I have the Nostalgia from Sweet Maria's and it's working excellently for me! Makes just enough to last a few days and I love roasting fresh, green coffee beans with it.

I'd bet that most people here started on a popper. I was fascinated by roasting my own coffee when I started, and with sweet maria's giving 20$ of coffee free with a 20$ roaster, it's a no brainer to try. And then fall down the rabbit hole. I went from popper to Behmor and now use a Quest M3s. Each step hasn't really improved how much I enjoy the results, but the added flexibility, batch size, data tracking, etc. has grown my roasting from a fun side-thing to a staple. Plus, bigger roasters let you share your hard work!