Selects: What Is A Mold-A-Rama?

Summary

Stuff You Should Know – “Selects: What Is A Mold-A-Rama?” (Dec 6, 2025)
Hosts: Josh Clark & Charles W. "Chuck" Bryant
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts

Episode Overview

In this episode, Josh and Chuck take listeners on a nostalgic journey through the fascinating world of Mold-A-Rama machines – quirky, mid-20th-century devices that dispensed freshly molded plastic figurines on demand. Blending personal anecdotes, technical explanations, and historical anecdotes, the hosts explore the cultural impact, mechanical ingenuity, and enduring appeal of these “factory-in-a-case” wonders. Whether you grew up eagerly awaiting the warm, plasticky sculptures or are just now hearing about Mold-A-Rama, this episode is packed with insight, humor, and a love for bygone eras of hands-on fun.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Is a Mold-A-Rama?

[02:46 – 05:45]

• Spoiler: Mold-A-Rama is a vintage machine that dispenses warm, freshly molded plastic toys while you watch.
• Technical description: “It is basically an on demand injection blow molded plastic toy dispenser. That’s a technical definition for it.” (Josh, 04:14)
• Compared to jukeboxes at a distance; “you walk up…put in 50 cents…and right before your very eyes, it will mechanically create a little plastic toy of an alien or a building or a lion at a zoo.” (Chuck, 05:01)
• Nostalgia Factor: The experience is as much about witnessing the process as the souvenir itself.

2. Nostalgic Memories and Cultural Place

[05:48 – 09:17]

• Mold-A-Ramas evoke fond memories of bygone eras—Chuck compares them to the now-rare record-cutting booths and penny smashers.
• Machines are still in use today; “Every Moldorama machine that you might encounter…were built in the 60s and have been operational ever since.” (Josh, 08:00)

3. Origins and History

[09:19 – 15:36]

• Inventor: J.H. “Tyke” Miller of Quincy, Illinois, who made figurines with his wife in the late 1930s for nativity sets.
• During WWII, American-made “Liberty Figures” filled the gap left by German import shortages.
• Postwar, Miller shifted from plaster to plastic, using injection molding—“nothing says 1950s Midwest more than plastic Nativity figures…made by a man named Tyke.” (Josh, 12:12)
• Their company thrived until 1959, when they went bankrupt—but Miller envisioned on-demand vending.

4. Rise of the Machines: Debut and Popularity

[13:52 – 17:08]

• Miller licensed the concept to Automatic Retailers of America (ARA, eventually Aramark).
• Debut: 1962 Seattle World’s Fair – early models vended Space Needles, monorails, etc.
• Explosion at 1964–65 New York World’s Fair: Upwards of 150 machines, with branded molds for Sinclair Oil, Disney, and more.
• “If you were a company…you could license and brand your own Moldarama…set it up and people would take home your little branded tchotchke. It was pretty cool.” (Josh, 16:10)
• ARA dreamed of “on-demand everything,” seeing plastics as the future.

5. The Mold-A-Rama’s Mechanical Magic

[21:16 – 25:22]

• How It Works: Hydraulics press two mold halves together; hot plastic (225–250°F) is injected in, using colored pellets.
• Blow-molding: Compressed air “pushes the plastic against the mold…and also blows the excess plastic out, so it’s hollow. Then that plastic goes back in the vat.” (Josh, 24:27)
• Sensory Memory: “The smell, Chuck, you’ve never smelled anything like it. It’s…pleasing and totally noxious.” (Josh, 25:26)
• Safety: Warnings to avoid hot plastic—“hold upside down while it cools. Don’t let the molten plastic drip on little Timmy’s hand.” (Chuck, 23:54)

6. Decline, Survivors, and Maintenance Challenges

[20:08 – 21:15, 26:13 – 27:03]

• Machines were expensive (about $3,600 in 1962, nearly $30K today) and required constant upkeep—“you had to refill them with plastic, fix any parts, keep them clean, get gum off them…” (Josh, 20:44)
• ARA sold off the business; machines acquired by families and small companies.
• Machines’ ruggedness celebrated: “They’ve been sitting in the elements for 50 plus years and they still work. They’re pretty well built machines for sure.” (Josh, 26:13)

7. Collecting, Custom Molds & Modern Fans

[27:07 – 36:43]

• Single Mold: Each machine dispenses one shape at a time—color can change when the plastic is swapped out.
• Enthusiasts: Collectors like Bill Bolman of moldville.com estimate 300+ different mold designs exist.
• Variety of figures: From dinosaurs to the St. Louis Arch, Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, Lawrence Welk, NASA missiles—even Pumpkin Festival pumpkins.
• Sculptors today are producing higher-quality molds compared to the 1960s, improving details and artistry.

8. Modern Mold-A-Rama Businesses

[36:48 – 39:27]

• Two primary operators: Replication Devices (Florida-based, Strigow family) and Mold-A-Rama Incorporated (formerly William A. Jones Company, Midwest focus).
• Machines have supported three generations of operators: “...machines built in the 60s, left out in the elements for 50 years, are managing to support three generations of the families...super cool.” (Josh, 38:15)
• San Antonio Zoo example: “130,000 figurines a year from their one Moldorama—at $2 a pop.” (Chuck, 38:02)
• Some independent operators (e.g., Knoxville Zoo, Rotofugi in Chicago with its “Rotomatic” and Helper Dragon design).

