Gakken Gakkenflex 35mm twin lens reflex TLR film camera

This is a collectible Gakkenflex 35mm twin lens reflex (TLR) film camera. It is a plastic kit camera that had to be assembled, and was attached to issue #25 (October 30, 2009) of Otona no kagaku (Science for adults) magazine, published by the Japanese firm Gakken. It can be recognized as one of the originals because Gakkenflex is molded into the front of the camera, the top has a symbol that looks like the number six, and there is microprint around the top lens that reads -Gakken Twin Lens Reflex Camera.- It is reported to have a shutter speed is 1/125 s, and the lens is f11. The viewfinder lid which you pry up from the edge, reveals a screen that is a piece of frosted plastic. The kit was issued during a retro film craze in Japan. There is even a YouTube video showing how to build the camera, and Japanese websites showcasing pictures taken with the camera. The design proved so popular as a "toy" camera, it was subsequently copied by a Chinese firm, with the knock-off sold under the name "Lomo Recesky." However, the original Gakkenflex cameras are very hard to find, and as of this posting, there are no listings or recent past listings for a genuine Gakkenflex. This camera made it to a US collector. This example appears to be in excellent shape, except looking in the viewfinder, the diagonal mirror is loose, but it is not broken. There are two screws at the top of the viewfinder, but we will leave it to the buyer to open it up and repair. In describing the camera, Camera-wiki.org states, The simple meniscus lens creates images with a dramatic focus drop-off, with some shots resembling tilt–shift images.