Tucci Italy printed hard side luggage review: Turkish Marble and Winter Leopard

If eye-catching luggage is your jam, then you definitely have to check out the Tucci Italy art design collection. These glossy, hard side but lightweight luggage pieces are durable, well-made, and very funky!

What luggage pieces are available from Tucci Italy?

Tucci Italy (which you may see stylized as TUCCI Italy) offers luggage pieces in 20″, 24″, 28″, 30″, and 32″ sizes, which is a little broader than what many luggage brands offer. They produce both hard side and soft side luggage—today, I’m just reviewing hard side pieces.

You’ll find Tucci luggage sets available in two-, three-, and four-piece sets, which, again, is unusual! Two- and three-piece luggage sets are common, but it’s rare for brands to release four-piece luggage sets. If that’s something you’re looking for, definitely check out Tucci. Their 30″ and 32″ luggage pieces are massive, with tons of room inside for long trips to faraway destinations.

Something else to note is that this review features two smooth, hard side luggage pieces with bold prints. They’re great (as you’ll read more about below), but they’re not all Tucci offers. The brand makes plenty of luggage pieces in solid colours as well as kids’ prints, and the majority of their line features textured and micro-textured finishes. For durability, these textured finishes can offer a little more hardiness, especially if they’re going into a cargo hold.

Tucci Italy hard side luggage review: Winter Leopard 20″

The first piece I checked out for this review is the Tucci Italy hard side 20″ piece in the brand’s Winter Leopard design. It’s very eye-catching: I tend to buy dark-coloured, plain luggage pieces, so this was a big difference for me. While I love my plain luggage pieces (I think they match my neutral aesthetic pretty darn well), I have to admit that they can be hard to spot on a luggage carousel. 90% of the luggage out there looks exactly like mine…and as a result, I’ve definitely had those moments where I’m standing over a luggage piece with a stranger and we’re both going, “Hm, is this yours?”

With these intricate designs from Tucci, that’s simply not going to happen. Yes, the brand makes plenty of plain finishes as well, but their prints are the ones that’ll definitely get your attention. There’s no second-guessing whose luggage is whose with a suitcase this unique. If you’re worried about not being able to spot your luggage on the carousel or your spouse in the crowd…well, you won’t be with these.

This 20″ carry-on size handles great. Its 360-degree Glide-Tech spinner wheels are pretty chunky, which I’m a big fan of. Thanks to their size and construction, they roll deliciously smoothly and feel sturdy both on two wheels and four.

Like any great carry-on, this luggage piece has a telescoping handle that locks in two different positions, and it’s made well—you can easily lift up the whole suitcase from the telescoping handle. This piece also features a soft jelly handle, which springs out when lifted for extra comfort, and you can get a whole 3-piece set of these as well.

Tucci Italy hard side luggage review: Turkish Marble 24″ 

Tucci’s 20″ and 24″ luggage pieces performed very similarly for me. Like the 20″, this 24″ hard side luggage piece in Turkish Marble feels well-made. Its telescoping handle clicks into position twice (which is rare at the 24″ size) and its finish is definitely eye-catching.

The only feature where the 20″ and 24″ pieces in this Tucci Italy print collection differ, really, is on the luggage handles. The 20″ only has a top-carry handle, while the 24″ adds a side carry handle. It’s made from the same soft, grippy material and really helps when lifting a heavy piece of luggage up or overhead.

Tucci Italy hard side luggage exterior finish

There are, the way I look at it, two kinds of ABS plastic hard side luggage.

Micro-textured

This is the more common type. Textured hard side luggage has tiny little bumps covering the entire surface, which hides scratches and scuffs. Thanks to the bumps, there’s more surface area on micro-textured luggage, so it’s a little heavier. Overall, it tends to be more durable, but you can always tell its surface is textured. Because of this, micro-textured ABS plastic tends to feature solid colour finishes with geometric designs shown in dips and peaks in the surface itself.

Glossy

The other type of hard side luggage is glossy, like these pieces from the Tucci Italy hard side luggage collection. These pieces have an almost mirror-like finish—like they’ve been glazed. They’re super smooth and are perfect for adorning with prints, patterns, or even artwork and drawings. Glossy hard side luggage has a photo-like finish, and because it doesn’t have any nooks or crannies, it tends to be significantly lighter than textured plastic. It feels flexible and thin, but despite that, modern glossy ABS plastic remains durable.

Glossy luggage pieces like these ones can look more obvious when scratched, but one thing I want to note is that that visible scratches can actually take quite a long time to develop. The glossy surface of many of these products feels almost soft. So, while repeated scratching in the same area will dull down the surface, individual scratches show up a lot less readily than you might think. Tucci describes this as an anti-scratch/scratch resistant finish; I describe it almost like the soft, glossy surface is self-healing. (It isn’t, or as far as I know has never been marketed to be self-healing—but that’s how I experience it as a product user and luggage enthusiast.)

Tucci Italy print collection exterior features

I’ve discussed a lot of this collection’s exterior features already, but here’s the rundown. These pieces have:

• An anti-scratch finish
• Glide-tech 360 degree spinner wheels
• Spring-enhanced jelly handles
• Lightweight, durable siding
• Telescoping handles
• No combination lock

That last point—the lack of a combination lock—is something I want to expand on. But in short: I love it. I know it’s odd to say that I prefer a lack of feature over the feature itself, but when it comes to combination locks, I definitely do.

There’s no need to worry about whether or not your lock is TSA-friendly when there’s no lock to be had, and there’s never any need to remember your combination code (or write it down in three different places.) Instead of a combination lock, Tucci includes loops in the zippers for you to use your own lock if you choose to. It’s super sleek, handy, and helps extend the life of your product—if the lock breaks, just replace it. The luggage itself will still be good to go!

Tucci’s interior luggage features

The Tucci art design luggage features the same interiors in each piece—and those interiors rock. They have slick, branded lining, double mesh pockets (awesome for organizing), and secure nylon straps that won’t lose their shape over time.

Both the carry-on sized 20″ and medium 24″ pieces feature an expandable zipper, giving you an extra 2″ of (or up to 35% more) space.

In conclusion

I really loved using these luggage pieces. Their patterns aren’t to my personal taste, but if you love a big, bold print? These are awesome! They perform incredibly well, and Tucci offers plenty of plain finishes too if that’s more your jam.

Shop the Tucci Italy art design luggage collection online at Best Buy today.