actually my idea was to simply remove the heating element and motor, and scrap the rest, and go on from there.
i didnt intend to keep the hairdryer in tact.
Also if this motor is ac, it should work off the unrectified 12v from a wallwart directly onto the 12v coil, if not, ill try it on 240vac.
heres a basic sketch of what i had in mind, its a very crude sketch in paint, excuse the bad details, i dont have a mouse.
https://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/846/popcorncrudeidea.png/
The fan would not be blowing very hard, just enough to lift and spiral out any pocorn that pops.
aside from small signle vent (i might put another on the other side if it doesnt work), the main coil is completely insulated by metal, but before that, mica sheet. the popcorn holder though would be made out of aluminium to ensure it absorbas and transfered the most amount of heat, as well as not rusting like steel would.
The fan would have the very thin mini coil, so that the air being blown doesnt cool down the coil too much.
Overal this should work. from what ive seen its pretty much the same as how it works in a proper popper, but the wire in there is straight, and the fan is mounted on the bottom, with no circular air movement from the fan, but rather the shape of the vents in the popper container.