9. Legacy and Fun Facts

[41:33 – 42:57]

• Price History: “In 1962, it was 50 cents—about $4.12 in 2017—now about $2. The price has actually gone down by half over the last 50 years.” (Josh, 41:33)
• Inventor’s Later Years: Tyke Miller invented the “Golden Goat”—an early aluminum can recycling and redemption machine.
• The Mold-A-Rama “rabbit hole”: Infinite online possibilities for collectors and the curious.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the appeal:
  “It’s not putting your quarter in a gumball machine... This is made just for you, right in front of your face.” (Chuck, 09:04)
• On the Mold-A-Rama as experience:
  “It’s the process. It’s watching this thing happen...at least probably 80% of the appeal.” (Josh, 31:45)
• On maintenance woes:
  “[They] required almost constant attention. You had to go refill them with plastic...fix parts...keep them clean...get gum off them because...these are interfacing with little kids.” (Josh, 20:44)
• On sensory nostalgia:
  “The smell... you’ve never smelled anything like it. It’s at the same time, pleasing and totally noxious...as a kid you’re like, oh, this smells weird and cool. But as an adult, I’m sure you’d be like, this is gonna kill my whole family.” (Josh, 25:26)
• On collector passion:
  “There is a website...waymarking.com. They have a comprehensive list of every single Moldorama in use today in the United States...They have longitude and latitude coordinates if you wanted to, I guess, geocache your way to them.” (Josh, 27:07)
• On economic surprise:
  “These machines...are managing to support three generations of the families who have been operating. I just think that’s super cool.” (Josh, 38:15)
• On the Golden Goat recycling machine:
  “[Miller's] invention… would take up about two parking spaces, and customers would come in and put in their used aluminum cans…the Golden Goat would weigh it and then give them some money in return.” (Josh, 41:57)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:46 – 05:45: What is a Mold-A-Rama? First descriptions & nostalgia.
• 09:19 – 15:36: The origins—Tyke Miller, liberty figures, and postwar plastic.
• 13:52 – 17:08: Mold-A-Rama’s rise at the World’s Fair.
• 21:16 – 25:22: Step-by-step of how the machines work.
• 27:07 – 27:56: Where to find Mold-A-Rama machines today.
• 31:14 – 33:32: Collectors, mold varieties, and changing colors.
• 36:48 – 39:27: The surviving businesses and their remarkable longevity.
• 41:33 – 42:57: Historical pricing and the inventor’s later innovations.

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Final Thoughts

Through wit and warmth, Josh and Chuck trace the journey of the Mold-A-Rama from its humble, depression-era beginnings to the obsessive collectors of today. The machines are not just relics, but enduring artifacts of a past age’s mechanical optimism and tactile fun, still enchanting kids (and adults) with the magic of molten plastic—and a whiff of nostalgia.

Want to spot Mold-A-Rama in the wild? Visit waymarking.com, or keep your nose peeled for that “pleasing and totally noxious” scent at your next zoo or roadside attraction.

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Recommended for: Fans of retro tech, collectors, pop culture historians, and anyone who finds magic in tactile, analog experiences.

Transcript

[Josh Clark]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Hey everyone, I want.

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[Josh Clark]

Welcome to Stuff youf Should Know, a production of iHeartradio.

Hey and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryant and there's Jerry over there. And this is stuff you should know, Arama.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

You know, it's kind of funny that you did that little doo, doo, doo, doo, because I'm gonna go ahead and plug this right off the top.

[Josh Clark]

Okay.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

We're doing this show on Moldorama, which, spoiler, is a machine.

That made and still makes these little plastic things, but.

[Josh Clark]

Has maybe one of the worst trade names ever.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Moldorama.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

So I'm gonna go ahead and plug this. There's a YouTube video from this young lady where she shows off her Moldorama little plastic toys that she's collected. Carpetbagger.org oh, yeah, Moldorama. Just look up that YouTube. She is adorable and she's the best. And when she shows her suitcase full of Moldorama plastic toys, she does a little song and it's just adorable and great.

[Josh Clark]

I gotta check that out. I saw her use one of the Disneyland toy factory Moldoramas. Yeah, I saw that. So I know who you're talking about.

[Advertisement Voice / Squarespace Promoter]

She's great.

[Josh Clark]

So that was nice of you, Chuck. Well, let's wait for everybody to come back from watching her YouTube video, shall we?

[Advertisement Voice / Squarespace Promoter]

Okay.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Let's wait for, I think, five or six minutes.

[Josh Clark]

And done.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yes.

[Josh Clark]

Time passes faster here at Stuff youf Should Know, doesn't it?

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

It does. I'm 80 years old.

[Josh Clark]

So with, like you said, Molarama, it is a. I've seen it described as a factory in a case. Okay, I thought that was a pretty apt description. But for those of you who don't know, it is basically an on demand.

