Customer Reviews

Nostalgia Electrics Retro Kettle Popcorn Maker, Model# RKP-630

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

Two stars because it's cute and when it works I love the popcorn. Wouldn't buy it again though (bought as a Christmas gift- THANKFULLY I DIDN'T GIVE IT TO ANYONE!). Poorly made. The bottom half of the door cracked and fell off the 3rd time I used it (seemingly for no reason other than heat???). Is constantly jamming as the first reviewer said. In my case it's because the lids get stuck and the pressure of the popping corn makes it stop (can you imagine popping popcorn inside a sealed tin can- you're getting the picture). Makes very little popcorn at a time but it's SMALL so that was to be expected. There is a similar popper sold here with different styling (red & yellow- more of a "carnival" style??) that I also ordered and ended up giving as the gift. It had gotten good reviews. The popping mechanism was the same but the quality of the case was better. I was suprised that they were made by the same company. I haven't heard yet how it worked out for them. This one won't last long but I've gotten addicted to it. I'll replace it with a comercial quality one (I found them when I ordered this one for it about $100 more if I remember right). Absolutely worth the upgrade if you're planning to use this more than once. By the way, the pre-measured pouches of popcorn from Wabash Farms (yum!!!) were suggested by Amazon to go with this popper- big mistake. This is a 2oz popper and they are for 6oz poppers. I had to pry the wedged popcorn out with a screwdriver!

Ordered this item through Skymall -- great looking product, but falls way short on functionality. Handle took ages to connect, machine jams while popping and several other design flaws. Worse part was dealing with vendor for a replcement product. Not worth it.

Received this from my husband as a gift. It never worked. Well, that's not true, it looks nice and lights up. As for popping popcorn the inside warmer kept stopping and eventually hung from one side because it broke. It was made very poorly with cheap parts.

The popcorn maker looks great - has a good weight to it and appears to be nice quality. However, the door at the bottom front (works like a bin) had a broken pin on one side when we received the machine. Then, we tried to make our first batch of popcorn, and the stirring mechanism inside the kettle kept stopping. Then, when we tried to tip out some of the few kernels that had popped, to see if there was a kernel stuck or something, a bracket fell off one side of the kettle. Could it be just a lemon or is this par for the course? We are ordering a replacement machine, so hopefully we will have better luck next time. I'd be interested in hearing from others who also purchased this machine!
Addendum: The replacement was not in stock at the time I ordered it, so I ended up receiving a refund instead.

I received one of these as a Christmas gift and was very excited, since I could live off of popcorn. I saw a larger version, with wheels and mistakingly said "I'd like one of those" in front of the in-laws. (Which means instant Christmas gift, but it wasn't on purpose). So, I got the smaller table-top version fo Xmas. Still, "Great!", I thought. With the first one, we followed the instructions, started the heating process, added the 2 tsp of oil and the 2 oz of kernels. While popping, I noticed that several kernels were flying out (yes the lid was down). It made almost 2 qts of popcorn, but I measured the unpopped kernels and found that 1 full ounce did not pop. Half! After several trials with the same results, we decided to return it, because I I can get better results from the stove. The company claims to have never heard of this complaint, but sent a return slip anyway.
We found the same item at Target and my wife convinced me to try it again - maybe the first was flawed. This time, the instructions were "fixed" to say "add 1 oz popcorn" (there was a white label covering the old instructions) and the measuring cup was replaced by a cough syrup sized cup for measuring the popcorn. It works, but the company boasts "pop up to 1 quart of popcorn" per batch. That's enough to fill a standard ceral bowl, and only 5 grams of popcorn flew out unpopped. I'm sorry, but 1 hundred bucks to pop 1 small bowl of popcorn equals "worthless product". Oh, and there's no good way to get the popcorn out of this unless you happen to have a popcorn-style scoop . It gets stuck in the little spaces in each corner.
Save a hundred bucks and stick to the stove, microwave, or hot air popper.

Popped corn gets jammed in kettle will not spill out. Have to dig popped corn out of kettle. Also creates too many "old maids". Pop corn also shoots out of holes on side of machine. Not worth the price.

I had purchased this for my husband's birthday and the 1st pop went really well. The 2nd not so good. The door ended up cracking in 2 places, right where the handle and the hinges are. I have attempted to contact the company and have yet to talk to them about the issue. I'm thinking I can't take it back to the store I purchased since I have already used it however, It maybe my only option. I'm really hoping that I can receive a new door because it looks good and does pop pretty well. I to had issues with the motor stopping due to the fact that popcorn was jammed in the kettle but I just shake the handle a bit to keep it from doing that. If given the choice I may have elected a different better quality machine due to the fact that we pop corn at least twice a week.

So the handle is reverse threaded... Just screw it on counter-clockwise. I too received this machine for Christmas. I cooked two batches of popcorn. Both batches filled up the kettle and the popped corn became compacted inside the kettle to the point I had to use a knife to remove the popcorn that ended up burned. The kettle is too small to allow the popped corn to pop out of it.

This is a great concept and everything seems to work, until you actually try to make it work. The kettle is far too small to pop popcorn in it. I even used some smaller popcorn I ordered off the internet, which actually has a smaller kernel, thinking that might remedy the popped corn from getting stuck, it didn't. it also only cooks 1/4 of a cup of corn at a time, which is a very small amount.

I even tried to contact the manufacturer, via email, about my issues of popping corn in their "popcorn popper", hoping I was possibly just doing something wrong. I never received anything back from them.

All in all, this machine is completely useless. Do not waste your money on this stupid thing.

The machine looks good and the popcorn tastes great. I hoped it would fit on the kitchen counter under the cabinets but it doesn't. The right bracket on kettle that holds it up broke off. It's only held by compression (chrome on stainless steel) so when it heats up it comes off. It lasted about 4 or 5 cycles for me before it broke. I had it welded back on and it works fine now, but luckily I knew a welder who did it for free.
The door on the bottom front doesn't work. It usually stays shut, but when falls off when opened. It is more of a pain that a flaw in functionality.
One cycle fills about 2/3rd of a brown lunch sack, so this really isn't good for more than 2-3 people. We usually run a cycle for each person.
There are many unpopped kernels, probably about 1/4th of the kernels are thrown out of the kettle before they get a chance to pop because the kettle is so small. Sometimes it throws kernels (popped or unpopped) all the way out of the holding bin thru the air vents on the side! I've started picking up the unpopped kernels and running them thru a 2nd time.
The kettle is easy to clean because it can be removed, but the inside is a pain to clean. The sides are plexi-glass and never really look clean, and it gets quite greasy all over the inside. Kernels get stuck between the floor and the sides.
Overall, it makes good popcorn but it's a hassle to use. If I had to decide again, I'd spend a few extra bucks and go with a bigger proven model.

This popper looks cool, but can't pop without jamming-up, which stops the motor. If you leave the lids open, it won't jam, but you end up with more than one half un-popped kernels. The door cracked near the hinges after just one use. It's just plain flimsy.