Why is the blind bag opening trend so popular?

At 11:50 p.m., despite having to go to work early the next morning, Ha Thuy (25 years old, Hanoi) still lay down watching livestreams on the TikTok platform. She was engrossed in watching the seller tear open the blind bags containing very cute and adorable miniature toys.

"Since the beginning of October, I have been addicted to watching livestreams of toy unboxing sessions like this. The feeling of curiosity about what's inside makes me keep watching and not be able to stop and go to sleep," Ha Thuy shared.

“Blind bags” are toy bags that are randomly placed inside. The buyer doesn’t know what they’re getting until they open the bag.

Blind bags are usually 1cm to 3.5cm in size, with many themes such as animals, objects, fruits or cartoon characters. These models are all eye-catching designs, made from fluorescent plastic material.

This blind bag format is inspired by the Gacha or Gashapon lottery machines in Japan. Players put coins into the machine, then receive an egg or gift box, inside is a model of any comic or movie character. Users can resell it to each other, the price depends on the rarity or level of popularity.

Blind bag openings by sellers during livestreams have made these toy bags a hit. Customers can order them to be delivered home and tear them open themselves or ask the seller to do it for them, taking home only the toys inside.

Many clever sellers turn simple buying and selling into a dramatic performance that makes buyers feel like they are participating in a lucky draw, very exciting.

Players spend 50,000 - 250,000 VND to buy 10 bags and predict the toy inside; then the seller will gradually open these 10 bags. Players who predict correctly will receive additional promotions, sometimes gifts of higher value.

Many users commented with excitement: "Watching the bag opening last night was as thrilling as an action movie", "Watching the blind bag opening made me laugh so hard my jaw hurt, the seller was so funny", "Watching it made me nervous for the buyer, I wonder if I'll win?", "Watching for free too many times, now I have to pay to open the blind bag for everyone to see"....

Crowd psychology makes blind bag-unboxing livestreams attract thousands of viewers and sometimes last until early the next morning.

Although blind bag opening is a hot trend, many users think about its practical aspects, even worrying about the risk of it turning into a disguised betting or gambling game:"These models can be printed in small quantities for decoration, but if you buy a lot, it's useless", "The promotional value is bigger than the purchase value, so who wouldn't want to buy a lot", "Why do people buy thousands of blind bags? It seems like they're just gambling", "I'm worried that there are people who bet with each other to make a profit through this activity"...