There is a brand new youth craze sweeping the nation. Generation Zers meet in parks and cafés, speak in coded acronyms and negotiate in secret group chats – all within the hunt for a seven centimeter baby.
The Sonny Angel – a cute, collectible cherub figurine who is totally naked aside from his colourful headdress – has exploded in popularity over the past two years due to social media. Demand is so high that it’s causing a worldwide shortage at its North and South American supplier Dreams USA – making a gray market where 3,000 percent markups, Facebook Marketplace scams and AliExpress counterfeits are rampant are.
“There is an absolute shortage of supplies,” said Alan Buff, vice chairman of Dreams USA Assets.
“Demand is surging in the US and Western Europe and is growing again in East Asia,” Buff continued. “Factory capacity limits are challenging and many of our loyal retailers are only receiving a fraction of the volumes they would like.”
Sonny Angels typically sell for $10 to $20 within the United States and are available in blind boxes that keep the angels’ design a secret until opened. With greater than 1,000 variations of various headwear inspired by food, animals or plants, fans search far and wide attempting to collect all of them.
Sonny Angels, named after Soeya’s nickname Sonny, was invented by Japanese designer Toru Soeya in 2004 and was intended as a companion for young working women combating stress. Something concerning the doll—her sideways gaze, her round belly, and her conspicuous nudity—represents an innocence that perhaps recalls simpler, less fearful times.
“He’s just a little baby,” Buff said. “He’s just a little boy.”
In addition to helping fans connect with their “inner child,” Sonny Angels has also helped collectors connect with a community of followers. Fans moderate Trading meeting across the country, sharing photos of their collections with a membership of twenty-two,000 Subreddit.
Adi Sharpe, a 25-year-old collector of Athens, Georgia, hosted several Sonny Angel trade events where she became friends with other fans.
“It’s really cool to be able to build a community around a niche interest that some people would find strange and, you know, not normal,” she said Assets.
For retailers, it is not at all times Sonny
The Sonny Angel shortage has hit the brand’s 441 authorized retailers within the United States. Thanks to the dolls trending on TikTok, they’re seeing high demand. These retailers purchase their inventory from Dreams USA, the exclusive distributor of all Sonny products in America.
Newtown Headquartersa popular culture boutique in Queens, NY, has develop into a licensed seller of Sonny Angels in 2021. But it wasn’t until March 2023 that Sonny Angels sold out for the primary time, said Cindy Cortez, owner of Newtown HQ Assets. Since March, the cherubs have been flying off her store’s shelves faster than she will keep them in stock.
Before 2023, Cortez would typically order over 100 blind boxes without delay and receive them inside two weeks, she said. These days she’s lucky to get greater than 50 and has to attend a couple of month for an order to reach.
“I had to tell my customers… ‘We wish we could carry unlimited Sonnies, but we can’t get unlimited Sonnies,'” Cortez said Assets.
To meet demand, Cortez has also limited the variety of Sonny Angels their customers should purchase. Starting April seventeenth, customers should purchase one Sonny Angel per collection per day – and a few are maxing out their limit.
“Some customers come every day, for three days,” she added.
It’s not only Cortez feeling the provision shortage. The growing U.S. market is competing with the product’s popularity in East Asia and factories are operating at full capability, Buff said. Dreams USA hasn’t opened a Sonny Angel dealer in over a yr and has turned down several retailers with larger operations just because the dealer doesn’t have enough dolls.
“It would be unfair to sell to new customers when existing customers aren’t getting enough,” Buff said.
A gray Sonny market
Given the scarcity and bottlenecks within the distribution of the dolls, fans themselves have organized a gray marketplace for Sonny Angel trading with their very own conversion rates.
Sharpe, the Georgia-based collector who owns greater than 100 Sonny Angels, has hosted several trade events at a neighborhood gift shop. Sharpe estimated between 50 and 100 people attended probably the most recent event, with some people driving greater than two hours to get there.
At these events, Sonny Angel owners trade one another’s figures and determine the worth of every doll based on its rarity within the blind boxes. A rare Sonny Angel could be price several regular copies.
The ultra-rare angels include Robby, a bear figurine the corporate describes as a “close friend of Sonny” who only appears in one in all 144 boxes. Sharpe once got a Robby from a $14 blind box – one other collector is now selling the identical one on the e-commerce platform Mercari for $200. A Sonny Angel dressed as a green banana, which Sharpe purchased from the official online store for around $25, is currently available Buy on eBay for $300.
Although Sharpe could easily make a tenfold profit by selling a few of her Sonny Angels, she said she “personally disagrees” with the resale market. She prefers to benefit from the pleasure of shopping for the doll from a licensed dealer and opening the blind box to get a surprise.
“It’s a cheap man’s way of gambling,” Sharpe said Assets. “This is my version of going to the casino.”
Children at heart
The Sonny Angel trend is a component of a bigger trend wherein adults – not children – are driving the toy market. The adult demographic referred to as “kidults” is now eager about toys and knick-knacks make up about 25%, or $9 billion price of the toy industry, in line with market data firm Circana. Between complex Lego constructing sets for people aged 18 and over McDonald’s Cactus Plant Flea Market Happy Meals for AdultsBrands that years ago were strongly related to targeting children are actually marketing to the adults these children have grown into.
Sonny Angel has tapped into this marketplace for little treats that Gen Z and Millennials are using to address economic pressures—or simply the burden of youth anxieties. Sonny Angel was developed specifically for 15 to 30 yr olds and was not intended as a plaything, but quite as an emotional balm. With the slogan “May he bring you happiness,” the doll goals to bring a smile to the faces of those that are slightly disillusioned with life.
“We are not so arrogant as to think he will do it. But our Hope is that it will bring you luck,” Buff said. “That was the original intention and it still is today.”
While Sonny Angel’s thriving resale market is an indication that the target market is connecting with the doll’s message, the corporate, which desired to keep Sonny as an “affordable luxury item,” doesn’t condone the practice.
“Costs have increased, but we have kept our prices at the same level as in 2022,” Buff said. “What we see in the market is very frustrating for us. Because we want Sonny Angel to be an affordable and enjoyable purchase.”
But beyond the economic impact of resale fueled by the need to gather all different angels, the grey market contradicts the ethos of the brand. The overwhelming majority of Sonny Angel customers use the doll as an original pick-me-up. The few fanatics who tear up as many packages as possible risk getting a replica, destroying the joy and magic related to unwrapping the doll. “It’s a disappointment when they get one that they already have,” Buff said. “That isn’t his intention. His intention is to make you smile every Time.”
