Following a fashion is something that seems to be intrinsic to human nature. Many of the books we read, the movies we watch, the clothes we wear, or even the food we eat, are dictated by a trend or because we have seen it done before. someone we admire.
These phenomena can occur at almost any age and area of life. Given the lack of practical, if not social, usefulness, in recent months social networks have been filled with some little babies without clothes who wear some hat or decoration, making them inexplicably adorable: they are the Sonny Angels.
These objects, which we can classify as toys but also as accessories, They were created decades agobut now, 20 years later, they seem to have fallen from the sky, never better said due to their name, and have landed directly in the hands and smartphones of thousands of people.
But what do the Sonny Angels have to do with fashion? The same as any object or product that a famous person or person with a certain capacity to influence society uses in public. And, although it may seem difficult to believe, ‘celebrities’ like Victoria Beckham, Dua Lipa or Rosalía, among many others, have been seen with their Sonny Angels on some occasion, it is enough reason for thousands of people to follow in their footsteps and want to have one of these little dolls in their possession.
Rosalía and Victoria Beckham are seen with their Sonny Angel ‘Hippers’ on their phones
However, fashion is not the only thing that lives on with celebrities, and word of mouth or, in this case, publication by publication, has enormous power in numerous social groups, be they adults, young people, adolescents or children. So, the wave of Sonny Angel that has arrived in Spain but that was already crossing the world, it is a fashion and a reality that does not go unnoticed.
Created to bring happiness
If we go back to his ‘birth’ we must travel to Japan and even the mind of Toru Soeya, CEO of the toy company Dreams. Soeya was inspired by the American cartoon character called ‘Kewpie’ who, in turn, came from giving life to the dolls in the comic strips of the cartoonist Rose O’Neill, dating back to 1909. Thus, in May 2004 The first Sonny Angel was released, its name resulting from the combination of Soeya’s nickname, ‘Sonny’, and the creature they represent, a cherub.
We talk with Dan, content creator with 1.7 million followers on TikTokconsidered by many an expert in pop culture and who has been collecting Sonny Angels since 2021 and sharing it on his profile, @lizziemcwhoe. As he tells ABC: “The story of the Angels is a man who created it for his daughter who was in her 20s because he realized that the first years of adulthood were very lonely and he simply wanted the daughter to have something that would keep him company and that was so cute that when he saw it he would be happy».
And that is the current slogan of these dolls that can be read on their official website: “He may bring you happiness”, which in Spanish means “I may bring you happiness.” It should be noted that, although this meaning has not penetrated as much in the West, in Japan a Sonny Angel is like a lucky charm and they consider that they attract joy and happiness.
A collectible obsession
Recognized by their chubby face, their large and tender eyes, their shy smile and their blushes, these dolls conquer famous and anonymous people not only because the TikTok algorithm has proposed it and shows them to a specifically young and quite female audience, but for many other reasons. One can be, as Dan mentions, “the typical thing that when you see someone with one, well, you just get homesick and you already want one.” Another reason that makes the love for the Sonny Angels almost an obsession is the surprise factor that accompanies the experience of buying one. This is explained because there are hundreds of types of these dolls and dozens of series, each of them inspired by a different theme such as the marine world, dog breeds, Valentine’s Day or fruits, for example.
Thus, once you have chosen the series you want, the box of your Sonny Angel does not reveal which one is inside, so, Until you open the package you will not know which model you got. An effect that is usually engaging, as proof that this product is now more considered a collector’s item than a toy, although for some it remains a mere accessory.
For Dan, his first Sonny Angels made him «recover the illusion “I bought something, I’m excited, let’s see what I get” and, today, they are also a great way to connect with your audience on social networks. He says that, if he is having a bad day, he opens a Sonny Angel and if it comes out again, the day may get worse, although he loves everyone, without exception: “I couldn’t tell you what I find most endearing about little angels, but I think that it’s that they wear rouge. In fact, I think that in 2023 they changed the manufacturing and put even more blush on them, ‘which I love’. I don’t know, I love them. I love them all, they are great. They have the perfect face», he tells ABC.
From Vinted to ‘Saturday Night Live’
When they were not yet a fever, these dolls measuring no more than 8 centimeters cost about five euros but, for just over a year, its price has increased considerably as well as their demand, having to pay an average of 20 euros for them. Today there is no headquarters of Dreams, the company that manufactures them, in Spain, as there is only one in Japan, United States and Korea. To buy them officially online, from our country they are ordered by an intermediary company that has the rights and is established in France. For this reason, the website that appears when we search for them from Spain is sonnyangel-france.com.
On the Sonny Angel website you can find a map to locate stores where the official product is distributed
On this page almost all the models of all the series are sold out, so you can go to traditional toy stores that sell them. Dan says he started buying them at Dideco and now always gets them at Figurinix. Although several businesses, both online and physical, They sell them in Spainthe obsession with these cherubs has also caused them to begin to be revalued and can now be found in applications such as Wallapop or Vintedwhere prices skyrocket due to special editions or because it is difficult to find a specific model from a specific series.
One of the varieties that have become most popular lately are the ‘Hippers’the Sonny Angel designed so that you can place them perched on your mobile phone or any screen while they seem to look at you, sparkling, every time you use the device where you have placed it. As a result of their success, they have also begun to be marketed imitations which can be found in different bazaars for a much lower price, although they do not look exactly the same.
Such is the exclusivity of these little creatures that not only ordinary citizens, ‘tiktokers’, ‘influencers’ and content creators carry this fashion with them but, as we mentioned, stars such as Victoria Beckham, Rosalía, Bella Hadid and Dua Lipahave been hunted with their Sonny Angel on social networks. The latter, the singer of ‘New Rules’ or ‘Physical’, was one of those in charge of showing this plastic cherub also on the small screen.
He did it in a ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch during an episode of its 49th season last May. In it, Dua Lipa showed a huge collection of Sonny Angels, explaining what they represented to her, and the man she was on a date with felt threatened by those ‘little boyfriends’ who seemed to be his competition. This parody launched even more stardom and popularity to these little angels with tiny themed hats.
We asked Dan if he thinks the Sonny Angels thing will be a fad or if they are here to stay and are becoming a phenomenon similar to what the Funkos were. «I have been collecting them for three years and I don’t see an end, But it is true that maybe the people who have bought a replica from the bazaar and are 20 are going to end up in over their heads,” he reflects.
Even so, he believes that everything will depend on the personality of each one and is aware that right now there is an “overexposure that is going to be reduced.” However, for him it is like “if you go to the house of your grandmother who also has little angels and it has pictures of little angels, figurines and it has dolls, I think it’s a bit exactly the same,” he emphasizes, admitting that, as is the case with almost everything nowadays, the more popular they are over time, the more people there will be the possibility of let them hate them.
The truth is that, whether you love them or not, it is almost impossible that you have not seen a Sonny Angel hanging from a bag, decorating a mobile phone or on the bookshelf of a house, unless you live in a cave to which the magic of these little angels with tiny wings can’t get there
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