Adults Are Way Too Excited About This Kid's Video Walkie-Talkie

What's going on

3COINS is a popular Japanese variety store chain whose name comes from its original ¥300 (three coins) price point — though many items now go for more. Their latest viral item is a video walkie-talkie set priced at ¥3,850: two handheld units that stream live video and audio between each other via a push-to-talk button, running on the 2.4GHz band. It's packaged and marketed as a children's toy for outdoor adventures.

The catch is that adults are the ones losing their minds over it. Everyone has a smartphone. LINE video calls are free. The effective range tops out somewhere around 50 meters. None of this matters. When one early adopter went to the store to check it out and shared the find online, the replies quickly filled with people saying "I have absolutely no practical use for this and I need one." And then someone noticed the startup sound was the same as the PSP (Sony's PlayStation Portable, the beloved handheld console from the mid-2000s) — whether intentional or not — and that was basically it for everyone's self-control.

The thread turned into a mix of technical questions, use-case brainstorming, and gentle grieving over childhood walkie-talkie dreams that never quite came true.

Comments

Came to check out 3COINS’ video walkie-talkie right away. (3COINS is a Japanese variety store chain; the name comes from the original ¥300 price point — this item is ¥3,850.) In talk mode (standby), press PTT and it connects to the other unit. Built-in camera streams live video both ways. Press PTT and your voice goes through too. This looks fun. ¥3,850. Hmm, do I get it…

3COINSのビデオトランシーバーを早速見に来ました。トークモード（待機状態）でPTT押すと繋がる。内蔵カメラでリアルタイム映像が送受信できる。PTTボタンを押すと音声が相手に届きます。これはおもしろそう。3850円。どうしようかな。

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Of course you’re already checking it out! Mine arrives in a few days 😅

流石アタックさんもう使ってるんですね！私はあと数日で届きます😅

Just bought one. Nobody to play with 😭

いま買いました。遊ぶ相手が居ません😭

Found it in the jungle too. (「密林」— “dense jungle” — is a nickname for Amazon Japan, playing on the Amazon rainforest.) Auto-pairing apparently. Feels like something’s getting siphoned from wherever it was made 📶

密林にもありました。自動ペアリングとのこと。原産国になんか吸取られそう📶

Yeah there seem to be similar-looking products out there. Not sure about giteki certification though. (技適/giteki is Japan’s technical conformance certification required for wireless devices; uncertified ones can’t be legally operated here.)

同じと思われる似たような物ありますねー。技適がよくわからないですが。

About how far does the range actually go?

どのくらいの距離まで更新できるんでしょうか？

According to the giteki listing it’s “G1D.D1D 2412–2472MHz 1–10mW”. How far it actually reaches — gotta play with it and find out.

技適情報によると「G1D.D1D 2412～2472MHz 1～10mW」となってます。どれくらい飛ぶか、それは実際に遊んで試したいですね。

Oh, it’s 2.4GHz band ♪ Maybe I’ll grab a set… 😅

2.4GHz帯なんですね♪1セット買ってみようかな...😅

Well, adults have to show the kids how it’s done first!

まずはトランシーバー遊びをオトナが見本を見せないといけませんからね！

Caved to the temptation of a new toy and headed to 3COINS 💸 The startup sound felt familiar — turns out it’s the PSP boot sound 🤣 (PSP: PlayStation Portable, Sony’s iconic handheld gaming console, released in 2004.)

新しいおもちゃの誘惑に負けて3COINSへ💸聞き覚えのある起動音と思ったらPSPの起動音🤣

It’s the PSP!! lol

PSPだ！ww

This is exactly the thing I want 💦 Praying it’s still in stock by the weekend 🙏

これ欲しいやつです💦週末にも売ってることを祈ります🙏

It’s a kid’s toy but it’s the adults who are getting all worked up lol

子供のおもちゃなのに、大人がテンション上がっちゃうやつですね。

Also available on Amazon. The listing title: “Rechargeable kids video call camera set ×2 | rechargeable | with screen | outdoor adventure camping hiking travel family game outdoor activities”

amazonでも買えますね。充電式子供用ビデオ通話カメラ 2台玩具 | 充電式画面付きトイアウトドア冒険キャンプハイキング旅行家族ゲーム屋外活動用

Is this thing actually okay to use…?

