Nostalgia - 10-Cup Retro Kettle Popcorn Maker - Red

The idea behind this little machine is great, and I was super excited when I initially pulled it out of the box and set it up. I turned on the light, which lit up the "Popcorn" marquee and the inside of the unit, and thought "this is awesome!!1". The thing looked very authentic. There were several downsides during actual use, however. The kettle size is 2oz - compare this to a bag of microwave popcorn being 3.3oz. To achieve a similar yield, you have to pop two cycles in this machine. The metal lid over the kettle doesn't stay up on it's own when filling with oil and popcorn, which is more annoying the second run after the thing is super hot. When the kernels start popping, several unpopped ones are propelled out of the kettle in the process (because the kettle is so small), dropping the actual popped amount to about 1.5oz. Somehow, a few of them also flew out the vents in the back. The light is listed as a "warming" light, but is about 25 watts and way at the top of the machine, and is ineffective for warming any popcorn not immediately taken out. All the walls are plexiglass, which is more difficult to clean than regular glass and will haze up over time. There's no good way to get the extra popcorn and kernels out of the bottom, short of shaking the entire machine over the garbage can. To remove the kettle for cleaning, you have to unscrew the side lever that tips the kettle entirely each time you want to take the kettle out. Combined with the small size of the metal lid on the kettle which is not easily removed, cleaning is kind of a pain. This machine is an awesome idea, but after using it a few times, I ended up returning it to purchase a higher end machine with a larger kettle, heating element under the bottom deck to adequately keep the popcorn warm, and a removable bottom tray and glass walls to be more easily cleaned. This machine is a cool novelty item, but to get one where everything works without hassle, you'll have to drop a little more money.

I love my nostalgia pop corn poper .my pop corn was theater good.

This is a "starter" machine, and beneficial if you're only looking to pop one SMALL batch at a time and don't mind waiting. Takes 3-5 minutes to heat up and then another 3 minutes or so to pop a single serving size. When you try to scoop out the popped corn to enjoy, expect some to end up on the floor because the hinged front on bottom has nothing to prevent popped corn from falling out. Cleaning is somewhat cumbersome because you literally have to disassemble it to get it cleaned properly. Most nights, I ended up just making several bags of microwave popcorn because I wanted more than a single serving and didn't want to clean up or wait a while just to have fresh popcorn. It was a good buy at half-off, but I'd rather have spent the money on a bigger version because I truly do like popcorn!

I bought this popper for a movie night at a whim. Is a traditional kettle popper but is half the size of a standard popper, but at this price you can't complain. Works great and is more of a novelty then a commercial popper. Pops 2 oz of kernels and that yields about a half gallon container of popped corn. Popcorn, oil, salt and butter not included.

totally got caught up with the look and got it on sale so decent price, it makes good popcorn and pretty quick but lots of kernals "pop" out of the kettle during initial popping... makes several batches back to back with ease (which is good because a batch is only about a microwave popping bag in volume. no easy way to clean

From a nostalgic perspective... very nice. From a performance perspective it's okay... I would have liked to see more kernels pop than they do but it's quite reasonable. From a cleaning perspective... we'll, this is, in my opinion, the weakest part as you have to disassemble it almost entirely to clean it. When getting your popcorn after it's popped, there are several areasof the popcorn can escape other than where you're trying to claim it. I still like it despite the named issues.

It's ok. Handle on doors useless. don't need anyways, Hard to clean, some areas almost impossible. Popping kettle way to small, have to make 3-4 batches for family of 3. BUT the popcorn does pop in about 1 minute once kettle gets hot so to do a family batch you're looking at 5min. Very cool looking especially with light on. Burned the 1st batch. I mean popcorn smoking! My fault, after clean up tried again- perfect! Popcorn directions were diff then instructions, use instructions! Be forewarned- I bought oil/popcorn/seasoning packs. Kettle so small I have to cut them into 4th's. Used to it now-no big deal. Once packs are gone I will go with sep flavored oil and bulk corn. For cost, it's ok, they had it in stock at the store. Had to do over again would wait and order bigger unit/kettle with glass doors and stand. But corn does taste great!

I hate microwave bagged popcorn and was spending too much going to Target twice a week to buy fresh popcorn from the deli. I've been dying to get a popcorn machine of my own and decided to get this one after reading a few reviews. The look was really what caught my attention. I'm very impressed so far. It was easy to assemble and very easy to use. I use it twice a week. So far, so good. The only downside is cleanup, but I don't think it is too much work to clean.