Thread: Deciding on nesting dolls

My kids are most interested in learning Russian and about Russian culture. They love the Russian nesting dolls, but all the sets we had have been stepped on, the pieces scattered, etc. We do have one egg-shaped doll that I see quite often. Anyway, because I am buying for kids such as these, I'm looking at economical sets on ebay. There are a ton of them! I definitely want to get dolls that look Russian (no western movie character themes), but choosing from among all the patterns, colors, and shapes is hard! I realize you can't pick the dolls for me, but I don't know, maybe you have some input on these dolls? Any favorites? Especially in the under $40 shipped category?

Oh, I suppose I should mention, my 6 kids are aged 2-12 and while I may have ideas about only allowing the dolls to be played with on occasion with supervision, I can be forgetful. Maybe I should get a few cheap seats?

I think that it's typical nesting dolls:

220px-Russian-Matroshka.jpg

You can read more about patterns there

And there you can see Russian prices so you can try to buy them in Russia with delivery...

These peoples have written that they can deliver dolls to every country. Their web-site is in Russian so I gave link with Google translation.

look = Matryoshka dolls, Babushka dolls and Russian Nesting dolls Store (not in the US)
A LOT OF dolls)))

and in the US Disney Nesting Dolls - Winnie the Pooh Cunderella Snowwhite Dolls even disney =)

you can use for searching these words: russian dolls, matryoshka, wooden russian toy

UPD = my advice for children: to try this kind of toys = Pecking Chicken Swing Toy Black

The image from the wikipedia article mentioned by Larusja is the most typical pattern for Matroshka dolls in Russia. I had exactly the same dolls when I was a child.

Thanks for all the great links. I'm been overloaded with Russian dolls and toys!!! I like the prices direct from Russia. The one site says I have to spend at least around $100. Maybe I can find Russian gifts for my relatives too.

I have 3 different sets of Matryoshka dolls. There are many variations and different numbers in the sets. The Purple ones I bought in Russia. (I let my daughter play with those the most because she likes them best. (There are 9 dolls in that set.) The Iconic set has paintings of the Virgin Mary, Jesus, and Saints in Orthodox style. (That set has 6 dolls). I bought that set actually when I was deployed to Iraq from a Iraqi vendor. It was very inexpensive. I think I paid $15-$20. The smallest set (5 dolls), was gift to me from my mother-in-law. She bought it for me for Christmas in Alaska when she went there for ice fishing with my father-in-law. That is my favorite set actually. It is carved. They bought it from a Siberian vendor. I also have a wooden egg of to the right that is also the Virgin Mary (painted in the unique Orthodox style). Theye are not only for childern. I use my dolls for all kinds of things. One has buttons, coins, push pins... I put all kinds of little random things in them. One we use for my childrens foreign coin collection. We have so far Russian, Euro, UAE, Moroccan, British, Spanish, and Egyptian coins I think... And special American coins, like the Gold Dollars and 50 cent coin. They like to collect them.

SDC10358.jpg

Originally Posted by christineka

Thanks for all the great links. I'm been overloaded with Russian dolls and toys!!! I like the prices direct from Russia. The one site says I have to spend at least around $100. Maybe I can find Russian gifts for my relatives too.

Maybe a scraf! I love to collect scarfs from all over the world. Russian scarfs/wraps are very beautiful!

scarfs = good idea!

But now is winter!!! Why not a Christmas toy (russian)?
I found this shop Russian Christmas Ornaments - Wooden Christmas Decoration - Hand Painted Christmas Ornaments with toys.. but.. this is not a true Russian, I have never seen this type of toys here, in Moscow.. But any way - this is the veeeery interesting things

Originally Posted by MrsKlug

The smallest set (5 dolls), was gift to me from my mother-in-law. She bought it for me for Christmas in Alaska when she went there for ice fishing with my father-in-law. That is my favorite set actually. It is carved. They bought it from a Siberian vendor.

Well, the set with the white dolls is another one (along with the set on the photo from my post above) which is the most typical set around here.

Chirtmas tree ornaments are nice. I have some nesting dolls and nutcracker soldier ones. They are cute and not very expensive I think. I don't remember who much I paid for them, but I don't remember it being a lot.