Sienna Jovicich had lost a valuable possession at the Teatro Barcelo club and so, armed with her phone flashlight and drunken courage, she was determined to find it. Her friends observed and laughed as Jovicich crawled on the club floor pushing patrons out of the way, even “five ugly drunk men” couldn’t stop her search.
The treasure? A small, plastic, baby-doll head. Not just any small, plastic, baby -doll head. It was a Sonny Angel – with a sloth hat.
She began to laugh as the absurd memories came flooding back, before turning serious again to discuss her tragic loss.
“I was very drunk and the mission was to find the baby’s head and it was unsuccessful,” she said, “It was really cute too, it had a little sloth hat.”
“You will never see me crawling on the club floor again, that was so humbling…for a baby’s head?! It was bad,” Jovicich said, appearing to regret her actions with every moment she remembered.
A New Pandemic
Although the Covid pandemic might be over, Madrid is experiencing a new pandemic – except this one involves a hoard of naked baby toys. Japanese collectable toys, “Sonny Angels”, have been taking Madrid by storm – or should we say by tantrum.
An indication of how popular they are is the recent tidal wave of counterfeits, enough to alert the national police. According to a Tik Tok article from ABC News Australia, Spanish police recently seized over 7,000 counterfeit Sonny Angel dolls worth over 150,000 euros, in the Catalan city of Badalona.
The fake ‘Sonny Angels’ are now in almost every bazaar and alimentación across Madrid, and some businesses too. A chocolate covered strawberry shop, La Freseria, gave away free ‘Sonny Angels’ which each order as part of a Black Friday deal in Madrid, Malaga and Valencia stores.
Sonny Angels have been around for more than 20 years, but recently they have risen to a peak of popularity in the Spanish capital. They are unmissable when taking the bus, metro, or walking through a college campus as they are worn on phones, purses, keys, and backpacks. The dolls themselves are naked babies donning various different hats and shirts, but never pants. Each has a sweet and bashful face, but what makes these figurines so special?
“It’s cute and silly and playful, we all need some more of those good vibes,” said Anna Marlin, who owns 5 Sonny Angels, one doll and four“hippers”. She explains that a “hipper” is the most popular way to sport a Sonny Angel, which is a smaller version of the toy that has an adhesive backing to attach to phones, computers–you name it. Anna’s phone is adorned with a hipper with bunny ears, but her pear-headed-baby devastatingly fell off her computer.
“I love them, they spark joy.”
Elizabeth Noonan agrees, “I like unnecessary things. I’m a maximalist. I like things that have no purpose other than joy.” She even filmed a vlog for her for-fun Youtube channel of her picking out her Sonny Angel with her friend Katie Connolly.
Disappearing as Fast as They Came
Due to the blind-box nature of the Sonny Angels, you never know what you’re going to get. Noonan received a hipper donning a tomato hat that she endearingly named Tomatino, even though she “actually hates tomatoes.”
But for some, the mystery of the Sonny Angels ends up being a perfect match. Brisa Zitko’s Sonny Angel rests on her laptop and wears an adorable little dinosaur hat.
“My mom used to call me the ‘little dinosaur’ because of my teeth, so it reminds me of my mom,” she said.
Zitko claims she “hopped on the bandwagon and rode it to looney town” when it comes to the Sonny Angel trend, but believes there has been a recent decrease in the trend.
“I think it’s because all of their Sonny Angel babies’ heads came off so they had to take them off [their phones],” she said, echoing Jovicich’s club tragedy.
Quality versus Quantity
So, is it possible that times have become so trying that we turn to the naked plastic butts of Japanese toys for happiness? It is certainly possible. However, childrens store owner Eva Fuentes has a different answer.
“It’s because of the fakes. Now they are so accessible and people dont even know they are fake,” she said. “People ask me why they are so expensive in my store, we made a Tik Tok comparing the real ones to the fake ones and they are nowhere near the quality.”
Fuentes’ store Älva, in the Bilbao neighborhood, is one of the few stores in Madrid that sells legitimate Sonny Angel dolls. The Sonny Angels at Älva retail for €20, while bazaars offer the fakes for just €5.
Despite her prices, Fuentes has a devoted following. Her store’s Whatsapp channel, which she refers to as “The Cult”, has over 1,000 members. She uses the channel to update shoppers on what Sonny Angel stock she is receiving and to allow others to trade their dolls for more sought after pieces.
“The strawberry is in high demand right now,” she explains as she scrolls through the channel showing images of various Sonny Angels with the caption “por la fresa” from those ready to trade. “Once they have agreed on a trade they usually meet up here to do the exchange,” she said.
Fuentes’ runs an entire store that ranges from children’s clothing to various toys and games, but she says that 60 percent of her customers come in to buy Sonny Angels.
“There are some real diehards in The Cult, people that come here with scales to weigh them and I don’t let them,” she said sternly. Then her tone changes as she reflects on her regulars, “We are a really nice community,” she said, “people come to see me even if they are just in the area, they will come say hello.”
On the other hand, not every Madrid resident cares about the authenticity of their Sonny Angels. Lower quality materials, paint chips, unsaturated colors and whether or not the pupils point in the right direction, is of little concern.
“Give me a fake one for five euro and I’m happy,” said Anna Marlin, “That’s how you know something is popular, if there are fakes.”
For others like Marlin, the low price tag is what drew them to purchase the toy, without much regard for its counterfeit nature.
“In the states they are 30 dollars but here they are five, that’s why there is a Sonny Angel epidemic here,” said Jovicich, who is happy buying fake Angels to build her “army”. “I feel like I have turned people on to the Sonny Angels, I am fueling the epidemic,” she said.
Whether it’s the cheap counterfeit prices, or the adorable baby butts that are causing this recent obsession, it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Maybe these baby toys are just a cute trinket, or maybe something much more profound is at play, according to Jovicich.
“It’s a vibe, people are trying to catch a vibe, they want to feel as if they are a part of the trend and therefore a part of something bigger, there is a deeper scheme at work,” she said.
