To see the problem's actual error, try this:

$obj = eval( $blob ) or die $@;
[download]

And here's a workaround that worked in my test:

$blob =~ s/^\$VAR\d+\s*=//;
$obj = eval( $blob ) or die $@;
[download]

Updated.

The problem is that evaling $blob tries to create a global variable named $VAR1, which violates strictures, causing the eval to fail. Without the "or die..." part, it fails silently.