My Kid's Unlikely Favorite: Koshka-Sobaka's Photo Projector Review
I'm blown away by how much my daughter loves this little toy for just 189 rubles. She's been obsessed with it for a month, and I had to write a review because I wasn't even planning on it.
I ordered it from the Lenta store, where I usually buy groceries, because my daughter was feeling under the weather, and I wanted to cheer her up. I stumbled upon this weird but budget-friendly toy in their toy section, and I threw it in the cart. Compared to the prices at the hospital, it's a steal. On Saima-land, it's 200 rubles, but I wouldn't order from there even if it was free. On Ozon, it's a whopping 500 rubles, and on Korabi, it's 300 rubles. Trust me, it's not worth more than 200 rubles.
On the back, there's a ton of information, which you can read if you're interested. One useful thing is the instructions for replacing the batteries, because let's be real, some women have no idea how to hold a screwdriver.
The packaging is cute but simple, and it's more than enough for shipping. The cardboard insert has a cartoon cat silhouette on one side and some holes on the other so you can check the toy's functionality before buying – it's super convenient.
My first impression was a slight letdown. This thing is super basic – a green plastic box with a scratched lens. The weird thing is, the scratch was there when I opened it, but the packaging looked untouched. The plastic backing is glued to the camera's body, so it's not like you could open it without noticing. I'm guessing the manufacturer just didn't care. Maybe the scratch was the reason for the lower price, but it wasn't mentioned. Either way, it's not a big deal, considering I paid only 190 rubles for it.
On the front of the box, there's a sticker with Buses, Mily, and Alice's names. It's a bit scratched now, but it's not a big deal. Considering we've taken it outside in the cold and to grandma's house in the next town, it's done pretty well. And the best part is, it's been with us for over 500 uses – and it still looks okay!
The camera has 8 slides, and I'm impressed by the fake wear and tear on each one. The bright, single-color background is a nice touch, and the big cartoon character looks great. You can even see the tiny '2020' scribbled in the corner - I guess that's the year they released this toy. The whole thing feels pretty durable, and I'm curious to see how it holds up.
I was pleasantly surprised by how lightweight and sturdy this camera is. My kid even used it as a prop while standing up, and it withstood the impact. After a month and a half of regular use, it's developed some minor scratches, but that's about it. So, I'm not questioning the build quality here.
It runs on three tiny AG3 or LR44 batteries, which come included. We've been using them for our projector for months now, and they're still going strong. Okay, so maybe they're not the most powerful batteries, but they get the job done. And the best part? They're tiny enough to fit in this camera, so you can start taking pictures right away.
The battery compartment is held in place by a single screw, and it's solid. But when you take a closer look at the internal mechanism, it's a bit of a mess - a little light with two electrodes and a plastic slider that completes the circuit as it moves back and forth. The light itself is just hanging there, and it fell out of the device when I picked it up. Luckily, it was easy to pop back in. The slider at the top is completely inaccessible, and that's probably for the best.
As you can see from the photo, the image is a bit of a blur, but if you take a closer look through the viewfinder, it's actually pretty clear. At least, it is once you get your eye up close to the lens.
How it Works
There are two game modes, and they're mutually exclusive:
You can view slides by looking through the viewfinder, and the images will change when you click the button.You can use the camera as a projector by simply turning on the light, and the lens will become a makeshift projector.My daughter loves the projector feature, and I think it's because we don't have anything like it at home. When the light is on, it's not necessary to look through the viewfinder because the casing is hollow and it just gets lit up. Here it is on my belly - the photo isn't flipped! That's exactly how it will display a non-flipped image on the ceiling.
I've even used the projector at night to create a makeshift nightlight when my daughter needs to go to the bathroom and it's too dark to get out of bed. We just turn on the projector, point it at the ceiling, and voilà! The light is dim, but it's enough to see the bathroom. It makes sense that the image is clearer the darker the room is. Here's my daughter having fun in the twilight hours - my phone is loving the low-light shot because of the moving subject, but you can tell she's having a blast.
The Good Stuff
This is such a cool idea - I've never seen anything like it. Sure, there are projectors out there, but they're way more fragile, and this thing is basically indestructible.It's hard to break, mainly because it's so simple.The design makes it easy to hold onto, and the shutter button is within my kid's grasp.The best part is that my kid loves it, and that's all that matters. She's always carrying it around, and at night, we'll just lie in bed and gaze at the 'photos' of her favorite cartoon characters on the ceiling.So what's the verdict?
I'm genuinely surprised at how much my two-year-old is into it. It's a great toy that can even double as a nightlight if you need to get up in the dark. It's basically unbreakable, unless you try really hard. The batteries that come with it last forever, and we've been using it for hours a day without any issues.
All in all, I'd definitely recommend it for kids aged two to four, but only if you can get it for under 200 rubles - that's its magic price point. I'm giving it a genuine five-star rating.