Injection blow molded plastic toy dispenser. That's a technical definition for it. And while that might not make sense yet, it all will make sense in about 30 or so minutes.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

All right, how about this? Picture this.

[Josh Clark]

All right, let's start over. Wait, should we edit my part out?

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

I don't know. Let's leave this all in.

[Josh Clark]

All right, good.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Picture this. You walk into a room. Let's say it's the Sears Tower. Now, Willis Tower. Is it Willis?

[Josh Clark]

Oh, yeah, that was Willis Tower. Sears Tower. Who keeps calling it Willis Tower? Stop that.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Sears Tower or a World's Fair or something. And there is a machine that looks sort of like a jukebox from 50ft away.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, yeah, that's a good way.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

And then you walk up closer to it and you're like, oh, wait, what is this weird mechanical thing? Let me put in 50 cents. And right before your very eyes, it will mechanically create a little plastic toy of an alien or a building or a Lion at a zoo. And it will spit it out. And you'll say, that was just melted from plastic and molded and shaped and given to me right in front of my eyes. What a fun, neat thing, right?

[Josh Clark]

And you'll say all this after you recover from fainting from the fumes of melted plastic and then get up and get your toy out. Which is good because they say that you should wait a half a minute for your toy to cool before you grab it from the Moldorama.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

I think that was a pretty good job you just did of describing it.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

And I think this is super neat because this reminds me of a bygone era, like where I went to Nashville recently and went to Jack White's Third Man Records. And he has one of those booths where you can go in and record a record.

[Josh Clark]

What'd you record?

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Well, I didn't do it. I chickened out.

[Josh Clark]

Okay.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

What I wanted to do was go in and sing a little song for my daughter and give it to her as a record. And I was thinking, like, what could I do? What do I know in my brain by heart? Because they have a little guitar you can take in there. And it was such a small room, and it was in the room with everything else. And I just got weirdly shy. Like, I don't want any people to hear me.

[Josh Clark]

You got shy? Jack White made you shy, huh?

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, I didn't want to do it in front of people. Like, if there was literally no one in there, I would have cut 10 records.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, I got you. You should have stuck your head out and been like, can you all just leave for a little while?

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Just trust me.

[Josh Clark]

Wow.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

But anyway, this reminds me of those days gone by where you could cut your own record. Or, you know, they had these really cool machines at fairs and things that they just. I mean, now I guess you can still get your picture taken and printed digitally.

[Josh Clark]

Or the Penny Smasher. That's still around, too. I see that compared to this a lot.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, those are cool.

[Josh Clark]

Not really, but still, it's an app comparison.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

I will just say I'm surprised that my brother doesn't have a Molarama in his basement.

[Josh Clark]

So I am, too, because there's a guy who collects these things called Moldville, and I saw videos of his collection. Did you see this?

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

It's like a warehouse full of mint condition Molarama machines. This guy must be richer than an astronaut. He's got so many of these machines. And you're right about this. It evoking the memories of a Bygone era. But what's crazy, Chuck, is that these things are still in use today. You can find them all over the country, and they're still working. And this is what's amazing to me. They are the original machines that were made for about a seven year period during the 1960s. Every Moldorama machine that you might encounter, including 10 at the Toledo Zoo, by the way.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

That's awesome.

[Josh Clark]

Were built in the 60s and have been operational ever since.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Should we talk about the history?

[Josh Clark]

Well, first, let me ask you this. Do you have. Did you ever use a Molarama when you were a kid?

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

No.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, you didn't?

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

No. And I'm dying now to go do one as an adult.

[Josh Clark]

So. They're still around. They're still around.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

They're still around.

[Josh Clark]

I actually, I got one that there's this thing in Toledo called. Well, actually, it's in Maumee, which is a suburb of Toledo, but it's called Children's Wonderland. And it's like this amazing 3D Christmas walkthrough diorama, basically, that just nothing can put you in the Christmas spirit as a kid better than Children's Wonderland. And at the end of this, there was a Molarama machine, and it made a gift. Gold, smelly, plasticky angel. It was kind of boring, boring Christmas angel. But it was mine, and I was so glad to have it. And I have no idea what happened to it. I'm sure it broke pretty quickly, but I was like, holy cow, I've had one of these before. I had no idea what it was called, that it was Moldorama, but I looked it up and actually found the angel.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Well, I think that's the cool thing about these as a kid is it's not putting your quarter in a gumball machine and seeing all those things and one of them falls out. This is made just for you, right in front of your face.

[Josh Clark]

Yep. Pretty cool.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

All right, so now can we go back in time?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, yeah. I'm done. I'm done nostalgizing.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

All right.

[Josh Clark]

Wait, wait. What is it? Reminiscing?

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Sure.

[Josh Clark]

Okay.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Nostalgizing. I think that's a word, right?

[Josh Clark]

It is now.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

All right. We're going back to 1937 in the winter when one J.H. miller tyke is his nickname. I don't know what that comes from. Was he little?

