Lulubell Toy Bodega

My boyfriend and I stumbled across this place while walking down the Second Friday thing at Mesa’s Downtown.
The staff is really sweet and courteous, even when open late. And the store is a smörgåsbord of new and vintage toys and local art. While there was a ton to look at, they do a great job spacing it out so you can see everything — and manage to make it look organized, something I imagine is no small feat with that kind of inventory. We picked up a few blind boxes and prints, and I also bought a larger vinyl toy for myself. Those unfamiliar with the world of vinyl toys may raise an eyebrow at the tags on some of the rare or unique items (like the original art pieces) but believe me, they’re more than reasonable!
Can’t wait to go again!

This place is awesome — they have a ton of interesting toys, books, clothes and an art gallery. The owners are super nice and rad. Absolutely go check it out!

Absolutely the best ! Amy and the whole Lulubell crew are always super fun, knowledgeable, and have the best toys, books, and art ! Would recommend any day! Always fun to stop in on third Thursdays in Mesa, and they have pugs! PUGS !

Such a great store — and such a great find! Definitely one of the best stores in the valley. Found a number of great little gifts that were cheap stocking-​stuffers for our little-​ones — as well as some great shirts and prints that were great gifts for friends. The store mainly focuses on collectible vinyl toys (great selection), but also has a cute variety of shirts, books, prints and other tchotchkes that make for great gifts and collectible items.
The gallery in the back has a consistently-​worthwhile shows, and a number of affordable options for your own art collection.

Ok, let’s pretend this wasn’t the only place in Tucson to buy collectible vinyl toys, wonderful art books, beautiful local art, and some really cool clothing (mainly tees)… Let’s also pretend that the staff wasn’t extremely friendly, extensively knowledgable on their product and obviously very into the collecting side themselves (I.E. They get excited when I say I want to open my blind box toys in the store to see what I got, and get excited when I get cool stuff, and that’s cool to me).
Shall we also pretend that it isn’t really easy to find, oh, and pretend the store didn’t have a really cool, industrial/​urban art studio feel to it… Ok, we all caught up in fantasy land? Well, that all aside, um… Let’s see, the parking isn’t that great.
Seriously one of my favorite spots in Tucson, even if just to pop in for a second and say hi and see if they have any new swag.
Keep up the great work lulubell’s!

Wonderful toys, and even better art shows — great place to do your holiday shopping for something unusual and fun!

There are «The Seven Wonders of the World» and then there are «The Seven Wonders of Tucson» and Lulubell Toy Bodega my friends, is one of those seven wonders.
Lulubell Toy Bodega is a bewitching, quaint shop seated on a tiny main road running parallel to downtown. It’s closer to a more industrial area so unless you know it’s there or you’re observant while driving, you can easily pass it without knowing it exists. Here’s some help:

They’re known for their premium (and difficult to find) toys… And when I say premium, I mean prices ranging from practically nothing to the $ 200 and upward area. I’m not a collectible toy connoisseur but I don’t think it’s entirely unreasonable pricing considering the people who collect these toys are probably willing to drop that kind of cash. Personally, I’m a fan of their Blind Box toys, the Munny dolls and of course, the plush Domo dolls.
Oh, but that’s not all…
Lulubell Toy Bodega is a mecca for local artists. They frequently host shows where artists can display their art on their beautiful white walls. This not only enables artists to show their work to a public audience in a more professional manner but it also brings the community together. In other words, it gets those downtown kids out of the bars and into something more meaningful.
The owners are so immersed in their customers that I don’t actually know who they are; they blend in with everyone else at the shop! (I’ll meet you someday Amy & Luke!)
Lulubell Toy Bodega is, without a doubt, one of the best businesses in all of Tucson. It would be extreme to say a visit here is worthy of being on a bucket list, but then again, I’m an extreme type of girl. ;)
Happy toy shopping!

LuluBell Toy Bodega is amazing! It’s one of the places that makes Tucson great! They have an amazing arsenal of unique and hard to find toys and apparel. They support the local art scene and are helping to improve the community! They deserve more than a good review, they deserve a medal!

That Tucson has a store like this is a blessing and an enigma. We are truly truly lucky to have something so wonderful and fun. I attended a Munny painting here and received free Dunny toys and hung out with all the other «kids» and decorated. Gallery openings here are also always awesome, and I never feel uncomfortable here at all. No snotty experts, no too cool for you hipsters, this place is as fun as it gets.

Lulubell Toy Bodega is the best, from the staff to the selection! Thank you for putting together such a cool shop! :)

I am not a fan or collector of toys, Japanese toys animé etc… but this plays definitely fills a niche… What I am a huge fan of is the owner and workers of Lulubells– They are very nice people who care about the arts, students and Tucson and they put up really cool art shows.

Amy & Luke are Lulubell. Lulubell is Luke & Amy.
Each of them does an incredible job at keeping on-​top of all the Japanese toy releases (and Stateside, too) and bringing them home to you here in the US. They’re involved enough that Luke even currently resides in Japan, to go to all the shows and get their foot in as many toy-​makers doors as he possibly can. Catch either of them by phone, e-​mail, Facebook, or maybe even in person in their shop or at a show — and they are SUPER friendly & chatty. Not talking about toys? Who cares, they are cool enough to have a chat & keep in touch, rather than just hear you out when you’re ready to place an order.
Originally, I found out about Lulubell thanks to a toy forum, and ordered a few things from them, and was excited to find such a friendly vendor. Two months later, Amy and my girlfriend had been e-​mailing behind my back and sorted out an AMAZING Christmas gift for me, which was a HUGE surprise. Much later, now, I’ve heard of at least two other girlfriends/​wives doing similar to surprise their very own toy nerd — so excellent customer service & people skills!

WHOEVER ROBBED LULUBELL SHALL BURN
Contact them if you have seen these stolen items:

Update: 10/​22/​2008
Amy from Lulubell corrected the mistake by sending me 2 additional toys on top of the one I was supposed to receive from my first shipment. You know a store is good when you’re hoping they’ll make a mistake.
Absolutely king-​sized. Although they did send me triples. Woe is a blind box.