これ大丈夫なんか…？

Looks good. My daughter’s been into walkie-talkies lately, so the live video is a fun upgrade. That said, usable range is apparently only 50m — whether it’s actually practical… kinda iffy.

これいいな。最近娘がトランシーバー好きで遊んでるけど映像見れるのは面白い。ただ、実際に使える距離は50mとの事なので実用的かと言われれば微妙かもしれない。

For what it’s worth — I tried giving my kid a walkie-talkie to track their location, but inside a shopping mall it bleeds into the staff earpieces at every store. (「インカム」/incam: short for intercom; the small walkie-talkie earpieces widely worn by staff in Japanese retail and restaurants.) You end up hearing things like “Hey [name], take your break when you’re done.” Change the frequency and you just get a different store’s chatter. Outdoor use only.

ちなみ以前子供の居場所把握の為に他トランシーバーを持たせてみましたが、商業施設でトランシーバー使うと、各店舗のインカムも混線するので◯◯さんそれ終わったら休憩でとか結構入ってきて使い物にならなかったです。周波数変えてもまた違う店舗のが入ってきたりと。屋外利用ですね

This is nice actually. I call my parents by phone when I need something but they live close by — a walkie-talkie might genuinely work better.

これいいね。親の住んでるところへ用がある時、スマホで電話してるけど近いしこのトランシーバー良いかも

I loved stuff like this as a kid. Had a watch that could send and receive messages via infrared.

子供の頃こういうの大好きだったな。赤外線でメッセージ送受信できる腕時計とか持ってた

I desperately wanted a walkie-talkie as a kid — eventually got one from Gakken (Gakken: Japanese educational publisher known for science toys and hobby kits), but the range was so short it couldn’t even reach my friend’s house down the street. My dream of secret midnight conversations was crushed. Smartphones let you call anyone for free now, obviously, but somehow the old fantasy just doesn’t come back without an actual walkie-talkie. Why is that.

子どもの頃にトランシーバーが欲しくて欲しくて、確か学研のものを買ってもらったら有効距離が短くて近所の友達の家にすら電波が届かず、夜中にこっそり話す夢は崩れました。今は当然携帯でいくらでも話せるわけですが、どうも昔のファンタジーはトランシーバーじゃないと蘇らない気がする。なんでだろ

I’ve been curious about this one ❗️ A bit pricey at ¥3,850, but it might be fun to play with my daughter… 😅

このトランシーバー気になってました❗️3850円で少しお高めだけど、娘と一緒に遊べそうだなぁ…と😅

If you set it up right, this could basically work as an indoor intercom.

これ上手く使うと室内インターホンみたいな使い方出来そうではあるな

Oh yeah, perfect for a mom calling the kids down from their rooms.

へえ、お母さんが部屋にいる子供を呼ぶのによさそう

You could just use a LINE video call for free, and yet here we are watching it go viral with people buying it — kind of fascinating. (LINE: Japan’s dominant messaging and video call app, used by virtually everyone in the country.)

無料のLINEビデオ通話で良いはずなのに、面白そうとバズって買う人が多いっていう状況が興味深い。

Found another fun-looking thing 😳 Being 2.4GHz, even line-of-sight across a wide river would probably be rough, right? 🤔 I wanna run all kinds of experiments but ¥3,850 at 3COINS is steep 😭

またおもしろそうなの見つけてきてる😳️2.4GHz帯ってことは見通しでも大きな川向こうとの交信は厳しいかも？🤔️いろいろ実験したくはなるけど3COINSで3500円はなかなか😭️

The fact that it’s not actually “3 coins” price though…

3コインじゃないのがなぁ・・・

Way too many things at 3COINS aren’t “3-coin” priced 😅

3coinじゃないもの多すぎ😅

My take

Smartphones can do all of this for free, there's no practical use for it, and yet I inexplicably want one. Why is that.

#Funny #Tech #Culture

Source & translation note

Comments loosely translated for tone. Reactions collected from Togetter and X threads.

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