[Josh Clark]

I don't. Not that I saw.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Well, because it's spelled differently. T I K E. Yeah, I don't.

[Josh Clark]

Know what it means.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Anyway. Of Quincy, Illinois.

He made figurines. He and his Wife made figurines, and they needed a replacement for his Nativity scene. I guess his little baby Jesus was decapitated by his dog. He needed a new one, and he couldn't find a place to sell him just one little piece. You gotta buy the whole Nativity scene. And he was like, well, what am I gonna do with that?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. He said, I just needed one. And you could understand the department store's position. Like, if they sell you just one piece, there's a whole set that they can't sell. Because who wants that set without the one piece, right?

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Unless it's like, maybe a donkey, maybe.

[Josh Clark]

I remember the donkey. That was a good one, though. That was one of my favorites as a kid.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

But anyway, he and his wife said, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna take these lemons and make them into lemonade in the form of making our own little plaster replacement figure. And apparently they were pretty good at it because they ended up doing this for a living and founding a company doing this because the Germans evidently had the market cornered on Nativity pieces. And when World War II came around, they said, nein for you.

And we had a shortage.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. All we wanted was Liberty Figures is what they called them during World War II, not Nativity, because the Germans had supplied us with Nativity figures. So American main ones you could call Liberty Figures.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Is that like Freedom fries?

[Josh Clark]

Right. I think they actually called sauerkraut Liberty cabbage. I'm not kidding.

So Tyke and his wife established this company in World War II that really kind of grew because they cornered the market and they just kept going from there. And then about 10 years after World War II, they decided to move from plaster to. And by the way, he started selling Nativity figures, individual ones, to those same department stores who would only sell them sets before, which I think is kind of sweet revenge. But they moved from plaster figures to plastic and got into a type of injection molding where air is blown into it, which saves on plastic and creates a lightweight plastic figurine. And really, Honestly, nothing says 1950s Midwest more than plastic Nativity figures, you know, probably so.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Made by a man named Tyke.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, I mean, they did pretty well for a little while, I guess. I'm not sure exactly when the company was founded, but if in 1937 he came up with this idea and they went bankrupt in 1959, sounds like they added some good years in there.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, they did. And I did not see why they went bankrupt. I saw they were nothing but successful. I don't know. I don't know if maybe they sunk a bunch of money into these machines and it just didn't quite make it or what. But he was very successful. And he had a line of plastic toys that kids would buy by the fistful at like the local five and dime or novelty store or something like that. And he had lines of like dinosaurs, I think, toy soldiers. But the one that really put his company on the map as far as kids were concerned, were called Earth Invaders.

[Advertisement Voice / Squarespace Promoter]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Also known as Miller Aliens. And there was a line of tons of them. But the. The one that is still today, the most prized of all was the Purple People Eater.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Oh, yeah.

[Josh Clark]

And it actually inspired that. That song from the 50s, which I didn't realize that song was quite that old. But the. The song about the one eyed, one eared, flying purple peep leader that was based on Tyke Miller's creation from the 50s.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

I think it was the other way around.

[Josh Clark]

I don't think so. I think the song was based on the figure.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

This is here. The Purple People Eater was inspired by the hit song.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, I saw. I read that as the opposite. Thanks. Good catch, Chuck.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

I think that's the case because that song was a big hit and there were all manner of Purple People Eater souvenirs and things.

[Josh Clark]

Gotcha.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

It was a big business back then.

[Josh Clark]

Thank you for that one.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

No problem.

[Josh Clark]

We would have gotten some email from like three people on that.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Tyke's great grandson. Yeah, little tyke. So in 59 or 60, they went bankrupt. And it was right around this time where he said, all right, I've got this idea for an actual vending machine that could make these things on demand. And he was successful. He licensed this thing actually to what would eventually become Ameramark, which everyone knows that company's still around. At the time, they were called the automatic retailers of America. And he developed these machines with them. And in 1962 at the Seattle World's Fair, they premiered there, doing little space needles and monorails and Buddhas and Buddhas for like 50 cents, which is about 4 bucks today. So it was not a little cheap thing. It's not like sticking a dime in a machine today, right?

[Josh Clark]

No, they were definitely expensive. But they were a huge hit at that Seattle World's Fair. That was what, 1962?

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yep.

[Josh Clark]

So in 1964 at the New York World's Fair, they blew up. They went from a couple of machines in Seattle, I guess three machines in Seattle, to as many as 150 at the New York World's Fair from 1964 to 1965. And even more than just having that many more machines, they also had branded machines. Right. So like if you were a company like Sinclair Oil or Disney and you wanted to just kind of give people an extra little amazing experience, you could license and brand your own Moldorama. And they had plenty of those at the World's Fair. Some pretty cool ones too.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. So like you said, anywhere from Disneyland to Montreal's World Expo. And that's the cool thing is at Disney World or Disneyland, there could be, I think they were some of the characters that were actually acting like they were working the machine.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

It's kind of clever. Or if you know and you're in Montreal, it's going to be Canadian Mounties or maybe an Eiffel Tower.

[Josh Clark]

Right. If you could.

Contact the company, get them to make you your own.

