The Sonny Angel effect: the blind bag cherub figurines fly off the shelves at these Tucson stores

Tucson toy stores consistently sell out of one product so popular that businesses are begging for shipments, which fly off the shelves within days, if not hours.

That toy is the Sonny Angel — a plastic baby doll often wearing interesting outfits or no clothes at all that are popular not with children but adult women.

Sonny Angels are “blind bag” cherub figurines created by a Japanese toy manufacturer named Toru Soeya. The dolls were launched on May 15, 2004, but have seen a recent surge in popularity. Originally seven inches tall, they are now manufactured in a popular new three-inch size.

Kelly Parks, a sales associate at Mildred & Dildred, 1725 N. Swan Road — one of Tucson’s few authorized Sonny Angel retailers — purchased her first Sonny Angel in 2014 and began collecting in 2019.

“They weren’t as popular as they are now,” said Parks. “They were more accessible.”

Parks, who now has roughly 500 dolls, said in the beginning they were hard to find at local retailers.

“I called before I started working here, and Mildred & Dildred used to carry them in the 2010s, but no one in Tucson really had them,” she said.

When Parks began her sales associate position at Mildred & Dildred, she brought up Sonny Angel and received some pushback on the items being sold there. But she insisted, telling them: “Trust me on this one, guys.”

Owner Autumn Ruhe placed an order for the dolls about a year later.

“They didn’t sell out often three years ago,” Ruhe said. “We would be in stock for weeks.”

Then in 2023, Sonny Angel saw a major spike in popularity, becoming an instigator of chaos at Mildred & Dildred. Between inconsistent order arrivals and customer demand, the store has struggled with the pressure.

Sonny Angel doesn’t take orders from retailers in Tucson anymore.

“You don’t place orders, they just send you what they send you,” Ruhe said. “There’s no rhyme or reason to it.”

And shipments are fewer and farther between.

Ruhe said the store, which posts on social media when Sonny Angel shipments are in, cannot keep up with demand. “We’re trying to get as many (dolls) as we can, but we don’t have much control over the process.”

Mildred & Dildred is one of the authorized Sonny Angel retailers in Tucson, according to the official Sonny Angel USA app. Heroes and Villains and Zia Records also sell the dolls and are seeing similar demand.

“We sell out very quickly, I’d say within two days, and that’s only because we put limits on them,” said Haley Bennett, store manager for Zia Records at 3370 E. Speedway.

Zia also struggles to get sufficient shipments, she said. “We have no control over how many or what type of dolls we get. It’s kind of a surprise.”

Both stores have implemented rules for customers buying Sonny Angels to ensure stock lasts.

“For the regular series, customers are limited to two dolls a day,” Bennett said. “For limited-edition dolls, it’s just one.”

On the plus side, “it keeps people coming back to us,” Bennett said. “It’s just something cute for people to collect and connect with other people.”

The Sonny Angel takeover doesn’t end in Tucson, either. Chloe Scott, a Sonny Angel collector in Los Angeles, has had the same issues with dolls selling out, purchase limits and uncertainty about where to buy the dolls.

“I finally had a place to buy them,” Scott said. “But they sell out a lot. I have their post notifications on to see when they have them because they sell out in like a day.”

She began collecting in May of 2024, and the dolls’ popularity has only increased since then.

“It’s definitely so much harder to get them now,” she said.

“They bring a lot of momentary happiness when you’re getting them,” Scott said of their continued popularity. “It’s the thrill of collecting and not knowing what it is.”

And while spotty supply and intense demand can be challenging for businesses, staff and owners alike agree that Sonny Angel have had an overall positive impact on their businesses.

“A store can’t even start selling Sonny Angels anymore,” Ruhe said. I’m glad we became a part of it when it became so popular. We are very happy.”

Bennett added that they are also attracting new customers to Zia Records.

“More customers are helping us make that profit from selling them, and we are also getting a younger crowd more familiar with other things we sell. Like, they might see a new vinyl they want while they’re buying their Sonny Angel,” she said.

Whether it’s the “blind bag” experience or the irresistible charm of these dolls, Sonny Angel has found a place in Tucson.