I can't stop buying tiny mice.

Confessions of a Maileg addict

Jun 08, 2026

This is a little off-topic from my usual jewelry-focus, but these mice are so expensive, they might as well be jewelry. And while this collection of Maileg mice technically belongs to my daughter, they live in my office. (For their own protection, of course). The obsession is real.

Dorthe Mailil, the founder and creative director of Maileg

So here’s the backstory: While enrolled at the Danish Design School, Dorthe Mailil created a clay pixie with exaggerated proportions. This single pixie was quickly joined by a whole family. Dorthe sold the pixies at a Christmas bazaar in 1991, where they were a crowd favorite. But Christmas-only toys didn’t seem sustainable, “We needed something to live on for the rest of the year,” Dorthe explained, and the brand made the pivot to toys (hallelujah!)

That name that feels so tricky to pronounce? It’s the family’s last name “Mailil” combined with “leg” - the Danish word for play: Maileg (said: My-lie, rhymes with pie).

The brand expanded to North America in 2008, which is about the same time that the mice in their matchboxes were released. Prior to that point, the company had a lot of pixies and bunnies on offer. It was the mice that really sealed the deal. Dorthe had also studied at the L'ecole D'art de Marseille and Paris, which she credits with inspiring all of the darling little details that would give the mice that irresistible je ne sais quoi.

Beatrix Potter’s doll’s house. The food that so incensed Hunca Munca and Tom Thumb was purchased from Hamley’s, one of our favorite London stops. The National Trust.

Maybe one of the reasons that the Maileg mice has really resonated in our household is these little toy mice share a lineage with one of our favorite Beatrix Potter books, The Tale of Two Bad Mice. It’s a story of two mice Hunca Munca and Tom Thumb, who sneak into a dollhouse. When Potter got the idea, her editor and publisher, Norman Warne, sent her a special mouse house designed like a dollhouse with a glass front and ladder so that she could watch and draw the mice easily.

illustrations from The Tale of Two Bad Mice

Potter drew everything from the mouse’s point of view and she was obsessed with adding detail until finally Warne told her that it was almost becoming too detailed. He was worried the illustrations would be too busy. That obsessive eye for miniature details was just what made Potter’s mice so beloved, and happens to be exactly what draws us to Maileg.

Did you see Miss Potter in 2006? It was derided a bit for being too saccharine, but 20 years later, a little extra sweet seems fine.

Collecting

I’ve heard it said that Maileg mice are mother and grandmother toys — meaning that’s who’s buying them. Are you ready to start your own collection? The best place to start is with a matchbox mouse. The matchbox is outfitted with bedding so your child can tuck it in. I’ve rounded up some good mice starters. And for those of you already sold on the Maileg mice, here are some of my picks for bigger ticket items. Maileg does retire items —without much warning so if there’s something you love, you should go ahead and treat yourself (or your child!)

Notes on buying:
I’ve only ever found one Maileg item on sale (that was the Beach Mom from Anthropologie and she took like four months to arrive. Anthropologie doesn’t seem to carry Maileg anymore so I must have just gotten lucky. I have found a couple of Maileg items at a local consignment, but that seemed to have been very random — or maybe they are just snatched up too quickly. The second-hand items that I’ve seen on Poshmark or elsewhere all seem to be marked (way) up. Your best bet might be to set up a Facebook Marketplace alert, but for the most part, this is a full price kind of deal. (Let me know, if this is not the case for you!) Given that the prices are so standardized, I’ve used this as an opportunity to support my local toyshops so for my daughter’s upcoming birthday, I ordered a couple of items from our local toy shop gem, Tantrum. I checked the box, “gift wrap” and then picked them up. Old school.