Today in “weird-ass philanthropy” news, we take a look at Destiny 2: The Official Toaster. While that might read like a Spaceballs merch gag, there’s a little story going on here. In June 2020 during a charity livestream to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospitals, Bungie challenged its fans to raise $777,777.77 in exchange for the creation of a toaster. The fans responded by raising over $800,000. And so here we are.
The Toaster of Destiny is currently available for pre-order for $85 and includes with purchase a free sandwich tote as well as a unique “Burnt Edges” toast-themed Emblem that is immediately delivered via email. 10% of the sales of the toaster will also go to St. Jude’s.
Here’s the rub, though: Reportedly, the toaster is not very good at all, particularly for the price that Bungie is asking for. RPS hits many common complaints, saying the item is made of “cheap-looking plastic,” has but two slice slots, and effectively provides only the unique ability of searing the game’s logo onto the sides of the bread.
“I take toast seriously and $85 could get you a really nice toaster (with enough change for a donation to St. Jude’s too), you know? We’re not talking a plastic two-slicer, we’re talking four slices, we’re talking independent heat controls, we’re talking stainless steel with a nice retro finish, we’re talking bagel and defrost settings, we’re talking room enough for even the broadest sourdough, the works. The kind of toaster you’d mark in the Argos catalogue by folding a page corner, waiting for you to flick back and gaze at it whenever you want to dream of treating yourself.”
The toaster has also apparently created some community discord because of course it has. Not only do fans bemoan the cheap craftsmanship of the appliance, but there are also complaints that it doesn’t look enough like the Jotunn weapon it’s styled after and that Bungie was more focused on getting a toaster created than releasing a new PvP map. Which is… come on, we’re pretty sure that the brand deal folks aren’t also game development folks.
But hey, $800K raised for charity. So yay?
