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Mold-a-Rama Machines Still Alive and Kicking
theodp writes "The Chicago Tribune reports that bubble-topped Mold-a-Rama machines are still delighting folks, cranking out kitschy get-em-while-they're-hot plastic Abe Lincoln busts, triceratops, and charging rhinos. Some vintage figures are commanding over $150 on eBay — a Paul Bunyan figure from a Minnesota machine no longer in operation recently fetched $210."
Buwahahahahah!
The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination
- Douglas Adams
Old technology proves a modern-day classic
By Eric Benderoff
Published September 4, 2006
One of my favorite things in the technology universe doesn't surf the Web or plug into your ears. The end result doesn't do anything actually, yet the process has thrilled millions of people for four decades.
Odds are strong that if you've visited a zoo or museum since the Johnson administration, you've bought at least one of the delightfully kitschy and colorful products these bubble-topped time machines create: an Abe Lincoln bust, a triceratops or a charging rhino.
The best part is they look the same today as they did back when Elvis ruled Las Vegas. Perhaps better, at $1.50 a pop they remain the most affordable souvenirs one can buy during an afternoon marveling at elephants or a World War II-era submarine at the Field Museum.
The Mold-a-Rama machine still delights because you watch the made-on-the-spot process before gingerly picking up your still-warm memento.
I bought five Mold-a-Rama creations this summer, an elephant and rhino from a recent trip to Brookfield Zoo and three dinosaurs from a visit to the Field Museum.
"The Field Museum is all dinosaurs. We used to have a gorilla mold there, but it wasn't selling very well, so we turned it into a T-Rex mold," said Bill Jones, who, with his two sons, keeps the 21 Mold-a-Ramas in the Chicago area humming. (A gorilla from the Field Museum recently sold for $85 on eBay, by the way.)
Keeping the machines working is no small feat, considering a Mold-a-Rama machine hasn't been built in 40 years.
There are 11 Mold-a-Ramas at Brookfield Zoo, two at the Lincoln Park Zoo, four at the Field Museum and four at the Museum of Science Industry, where you can buy Bill's favorite, a replica of the U-505 submarine.
The William A. Jones Co., based out of Bill's home in Brookfield, operates 68 Mold-a-Rama machines across the Midwest and in Texas. You can buy a bat mold at the Milwaukee County Zoo, a Komodo dragon in San Antonio or an "antique car" at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich.
"We couldn't do a Model A or a Model T, so it's a combination," said Bill, who got into the business in 1969. "I thought the machines were 40 years old then."
As the end of summer looms this Labor Day, the efforts of a 70-year-old man who gets to the Field Museum before 6:30 a.m. once a week to make sure a toddler and his dad still can enjoy the spectacle of making a plastic T-Rex should be applauded.
"We'll all be working Monday," said Paul Jones, Bill's 40-year-old son. "We just don't know where yet."
The charm of the Mold-a-Rama is its mesmerizing and simple technology. In the left-hand corner of each machine, you see the mold each makes. If you want one, and Bill figures roughly one of every 10 people who pass a Mold-a-Rama do, you pop your money in to activate the machine.
Four hydraulic cams start to move. The first and last closes the two sides of the mold together. Then another cam pushes plastic between the molds, followed by one that blows hot air in to make the figure hollow. Coolant then chills the mold because the figure was cooked between 225 and 250 degrees.
After roughly a minute, the two sides of the mold open, revealing your dinosaur or dolphin, before the final cam, that operates the scrapper, pushes your mold forward and drops it into the holding bin. But you need to wait a moment: It is still too hot to pick up right away, as my son always warns.
The dolphin at Brookfield Zoo is Jones' top producer.
"It outsells everything," he said, noting that machine produced 350 molds in one day during the height of summer.
Across the country, there are 130 machines working at 28 locations, said avid Mold-a-Rama collector Brennan Murphy, who owns 600 to 700 of the figures.
Murphy, 45, who grew up in Riverside but now lives in Florida, has 30 different colored T-Rex molds.
"The colors are different than the ones today," he said.
A Paul Bunyan figure f
Found an image on Flikr there are some closeup shots of the insides as well. I'd never heard about these things before (coming from the UK) and this article piqued my interest.
I am NaN
Heck, make your own! So what would a CmdrTaco go for in a few years?
Here's a good link http://www.replicationdevices.com/about_us.html