Signage, I guess, to put on the machine. And then most importantly, they would sculpt and then manufacture a mold from that sculpture. Whatever you wanted, say your logo or your brand or something like that, some sort of statuette that had that, you could set it up and people would take home your little branded tchotchke. It was pretty cool. It was a big hit in the 60s. And to Aramarker Ara at the time, they were like, well, this is great. But apparently they were just looking at the whole thing as a proof of concept because they had their sights on not just like on demand novelties, but on demand everything. Like on demand dishware, on demand jewelry, on demand combs, on demand ashtrays. They felt like this was the future because at the time, the early 60s, plastics was the future.

Pretty soon everything was going to be made in plastic and no one was ever going to have cancer from it a day in their life.

[Advertisement Voice / Squarespace Promoter]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

It was a plastically optimistic time.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

That's right. And in the end, they manufactured about 200 of these machines over a seven year period. But by 1971, they said, you know what Ara said, we're getting out of this Moldorama. Bizarre.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Should we take a break?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

We're gonna go press together our own little moldy dinosaur and be right back.

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[Josh Clark]

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All right, Chuck, so Ara gets out of the biz and it's kind of understandable why there's a couple of big problems with Moldorama machines. One, they're expensive to manufacture. They were like apparently 3,600 bucks per at the time. That was back in 1962, so just under $30,000 today.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

It's a little machine for a little vending machine.

[Josh Clark]

And then also, once you set these things up, they required almost constant attention. You had to go refill them with plastic, you had to top off their fluids, you had to fix any parts, you had to keep them clean, you had to get gum off of them because, again, these are interfacing with little kids.

So there was a lot of maintenance and upkeep to them as well. So Aramark said, we're done. In the 70s, they sold off their machines to a couple of different groups.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. I mean, this is a mechanical, like, hydraulic machine that required, like, oil and antifreeze. It was. No, I mean, if it sounds like. And I mean, I guess we can go into the process a little bit. It gets a little wonky for my taste.

[Josh Clark]

Okay.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

But I guess we should talk a little bit about how these actually work, right?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, we kind of have to. And it'll be fun, I promise. You ready?

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Well, I will say this. First of all, there are hydraulics and there are these two molds. And you can go on YouTube and look at how these things work. It's pretty neat.

These two molds, it's basically one half of the little toy on each side.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, yeah. Like a three dimensional sculptured statuette.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. So they move toward each other with these hydraulics, and they're pressed together, forms a big seal, and it ends up. It ends up being hollow on the inside. That's kind of a big point to make.

[Josh Clark]

It's a negative of the sculpture.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

So then there's a couple of holes in the bottom that lead into that sculpture cavity, and into that, you inject hot plastic. Because one thing that a lot of people don't realize about the mold O matic is just beneath this work surface, that is the floor of what you can see below. That is a VAT of 225 to 250 degree Fahrenheit. Molten plastic just sitting there bubbling hot.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. Little pellets. They feed it in little colored pellets.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Although for a little while, they actually had just kind of neutral pellets that they used colored powder. But they at least wised up there and said, why don't we just color the pellets and just stick with the one color?

[Josh Clark]

Yep. And then. So the system has a closed steam system that runs hot steam through coils.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

That's crazy.

[Josh Clark]

That runs through these plastic pellets.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Vat.

[Josh Clark]

This plastic pellet vat. And it melts the pellets and then keeps them molten. So then when that. When the mold seals up above come together and form that seal, hot plastic is injected into the mold and fills it up.

[Advertisement Voice / Squarespace Promoter]

That's right.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Hot plastic injection. Great band name.

[Josh Clark]

Yep.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

And then these things obviously have to be cooled pretty quick, like, in order for them to. I mean, what. Solidify. Is that the right word? But when they do come out, like you said, they are warm. And I'm surprised. I mean, this seems like something that you could not create today without there being so much liability on your hands.

[Josh Clark]

Well, again, they still are in use. You can still go to the Toledo Zoo, to zoos all over the Midwest in Florida, and tourist attractions and rest stops, and you will find these things still in use.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

It's just so funny to me that, like it literally says on the little door that you open, hold upside down while it cools. Don't let the molten plastic drip on little Timmy's hand.

[Josh Clark]

That's exactly right. So we got the injection molding part done, but there's one step that we missed, and that's the blow part that makes it injection blow molding. And this is how these companies manage to actually make money. And one of the reasons why the Moldorama tchotchkes are so fragile is that they're hollow inside.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

So.

The mold is filled with hot plastic, and then compressed air is blown into it. And the compressed air does two things. One, it pushes the plastic against the mold so it completely covers it, and it takes on the shape of the mold. Right. And then it also blows the excess plastic out the bottom so it's hollow. And then that excess plastic goes back into the vat when it's reused.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Right?

[Josh Clark]

Reused, exactly. So it might use enough plastic at first to make 10 of these things or five or something. I'm just totally guessing here. But then it reuses it by blowing it out the bottom and making it a hollow object rather than a solid one.

[Advertisement Voice / Squarespace Promoter]

Right.

