Who Makes the Ninjas?
I do. My name’s Ryan Couldrey. I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canadianialand.
Why?
Because Ninjas are awesome. So awesome that “Ninja” shall forevermore be a proper noun.
Whereabouts?
They’re made on my dining room table in Toronto, Beaches area.
No sweatshops?
Nope.
Can I commission a Ninja?
Yes you can! The price will likely be $15 for a small and somewhere between $$20-25 for a medium ninja, depending on what you want from him or her. Shipping is always free.
Why does each Ninja cost XX dollars? Why not less/more?
I have to factor in the cost of materials, the time to design the Ninjas and finally how long each Ninja takes to make. Because I make each Ninja myself it requires a certain amount of time, usually anywhere from 1.5-2.5 hours depending on the complexity of the Ninja. The more complex the features, the longer it takes to make. In special cases one Ninja might cost a little more to make up for all the hand cramps and time it took to make them.
That said, I think $15-$20 per Ninja (for the most part), shipping included, is a gosh darn steal.
Do you have a ’standard’ Ninja? They all look different…
I glean most of my fun from making a different Ninja whenever I sit down at my sewing machine (a Singer, btw). I don’t expect to get rich (maybe famous?) from making Ninjas but I do like making them a lot, so I figure I might as well try something new every time. The nerdier the better! If I ever run out of ideas (or I particularly like an idea) I may make a repeat, though the body of the Ninja might be a diff colour, or a diff size, who knows.
How much is shipping?
NOTHING! Zero dollars and zero cents!
I HAVE AN IMPORTANT QUESTION! HOW CAN I REACH YOU, IT’S URGENT!??!
Stop by the contact page and send me a note.
My name is Ryan Couldrey, and I make the Ninja Dolls. I got started in early 2007 when a friend’s baby was born. I decided that the best present would be something Ninja related, and because it was a girl (Hi Cassie!) a colleague suggested that the Ninja should be pink. Angry Pink Ninja was born, hand stitched with floss (unrippable!) and with an angry monobrow. After that, I knew I wanted to make more.
The problem was that hand stitching not only took a while, but the stitches never looked nice enough and my hands would cramp up like mad. I still made 3 more (here, here), but I knew there was a better way. I begged my wife for a sewing machine, and in March of 2008 she obliged with a nice one for my birthday.
All the new Ninja Dolls are machine stitched for the most part, with some hand stitching on the eyes and sometimes other little bits. Materials are generally felts of varying colours, unless otherwise noted. I try to make each Ninja Doll unique in some way, be it with different personalities or colours, but I can’t promise I’ll never make a duplicate. Still, I try not to so a Ninja Doll you take home might end up being a one of a kind! Will I ever make anything besides Ninjas? Almost certainly! I just don’t know when yet…
