Because buying just one of anything isn’t an option at SoraNews24.

Unless you’re a brand-new SoraNews24 reader (in which case, welcome!), you should know how much we love fukubukuro lucky bags. There’s just something about the thrill of getting a ton of stuff for a low price, especially when it’s useful, like a Starbucks bag full of tumblers and drink tickets.

One of our lucky bag traditions is also to snatch up several of Village Vanguard’s offerings. Village Vanguard offers a bit of everything — especially gag goods — and they’re almost always things you don’t need.

So, this year we bought seven bags to separate the trash from the treasure.

▼ Sounds like a job for our Japanese-language reporters P.K. Sanjun and Ahiruneko.

In total, there were 42 items throughout the seven bags, so each bag had an average of six items each. And since 2022 is the Year of the Tiger, it’s not hard to see what the overarching theme is.

Just like an episode of Marie Kondo’s “Tidying Up”, the first step in sorting the trash from the treasure was to unceremoniously dump out everything onto a table.

▼ You could probably make a dress out of all that tiger-themed stuff.

And here’s the lucky bag haul!

Among the items are a plushie of a log stump, a realistic-looking tiger cushion, a drinking glass, a laundry clip hanger, a cotton candy machine, a hot sandwich maker, and so on.

▼ What would you pick out to keep?

Next, they began the process of sorting trash from treasure with one rule in mind: “Would I want to take this home or not?” Of course, keep in mind that our reporters sorted this according to their own preferences.

P.K. Sanjun: “What about sponges? Sponges are useful. And towels aren’t trash either, right?”

Ahiruneko: “I feel like most of the Keep pile will end up being household goods.”

▼ Well, now P.K. doesn’t have to buy sponges for a while.

P.K. Sanjun: “Look at this, Ahiruneko! It’s a cotton candy maker! You love cotton candy, right? You should take it home.”

Ahiruneko: “No, I wouldn’t be able to stop once I started. That’d be the end for me!”

▼ So even though he does love a good cotton candy, he decided to put it in the Trash pile.

P.K. Sanjun: “This tiny skillet could be useful.”

Ahiruneko: “Yeah, that could just barely make the Keep pile.”

▼ They’re great for frying up just one egg!

Ahiruneko: “Check out this Ogura Toast (toast with red bean paste and butter) cushion! It’s comfortable and it feels nice.”

P.K. Sanjun: “You’re right, that’s a quality cushion.”

▼ It looks great for sitting on.

▼ But…

P.K. Sanjun and Ahiruneko: “…this is Trash, though.”

And so the sorting process continued until all 42 items had a place in the Trash pile or the Treasure pile. The end result was…

▼ Ta da!

12 Treasures and 30 Items of Trash. That’s 70 percent Trash! That’s a huge increase from last year’s 30 percent Trash, and the pair figured the culprit was the tacky-looking tiger theme of many of the items.

▼ Unless you really like tigers, this might make some guests uncomfortable.

Out of the treasures, which items did they find the most useful? For P.K. Sanjun, it was this fire starter kit. It’s something he thinks he could get a lot of use out of.

▼ Stay tuned for P.K.’s Started the Fire?!

Ahiruneko’s winner was a pack of wet wipes. Even though it’s a pretty run-of-the-mill item, it’s definitely useful.

▼ “You can never have too many of these,” he argued.

As for the least useful items? P.K.’s King of Trash had to be this 300-piece tiger puzzle. Not only is it unnecessary, but this particular one also looks impossible to complete.

▼ “I found the tiger’s face! Wait….”

For Ahiruneko, it was definitely the tiger cushion. Why? “It’s very in-your-face.”

▼ I guess he doesn’t need any more statement pieces in his home.

In the end, the Village Vanguard Lucky Bag Roundup was just as we expected it to be. As long as you go into the experience knowing that you’re not going to end up with a lot of useful stuff, you won’t be mad.

And if you want a lucky bag with even higher highs and lower lows, there’s the Village Vanguard Outlet one too!

Photos: ©SoraNews24
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