[Josh Clark]

Okay. And then it comes out hot. They say, wait 30 seconds or half a minute, I think, is how they put it. And the reason why they say hold it upside down is because there's still that hole at the bottom that that little hot plastic can, like you said, burn Timmy's hands.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

That's right.

[Josh Clark]

The smell, Chuck, you've never smelled anything like it.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Do you remember the smell?

[Josh Clark]

Yes. I can't remember the smell.

It's at the same time, pleasing and totally noxious.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Interesting.

[Josh Clark]

Like, as a kid, you're like, oh, this smells weird and cool. But as an adult, I'm sure you'd be like, this is gonna kill my whole family. It's gonna kill my great grandchildren somehow.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Well, back then, no one cared.

[Josh Clark]

No, they didn't.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

You know, and like we said, tons of upkeep. You know, you've got steam, you've got hydraulic fluid, you have antifreeze, sometimes cold water. But I would suspect Antifreeze in most cases.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

And until the 1970s, like I said, you had.

Powdered coloring. I mean, this whole thing is. I'm surprised they didn't explode at any point.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. One of the other things that I really admire about this is that again, these. The machines that are still in use today, that still work just as well as ever today, were built exclusively from 1962 to 1969 when Aramark was making them. And then these things also, because they put off these terrible fumes, they're kept outside. So they've been sitting in the elements for 50 plus years and they still work. They're pretty well built machines for sure.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

I think they've got some now that they have been able to move indoors.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. From using a different type of plastic, I think.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. It's crazy these things had to be outside.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. And they still are. Most of them are. A lot of them have like kind of built in little canopies over them or something like that. But if you look at the canopies, you can tell they're kind of new. They've been outside basically for 50 years.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

I am so gonna be on the lookout for these now.

[Josh Clark]

So there is a website, Chuck, called Waymarking W A Y M A R K I N g dot com. They have a comprehensive list of every single Molarama in use today in the United States. And they have like actual, like longitude and latitude coordinates if you wanted to, I guess, geocache your way to them.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Well, what I want is an app that will text me when I'm within 500ft of one.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, that's a good idea.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

There's a $10 app. And by $10 app I mean you would make $10.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. Although people are crazy for these things still, as we'll see.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

None in Atlanta, right?

[Josh Clark]

Not that I saw, no. But again, there's a bunch in Toledo. I found the machine that I almost certainly got my angel from.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Oh, wow.

[Josh Clark]

They keep it in storage at Tam O Shanner, which is an ice skating rink in, I guess a Scottish ice skating rink, I don't know in Maumee, which is where they have Children's Wonderland. But I saw a picture of it and now it looks like the most recent thing it makes is polar bears.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

And your DNA is on that machine.

[Josh Clark]

Still somewhere in the form of a wad of gum.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

All right, well, let's take another break. We'll come back and talk a little bit about some of these fun figures and the people that are still trying to keep this tradition alive.

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[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

All right, so here's the thing that I wanted to know and that our article didn't get to till 3/4 of the way through. I was like, do they have different things for each machine? The answer, sadly, is no. If it spits out a dinosaur, it can only spit out a dinosaur. Unless you change up that mold.

[Josh Clark]

Yes, but you can change the color and you'll have a different colored dinosaur.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Well, until they Started using the single color pellets, right?

[Josh Clark]

Well, no. Then they just put in a different color when they refill the thing, and all of a sudden, it went from a purple dinosaur to a green dinosaur.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Right, but could you say purple and hit a purple button?

[Josh Clark]

No.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Or it's whatever the kid who worked there decided to put in that morning.

[Josh Clark]

That's exactly right. The thing is, though, is. And again, it's not even just the toy that comes out. The toy is, especially as a kid, invariably disappointing.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Sure.

[Josh Clark]

But it's the process. It's watching this thing happen. And the Moldorama machines will have, like, little. Little different lights that light up. Like, now we're cooling. Now we're about to launch the toy to you. You know, it tells you what's going on. So you're following the process, which is at least probably 80% of the appeal of the whole thing.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Stand back right now. Because if I were to explode, it would be during this next eight seconds.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

All right.

[Josh Clark]

So your mom, who's standing there missing her one arm from saving you in a car wreck, it's like, you probably should stand back.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Exactly.

No one knows exactly how many of these molds were made, but they're, like we said, are enthusiasts who collect these. And this one dude, Bill Bolman, who owns one and runs moldville.com. bad. Bad URL there, right?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, it is bad. I gotta say, I looked it up, and it's a dead domain. But he's got a Facebook thing that he does now. That's where he's moved to.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, that's where he went MySpace, and then he went Facebook. But there will never be another site better than Facebook. So I'm sure it's all over, right?

[Josh Clark]

Probably.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

So his estimate is about 300 designs. I bet it's more than that.

[Josh Clark]

I don't know. This guy knows what he's talking about.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

That's true.

[Josh Clark]

He counted 196 original ones. And then he said after the 60s, more people started to make them. They weren't just commissioned by Aramark, who was keeping track of these things. And.

I would say this guy's probably the person on earth who could estimate how many there are the closest.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

And not just me guessing randomly. I bet it's more.

