Awaken Realms crowdfunded Puerto Rico Special Edition in Sep 2024. The campaign was open for 21 days only. It raised $5.710 mil from 23,356 backers. It was finally shipped out starting from last month.
Good thing I didn't know about it then, or I would have been seriously tempted. The game is fully pimp'ed out. The Grande version, which has everything, costs US$279 before shipping. If you just want the game of PR, it is slightly cheaper to get the Landscape version (US$195) + US$43 for Acrylic tiles.
I'm not sure I want to spend so much on PR, though.
Cost breakdown:
The most bang-for-buck is Special + playmat for US$110. This is sufficient for playing. The rest is bling.
I searched how normal edition looks like now, and found there has been some changes since 2018 when I last looked. Sidenote: it is now ranked #54 on BGG.
Rio Grande Games (RGG) finally released a new edition with updated art in 2019 — 8 years overdue. This is so ironic, since I went to "some lengths" to get the HK bilingual Chinese/English Classic edition just one year before.
RGG must have lost its license (almost 20 years, a good run), because Alea/Ravensburger released a new version with new art in 2020. A HK bilingual Chinese/English Deluxe edition was published in 2021.
Should I buy it?
This release was short-lived. Alex released Puerto Rico 1897 in 2022 to appease criticisms of the original theme — it was peak Woke in early 2020s. It has new art.
If you are not offended by certain wordings, just get earlier editions. Puerto Rico is just a backdrop to an economic engine game. Don't think too much.
My notebook's 'T' key is spoilt, so I brought out my old Logitech K270 full-size keyboard to use. It works well, but it does not have backlit keys — which is useful in the dark.
After much procrastination and some searching, I got myself a fancy RGB keyboard. I have three considerations:
Most sellers just show off one dazzling lighting effect — the one they feel is most impressive. They don't bother to go through each and every effect. I had a hard time finding a keyboard that can do this — I feel most keyboards can do it, but I don't want to take the risk.
Frosted looks better than transparent — the whole key lights up uniformly.
This is a 75% Compact model with 82 keys. There is a bigger V99 Pro (96% Compact) model with numpad (98 keys) which makes it more versatile, but I decided to go with the smaller size.
Bluetooth (3 modes, actually), mechanical, swappable key switches and key caps, 3000 mAh battery.
Battery lasts around a week on full charge. Coming from K270 where a pair of AA batteries last over a year, this is extremely quick. Maybe it'll last longer if I switch it off after use?
It comes with OEM key caps, which are a bit too high for me. I've never made so many typing mistakes in my life! I'm used to low profile keys (either notebook or K270).
I'll give Cherry key caps a try. While not low-profile, they are a good 2 mm shorter (9.4 mm vs 11.9 mm). I need something like DSA (7.6 mm) — I can't seem to find them, though.
The keys make a thock sound... which sounds like you are walking on pebbles? Nice, but it is rather loud.
There are 18 color effects mode, but only 4 react to key presses. The only one I like is where the key lights up when pressed. This color effect is not good for entering password!
There is an opposite effect where every key is lighted and turns off when pressed. However, it turns back on too quickly.
It turns out I still can't see the keys in the dark, because I turn the light off by default. I wish there is a key that when you press it, say Left Shift, will light up every key.
The Backspace (especially) and Enter keys have tendency to get stuck, leading to auto-repeat.
I was somewhat worried if the shortened Right Shift would give me trouble, but it turned out I tend to press on the left side of it, so it was fine.
The rightmost column of keys are: Del, Home, PgUp, PgDn. I wish it is the more useful Home, PgUp, PgDn, End like my notebook. I keep pressing PgUp when I want to PgDn. If I map the keys to be like my notebook, it will be missing Del.
There is no dedicated keys for Insert and End. You need to press Fn+J and Fn+L. I prefer End to be Fn+Home.
A RGB keyboard needs a RGB mouse, so I got the Q8 mouse. It is Bluetooth and has 8 lighting effects.
I immediately found that I could not use it — it was too big for me. I have always used small mice. I had not realize I only use my fingers to move the mouse, my hand never moves. The Q8 mouse is too long and touches my palm, so I have to move my whole arm. I could not use it.
My current mouse is the Logitech M325S. I have been considering using Bluetooth to eliminate the 2.4 GHz USB receiver. Am planning to switch over to the Logitech M240 mouse. It does not feel as nice as M325S, though.
I saw this in TRU. S$62.99, full price. I decided to buy it. Don't want to wait and worry about it being sold out.
It looks so clean!
It is not without flaws, though, being a mainline figure. He needs gap fillers (89 yuan; S$16.30). Posed hands (75 yuan; S$13.70) and facial expressions (49 yuan; S$9) are also available.
Skywrap is coming out in wave 2. I most likely won't be getting it. I'm not a seeker completionist.
Starscream is a Target exclusive. Don't know if it will be available for rest of the world. I usually get SS for seeker mold, because it is out first and is the most recognizable. It is a nice change to get someone else.
It helps that this TC has the lighter blue that I like. Different iterations are sometimes in darker blue (like his original G1 toy) or lighter blue (like in the original '84 cartoon).
I may get one Conehead if they are done well — again, only one out of three, even though they are slightly different and not pure repaints like the original three seekers.
Isn't there supposed to be at least 8 per case? Mine only has seven — there are six here cos I've eaten one.
Lesson for 2026: always check!
Seedless – yes. Sweet – so-so. Easy to peel – depends where you start, but mandarin oranges are supposed to be easy to peel.
||AC2936|AC3033|AC4231| |---|---|---|---| |CADR (m^3/h)|380|520|610| |Room sz (m^2)|98|135|158| |Speeds|3 (S, 1, T)|4 (S, 1, 2, T)|4 (S, 1, 2, T)| |Max power (W)|46|55|60| |Sound (dB)|15 - 54|15 - 56|30 - 70| |Height|58.5 cm|64.5 cm|70.5 cm| |Width|27.4 cm|29 cm|30.6 cm| |Weight|5.8 kg|6.8 kg|8.9 kg| |Filter|FY2180/30|FY3430/30|FY4440/30|
AC4231 lists CADR by fan speed:
This illustrates nicely that (i) the real CADR is really half, unless you can bear the super-noisy Turbo mode, (ii) you need a big unit for a small room if you want it to be silent.
Rule of thumb: max 50 dB in living room and 30 dB in bedroom.
Is the AC3033 really 56 dB (@ 1.5 m) in Turbo mode? It sounds awfully loud. I used an app to measure. It is 60 dB at 3 m away! It is 70 dB beside the unit — it is very loud. The good news is Speed 2 is <50 dB at 2 m, the noise is acceptable.
