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 and Dildred–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 were now,” Parks said. “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 and 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 and Dildred, she brought up Sonny Angels 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,” she said. “We would be in stock for weeks.”

Then in 2023, Sonny Angels saw a major spike in popularity and became an instigator of chaos at the store.

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 making it hard for the to 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,” she said.

Mildred and Dildred is one of four authorized Sonny Angel retailers in Tucson, according to the official Sonny Angel USA app. Shops 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 Speedway Boulevard. “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 2024, and the dolls’ popularity has only increased since then. 

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

Still, the toys make her — and others — happy.

“It’s the thrill of collecting and not knowing what it is,” she said. 

While spotty supply and intense demand can be challenging for businesses, staff and owners alike agree that the overall impact of Sonny Angels is positive. 

“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 Angels have found a place in Tucson.

Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.

Correction: A previous version of this story named the Children’s Museum among local sellers of Sonny Angels. The museum does not sell the toys.