[Josh Clark]

And what's cool, though, also is, again, like, if you were, you could be anybody. If you wanted a Moldorama thing at your event, it could happen.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Sure.

[Josh Clark]

Like, I found there was a Circleville, Ohio, Pumpkin festival. Moldorama.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Wonderful.

[Josh Clark]

So One of the 300 molds is a Pumpkin from Circleville, Ohio's Pumpkin fest in the 70s. Another one. So apparently Toledo was crazy about these things because, again, there's 10 at the Toledo Zoo. There's the one at Tam O' Shanner that I got mine from. There was one in the 80s at the Toledo Mudhead Stadium. And there's a Mud Hens figure, which is pretty cool, actually. And I looked and there's like, zero for sale anywhere. But now I'm kind of on the lookout for that thing. But all you had to do was just make a mold, get your hands on one of these, and bam. Circleville, Ohio's Pumpkin Fest went from zero to hero.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Right. And you, too could have a snowman or a Grauman's Chinese Theater or a Space Lab or a Lawrence Welk.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Or a Titan missile.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. NASA had a lot of these things, actually.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

I'm sure.

[Josh Clark]

What else was there?

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Well, the Lawrence Welk. None of those were jokes. Those are real.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, yeah, for sure.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

There was a Titan 3C missile in a Lawrence Welk. It says other famous people. I'm kind of curious.

[Josh Clark]

I didn't see anybody besides presidents and Lawrence Welk.

There's one of the Georgia State Capitol building.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Oh, really?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. There were some cool ones, actually. The St. Louis Arch is surprisingly cool. You wouldn't think it'd be that cool. The Oscar Mayer wienermobile.

This one was kind of random. It's a Hialai player. And then at the base it says, hi, Alai in Miami.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Okay.

[Josh Clark]

The water skier from Cypress, I think Cypress Gardens, Florida. And the mermaids from Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Oh, we talked about them. Oh, here's one. Universal Studios had one that made a Frankenstein coin bank. That's kind of cool.

[Josh Clark]

It is very cool. Like, a lot of these are actually super cool, especially the original retro ones. You can actually see, like.

I can't remember the woman's name, but there is a woman who was hired by one of the companies that still operate these things to start making molds. And she's been making them for the last 25 years. And compared to some of the ones from the 60s, like, she's just head and shoulders above the people who were sculpting them then. Like, these are really, really well made sculptures. Not only in, like, the actual sculpture that she's making, but the decisions she's making.

Produces just a better Molarama toy.

[Advertisement Voice / Squarespace Promoter]

Yeah.

[Josh Clark]

Because again, you're dealing with melted plastic and a mold that is two halves pressed together. There's a lot of, like, details that can Go wrong. And this great sculptor is taking all of them into account, making some really boss ones like the wiener mobile. It's art to behold. The detail in it is really, really nice.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Should we talk about a couple of these companies that are still going strong?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, for sure.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Or at least going.

[Josh Clark]

No, they're going strong, man.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Okay, good. There are a couple of them. One called Replication Devices and one called Moldorama Incorporated. Replication Devices, founded by Eldon Irwin, who bought a bunch of these, it says dozens, in the early 60s, eventually passed down through his family. And right now, his grandson and his wife, the Strigowls in Florida, are operating 60 or 70 of these.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. And let's think about this for a second. So Eldon Irwin bought dozens. Now they're up to 60, maybe 70. And those Molarama machines have supported three generations of this family fully, from what I understand. Yes.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Okay.

[Josh Clark]

I saw an interview with Tim Strigow and he said he was surprised that the business was still going when his parents took it over. And now he, the grandson and his wife operate it. And yes, from what I understand, it fully supports it. The San Antonio Zoo estimated that they make 130,000 figurines a year from their one moldorama.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Two bucks a pop. That's 260,000 gross times 60 or 70.

[Josh Clark]

So, yeah, they're doing just fine.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

This other one, Moldorama Inc. Like, we're not asking anyone to open their books for us.

[Josh Clark]

No, for sure. And I certainly don't want to shine a light on these people's finances. But I'm just saying, like, it's astounding to me that these machines, built in the 60s, left out in the elements for 50 years, are managing to support three generations of the families who have been operating. I just think that's super cool.

[Advertisement Voice / Squarespace Promoter]

Yeah.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

I mean, it sounds like it's kind of like people own car washes.

[Josh Clark]

Sure.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Isn't it like a front always to. To launder money from drug sales?

[Josh Clark]

I would guess. I think it's low hanging, easy to buy.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

I'm just kidding. Everyone out there that owns car washes. I've watched too much Breaking Bad.

[Josh Clark]

Oh, that's right. That's right. But I think that is like a legitimate thing. Like, car washes are like.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, cash businesses are ripe for the pickin.

[Josh Clark]

I forgot they bought that car wash. Yeah.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

So Moldorama Inc. Like I said, William A. Jones company changed their name in 2011, but they got into this in 1971 when William A. Jones bought some of these from one of the guys who worked for the original Molarama. Then they expanded, bought more machines, and it is still a family business again. They got about 60 of them.

