Custom molded duck FAQ
Minimums, lead time, tooling, shapes, sizes, safety, and the things we do not sell. If your question is not here, email quack@nashducks.com and a person will answer it.
What is the minimum order for a custom molded duck?
Two thousand pieces per shape. Every Nash Ducks duck is sculpted and tooled from scratch for one client, and a dedicated set of electroformed brass molds only makes economic sense across a real run. If you need fewer than 2,000, a from-scratch mold is the wrong tool and we will tell you so.
How long does a custom duck take?
Ninety days from approved artwork to delivered ducks. The shop time breaks down as roughly 16 to 18 working days from clay sample to an approved PVC pre-production sample — clay sculpt, silicone mold, mock-up, colored mock-up, wax sample, then ten days in the electrolytic tank growing the master and production brass molds — plus about 45 working days for the production run. That is around 61 working days of real shop time, which is where the ninety-day calendar comes from. We do not quote a shorter calendar than we can actually hold.
Do you sell logo-imprinted or stamped stock ducks?
No. We do not pad-print, stamp, or decorate off-the-shelf duck bodies, and we do not resell catalog ducks. Nash Ducks only makes fully custom molded ducks. If a printed logo on a standard yellow duck is what you need, a promotional distributor will serve you faster and cheaper than we will.
Do you supply ducks for duck races?
No. We do not sell race ducks, weighted racing bodies, or numbered fundraiser flocks. Our program is custom sculpted collectibles, not commodity race hardware.
Does the shape have to look like a rubber duck?
No. We mold duck-like collectibles in essentially any shape you can sculpt: mascots, characters, animals, vehicles, product replicas, or something nobody has a word for yet. If it can be sculpted and pulled from a mold, it can be a Nash Ducks piece.
What sizes do you produce?
Three: mini for badge clips, table scatter, and blind-box style programs; regular, which is the classic shelf-and-desk size; and jumbo for centerpieces, retail hero pieces, photo ops, and executive gifts. Size is the single biggest driver of per-piece cost.
How much does a fully custom duck cost?
There is a one-time tooling investment that covers the clay sculpt, the silicone mold, the mock-up and wax samples, the electroformed brass master and production molds, and a PVC pre-production sample, plus a per-piece price that drops with quantity and rises with size. Typical program pricing is published on our pricing page, and every project gets a written quote.
Who owns the mold?
The tool is built for your shape and held for your reorders. Once it exists, repeat runs skip sculpt and tooling entirely, which is why the second order on a shape is dramatically cheaper than the first.
Where are the ducks actually made?
Designed in Nashville, Tennessee and produced in China. The sculpt is developed and art-directed here; the clay original, the electrolytic tank, the brass molds, and the rotocasting floor are at our dedicated molding partner overseas. Nash Ducks runs the whole program from Nashville: we develop the sculpt and revisions, hold both approval gates, ship you the physical colored mock-up and PVC pre-production sample to sign off on in hand, and coordinate paint, packaging, and freight. You deal with one company in your own time zone from concept art to delivered pallets.
Are your ducks safe and compliant?
Yes. Production runs use lead-free, phthalate-free vinyl and non-toxic paint, and are tested to U.S. children's product safety standards even when the audience is a room full of executives.
Do you sell to the public?
No. Nash Ducks is B2B wholesale only. We work with brands, agencies, licensors, event producers, venues, hotels, attractions, universities, sports properties, and nonprofits. There is no consumer storefront and no single-piece retail.
Still have questions?
Send them to quack@nashducks.com or start with a quote request — the form takes about 60 seconds.