This is a collection of answers given by various religious authorities on a question asked by someone. I don’t know if it is real, and I’m not sure how to verify it. But occurrence of such things in Iran is not uncommon. Modern life creates new questions and conflicts for people, and so religion needs to be adapted through time. Religious authorities have always held hearing sessions or set up offices for answering such questions in forms of Fatwas, edicts, and declarations. We literally call them, “Imitation authorities”. The idea is that a Muslim selects an authority, based on reputation, sermons, or publications, and then imitates him by learning about his decrees. Authorities have collections of these directives gathered and published over time, which are used as reference by their followers.
The question here is about all forms of “surprise egg toys” in general. See below for a rough translation.
“In the Name of the Almighty,
To the blessed presence of the esteemed imitation authorities. May God watch over them.
For sometime now, certain objects have been offered to people in Shi’ite markets, under brand names such as “Lop Lop”, “Surprise Egg” and “Toy Box”. Since one of the requirements of proper trade is that sellers know what they are selling, and buyers know what they are buying, and since the said products do not comply with this definition, as they are sold in closed containers and are imperceptible, and the buyer finds out what he has bought only after the purchase, what is the decree on the trade of such objects?”
And the answers are, from top left to bottom right:
“In the Name of the Almighty,
Such trades, if occur over the egg itself, are proper and if over the contents of the egg, are inappropriate. But if consent of the parties…(hard to read)…has no problem.”
From: (hard to read the stamp, but I think it says “Doroodiyani”.)
“In the Name of the Almighty,
If the trade is over the unaccountable and immeasurable object, the sale is invalid.”
From: Office of Ayatollah Khamenei
“In the Name of the Almighty,
It is not proper.”
From: Office of Ayatollah Sistani in Ghom”
“Answer:
Such a trade and sale is inappropriate.”
From: Hossein Nouri Hamedani, 1386/03/24
“In the name of God the Merciful the Compassionate,
About the question, if the said objects contain something definite that has monetary value and the buyer’s intent in the purchase is for this object, it is not inappropriate. Meaning if it is not explicit and definite, the trade is not valid.”
From: (Hard to read the stamp), 1428/jamadi-ol-avval/20 (Arabic Lunar calendar)
“If the trade is over the plastic egg, then it is proper. But if over unknown content, then it is invalid.”
From: Alavi Gorgani
“In the Name of the Almighty,
Its trade is not proper, but if there is consent, then there is no problem.”
From: (hard to read the stamp, but I think it says “Behjat”.)
“In the Name of the Almighty,
A: Such trades are invalid – may you always be successful. 1386/03/08″
From: (Hard to read the stamp, I can only make out “Nasser”)
Note (2/1/2009): So I managed to find this fatwa on Khamenei’s website, but in the Farsi pages only. In case you’re interested here’s the address “http://www.leader.ir/tree/index.php?catid=49″. You’ll need to navigate to the section on trade|buying and selling|propriety of trade.