From vinyl records to Y2K fashion, old-school favourites keep making their way back into today’s culture.
While we obsess with the latest smartphone launches, sometimes it’s the smallest, quirkiest gadgets that steal the show.
Kodak’s Charmera, a pocket-sized digital camera disguised as a keychain, has done just that - selling out within days and proving that nostalgia still has powerful pulling power in 2025.
Inspired by Kodak’s own 1980s disposable camera, the Kodak Fling, it reimagines retro fun for today’s social media generation.
Don’t let its toy-like size fool you: the Charmera shoots both photos and videos, wrapping them in Kodak-style frames and retro filters that instantly turn everyday snaps into vintage collectibles.
Whether it’s a coffee flatlay or blurry concert shot, the results look less “phone-perfect” and more like something lifted from an old family photo album.
The blind box buzz
Kodak also leaned into the collectible craze by releasing the Charmera in blind boxes. Buyers don’t know which edition they’ll get until the moment of unboxing, a marketing move that transformed the camera into part gadget, part collectible.
The surprise factor has since sparked countless unboxing reels and TikToks, fueling the sense of FOMO around each drop.
But the buzz quickly snowballed. Within days of its release, Kodak had to announce that the Charmera was out of stock.
“Thank you for the love and support. Kodak Charmera is currently out of stock on our website, and we are trying our best to restock as soon as possible! We will announce via IG story once it’s available! Stay tuned!”, wrote Kodak on its Instagram.
But rather than cooling down interest, the scarcity only made the Charmera hotter.
Social media has since been flooded with sample shots, side-by-side comparisons of filters, and fans flexing their blind box pulls, all while those who missed out wait anxiously for restocks.