > Present > Future

Whether you’re fresh out of ideas, or have ideas galore, we’d love for you to contact us and we’ll help guide the nesting dolls.

Sizing up your Custom Nesting Doll

We can create any size you like – big or small. A good desktop size is 6" - 8". The outer doll will be the largest, with each inner doll decreasing in size.

Nesting Doll Layers

Some dolls have as few as two layers, while others can contain enough figures to populate a small town. It's up to you. Normally 3-5 layers make a great impact and allow for patterns and story-telling with the design.

Materials

These dolls are commonly made with wood, but can also be created from plastic, heavy card, paper and plush.

Shapes of Custom Stacking Dolls

The dolls are often designed with a "roly-poly" look, with rounded, bulbous curves. If given a rounded bottom, they resemble a bop toy and may even rock back and forth. These more spherical shapes were used traditionally and painted as human dolls. Ask us about other ideas for upping the originality of your nesting dolls.

Packaging

Popular matryoshka doll packaging includes retail quality boxes, clamshells, or acrylic boxes. Learn more about custom toy packaging for items of all kinds or contact us with your ideas.

Project Timelines

It typically takes between 4 and 5 months to design, prototype, produce and deliver original nesting dolls. In some situations we're able to deliver items under tighter time lines. Please Contact us and let us know your ideal delivery date.

Nesting Doll Order Quantity and Pricing

We're able to produce as few as 2,500 sets of stacking dolls per production run. Contact us with your ideal budget and together we'll decide the best options and packaging for your needs.