Blind bag tearing fever

Stimulate curiosity

Having a complete collection of Labubu and many other cartoon characters, Nguyen Thi Lan in Nam Sach town proudly shows her friends. This achievement is thanks to following the blind bag tearing trend.

After tiring hours of studying, Lan often entertains herself by surfing her phone. At first, it was just normal videos, then videos of tearing open blind bags appeared more and more, causing excitement. There were times when Lan spent an hour just watching videos on social networks. Watching videos was already engaging, but tearing open blind bags herself stimulated her curiosity even more, so Lan spent money to buy them. Not only stopping at tearing open bags, Lan quickly connected with agents and started selling this item on social networks.

Lan said: “When you buy a blind bag, you won’t know what’s inside until you tear it open. This creates a sense of suspense and excitement. I’m sure there are many people who like the feeling of curiosity when tearing open a blind bag like me, so I buy in large quantities and resell them. The price of each bag is not high, only about 2,000 VND, the more you buy, the cheaper it is. I’ve sold about 1,000 bags and this trend is still attracting many young people.”

Not only attracting young people, this trend has also spread to young children. Every time she is praised by her teacher or gets good grades in her studies, Nguyen Thi Anh Ngoc, a second grader at Phu Thai Primary School (Kim Thanh), asks her parents to reward her with blind bags. Anh Ngoc said that in her class, every student has a collection of cartoon characters and toys, up to dozens of them. In many classes, teachers also give blind bags to encourage and motivate students' learning spirit.

Since its appearance, the blind bag trend has become a “fever” not only in big cities but also spread to many localities. In many bookstores in the province such as Tien Phong, Do Gia… blind bags are displayed in the most visible locations with diverse designs and eye-catching colors. This shows the “hotness” of the trend. In grocery stores and shops around schools in rural areas, blind bags always attract children, sometimes even “out of stock”.

“Each blind bag costs only 3,000-10,000 VND. Many students or parents who come to buy books and school supplies conveniently buy a few blind bags. The appeal of blind bags lies in the element of surprise, creating a feeling of excitement and suspense when opening them. Therefore, this item sells very well at bookstores,” said an employee at Tien Phong Bookstore (Hai Duong City).

"Behind" the trend

Blind bags are also known as "blind bags" or surprise bags. Usually, in each collection there will be a limited edition bag, which further stimulates the curiosity and ownership of each individual. However, the value of each blind bag or a themed collection of big brands is quite high, making many people hesitant. Therefore, recently, small and lower-value blind bags are favored by many young people.

When buying a blind bag, consumers can only know the theme of the bag, not the specific items in the bag with what details. Popular bags today are often plastic toy animals, very interesting shapes, can glow or not.

Having a young daughter who is passionate about blind bags, Mr. Nguyen Van Son in Phu Thai town (Kim Thanh) expressed his opinion: "This trend is not only wasteful but also affects the psychology of young people, especially young children." He said that when he opened the blind bag and found items that were not to his liking, his daughter often felt disappointed and frustrated. This can make players bored, causing negative emotions and asking their parents to buy more blind bags to increase their chances of winning their favorite items.

"From the moment this trend appeared, I immediately thought it would affect the environment. In addition to plastic bags, the plastic animals in the bags cannot be used for decoration forever. When the trend ends, tons of plastic waste will be released into the environment and it will take hundreds of years to decompose," said Ms. Mac Thi Mai in Cam Che commune (Thanh Ha).

In fact, playing blind bags also creates impulsive consumption habits among young people. Although the value of each blind bag is not high, only a few thousand dong, when buying, players often buy dozens, even hundreds of blind bags at the same time. Players often have difficulty controlling themselves when faced with new, attractive products, leading to wasteful spending, especially when the toys in the blind bags are only for display. After their "hot" period ends, these blind bags quickly become plastic waste and put pressure on the environment.

Another concern is the quality of blind bags on the market. With cheap prices, most blind bags are made in China, with raw materials of unknown origin. To meet the increasing demand of consumers, many manufacturers have taken advantage of this opportunity to make fake, counterfeit goods with poor quality, causing harm to consumers.

To avoid negative effects, consumers need to be alert and consider carefully before deciding to follow the blind bag tearing trend.