[Josh Clark]

Yep. And they were the William A. Jones Company. And then I guess they got their hands on the oldorama trademark in 2011 and they changed the name of the company to Molarama Inc. Again, because that's a. Originally what it was called back when Aramark was running it.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah. And they're mainly in the Midwest. Minnesota, Michigan, bunch of them in Illinois and one in Texas, it looks like.

[Josh Clark]

Right.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Not bad.

[Josh Clark]

And then every once in a while you have some independent operators like Knoxville Zoo owns their own. They apparently got theirs from Dollywood. Which man. Moldoramas at Dollywood that make your wigs spin.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

There's this one cool thing I wanted to shout out this toy store in Chicago. Rotofugi or Roto Fuji, not sure how you pronounce it.

[Josh Clark]

I don't know.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

They repurposed their own Moldorama. They bought one and repurposed it. That was originally the LA Zoo and they call it the Rotomatic. And they have something called a Helper Dragon that you can get for six bucks. And if you look up the Helper Dragon and these dudes, it is clear that they are Simpsons fans. Did you see this thing?

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, I did. I saw a video of it, but it was kind of out of focus.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, like just Google Image. The Helper dragon, Roto Ematic. And it is, to me at least, clearly the Cyclops alien from the Simpsons with its. Oh, yeah, with its head stuck on the body of a winged lion.

[Josh Clark]

Nice.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

That's my take on it.

[Josh Clark]

Very nice.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

And then there is this one other guy. He is a Disney World imagineer named James Durand. And he has built his own Moldorama called the Mini Molder. And you just look at this guy, you know, he's an imagineer. You look at this machine and you're like, I would hire that guy to build and do anything. Cause he's clearly a brilliant genius.

[Josh Clark]

Yep.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Really cool looking thing and a bit.

[Josh Clark]

Of a show off, frankly.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

You think?

[Josh Clark]

Just kidding. So I've got two more things.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

All right.

[Josh Clark]

The Molarama used to be 50 cents in its original incarnation in 1962, which again, thanks to our friends at West Egg Inflation Calculator tells US is about $4.12 in 2017 money. Today you can get a molarama for 2 bucks, which means that the price has gone down by half over the last 50 years.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Oh, interesting.

[Josh Clark]

Pretty cool. And Then lastly, so after Tyke Miller got out of the plastics injection molding business, he had another invention that he called the Golden Goat. And it was this big machine that apparently he invented to put out in parking lots at, like, grocery stores. And it would take up about two parking spaces, and customers would come in and put in their used aluminum cans. And then the Golden Goat would weigh it and then give them some money in return. And then it would compact those cans, and then later on, that aluminum would be sold as scrap for recycling. The thing is, this was years before the green movement was ever even thought of. That's how ahead of his time this guy was. And I don't think the Golden Goat ever made him a lot of money, but it's a pretty cool invention that this guy had. He was like one of those great midwestern tinker inventor guys. Yeah, hats off to him.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

God bless all those people.

[Josh Clark]

Yep. So there you go. Nativity figures, plastic. If you want to know more about Moldorama, man, you can fall down a rabbit hole just looking at pictures of them on the Internet. So why don't you go do that? Take some time for yourself, you know? Why do you always have to work, work, work? Since I said that, it's time for.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Listener mail.

I'm gonna call this just kind of a quick shout out. We don't do these a lot because we get a lot of shout out requests, but this one was adorable because it's a little kid. So this is from Jenny. She's the mom. She says, how about a shout out for my son Jake? He listens to every episode. More than once, he's got me and many others into the show and we love it. So young Jake is out there spreading the word, and we appreciate that. Jake. And you love the show so much you named? Well, not quite yet, but Jake says he wants to get a puppy and call it Charles W. Chuck Bryant. And he says this, most of the time he will be called Chuck, but when he does something wrong, I'll be like, charles W. Chuck Bryant. Why did you do that?

[Josh Clark]

Yep. Well, Jake, we have a really big surprise for you. If you will go to your back door, I think you're gonna find something pretty special out there.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

No, I'm just kidding. No, we're just kidding. Jake. There's not a puppy at your back door. Unless your mom, Jenny, heard this beforehand and is the best mom in the world.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah, but your mom is the best.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Mom in the world.

[Josh Clark]

Yeah. That was pretty cool of her to write in and let us know. So Way to go Jake for listening to us. Thank you. Thank you very much.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Yeah, thank you Jake. Thank you Jenny. We count, literally count on people like you to spread the word. So we appreciate it.

[Josh Clark]

Good luck with your eventual puppy too named Charles W. Chuck Bryant when he's bad. If you want to tell us about your cute kid we want to hear about or her, you can send us an email to stuffpodcastheartradio.com.

Stuff youf Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio.

[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

For more podcasts my heart radio visit the iHeartRadio app.

[Josh Clark]

Apple Podcasts are wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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Excludes Massachusetts Support for this show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, buys one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.comsysk and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.comsysk paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures Everybody knows.

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[Charles W. Chuck Bryant]

Guaranteed Human.