Selects: What Is A Mold-A-Rama? | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hey everybody, Chuck here on a Saturday. I hope you're enjoying some breakfast. cereal and maybe watching cartoons on. the telly. But maybe take a pause and listen to. this curated episode from February 2018. What is Mold-A-Rama? Uh I'm not even going to tell you what. Mold-A-Rama is if you don't know. It's. not gross. It's not something that lives. on your walls when it's too humid. It's. actually a pretty cool fun machine from. days gone by. So, I hope you enjoy this episode all. over again right now.

Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production [music] of iHeart Radio. 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, A Rama. Do do do do. >> [laughter]. >> You know, it's kind of funny that you. did that little do do do.

Mhm. because. I'm going to go ahead and plug this. right off the top. Okay. Uh we're doing. this show on Mold-A-Rama. which spoiler is a machine. that makes uh that made and still makes. these little. plastic things. But has maybe one of the worst trade. names ever. Mold-A-Rama? Yeah. So, I'm. going to go ahead and plug this. There's. a YouTube video from uh. this young lady. um where she shows off her Mold-A-Rama.

um little plastic toys that she's. collected. Mhm. carpetbagger.org. Oh, yeah. >> Mold-A-Rama just look up that YouTube. She is adorable and she's the best and. when she um shows her suitcase full of. Mold-A-Rama plastic toys, she does a. little song and it's just adorable and. great. I got to check that out. I saw. her um use one of the Disney Disneyland. Toy Factory Mold-A-Ramas. Yeah. I saw So, I know who you're talking. about. >> She's great. So, um that was nice of you, Chuck.

Well, let's wait for everybody to come. back from watching her YouTube video, shall we? >> Okay. Let's wait for I think 5 or 6. minutes. And done. Yes. Time passes faster here. at Stuff You Should Know, doesn't it? >> It does. I'm 80 years old. And so. So, with like you said, Mold-A-Rama, 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 um.

basically an on-demand. um injection blow molded plastic toy. dispenser. That is the 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. All. right, how about this? Picture this. All. right, let's start over. >> Should we Wait, should we edit my part. out? I don't know. Let's leave this all. in. >> All right, good. Picture this. You walk. into a a room. let's say it's the Sears Tower.

No, Willis Tower. Is it Willis? Oh, yeah. That was Willis Tower. Sears. Tower. Who keeps calling it Willis. Tower? Stop that. >> [laughter]. [gasps]. >> Sears Tower or a or a uh a World's Fair. or something Mhm. um and there is a. machine that looks sort of like a. jukebox from 50 ft away. Oh, yeah. That's a good good way. 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 Mhm. or a 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. 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. Mold-A-Rama. Right. I think that was a pretty good. job you just did at describing it. And I. think this is super neat because this. reminds me of a bygone era Mhm. like. where I went to Nashville recently and. went to Jack White's Third Man Records. Mhm. and he has one of those booths. where you can go in and record a record. Mhm. What'd you record? Well, I didn't. do it. Huh. I chickened out. Okay. What. I wanted to do was go in and sing a.

little song for my daughter and give it. to her as a record. Aw. And I was. thinking like what could I do? What do I. know in my brain by heart? Cuz 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 to people to hear me. >> [laughter]. >> You got shy. Jack White made you shy, huh? 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. Oh, I got you. You should have stuck. your head out and been like, "Can you. all just leave for a little while?" Just.

trust me. Wow. 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 at. fairs and things that they just I mean. now I guess you can still get your. picture taken and printed digitally. Or. the penny smasher that's still around, too. I see that compared to this again a. lot. Yeah, those are cool. Not really, but still they there's it's. an apt comparison. I will just say I'm. surprised that my brother doesn't have a. Mold-A-Rama in his basement. 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? Yeah. It's like a warehouse full. of mint condition Mold-A-Rama machines. This guy must be richer than an. astronaut. He's got so many of these machines. Um. 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.

>> Yeah. And they're still working and. they're This is what's amazing to me. They are the original machines that were. made for about a 7-year period during. the 1960s. Every Mold-A-Rama machine. that you might encounter including 10 at. the Toledo Zoo, by the way. um That's awesome. >> were were built in the '60s and have. been operational ever since. Should we talk about the history? Well, first let me ask you this. Do you. have Did you Did you ever use a. Mold-A-Rama when you were a kid?

No. Oh, you didn't? No, and I'm dying now to. go do one as an adult. So, they're still around. Yes. >> They're still around. They are still. around. 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 a. Children's Wonderland and it's like this. amazing. 3D Christmas walk-through diorama, basically. They just Nothing can put you. in the Christmas spirit as a kid better. than Children's Wonderland. Aw. And at. the end of this there was a Mold-A-Rama.

machine and it made a gold s- 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 I was like, "Holy cow, I've had one of these. before." I had no idea what it was. called that it was Mold-A-Rama, but I. looked it up and I actually found the. angel. Well, I think that's the cool. thing about these as a kid is it's not. putting your your quarter in a gumball.

machine and seeing all those things and. one of them falls out. Right. >> This is made just for you right in front. of your face. Yep. Pretty cool. All right, so now can we go. back in time? Yeah, yeah. I'm done I'm. done nostalgizing. All right. >> Wait. Wait, what is it? Reminiscing? >> [laughter]. >> Sure. Okay. Nostalgizing, I think it's a. word, right? It is now. All right, we're. we're going back to 1937 in the winter. when one J. H. Miller, Tyke is his. nickname Mhm. uh I don't know what what.

that comes from. Was he little? I don't. Not that I saw. Oh, cuz it's spelled. differently. T I K E. Yeah, I don't know. what it means. Anyway, of Quincy, Illinois. um he was. he made figurines. He and his wife made. figurines and they needed a replacement. uh for his nativity scene. I guess his. uh little baby Jesus was decapitated by. his dog. Mhm. He needed a new one and he couldn't find. a place to sell him just one little. piece. Yeah. You got to buy the whole.

nativity scene. And he was like, "Well, what am I going. to do with that?" Yeah, he said I just. needed one. And you can 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? Unless it's like maybe a. donkey. Maybe. I remember the donkey. That was a good one, though. That was. one of my favorites as a kid. But anyway, he and his wife said, "Here's what we're going to do. We're. going to 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 cuz 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. Mhm. And when World. War came around, they said, "Nein for. you.". >> [laughter]. >> Right. And we had a shortage. Yeah. We all we wanted was um. liberty figures is what they called them. during World War not nativity because. the Germans had supplied us with. nativity figures. So, American made ones.

you could call liberty figures. >> Is that like freedom fries? Right. I. think they actually called sauerkraut. liberty cabbage. >> [laughter]. >> I'm not kidding. So, so the the Tyke and his wife. established this company and in World. War it really kind of grew because they. cornered the market and they just kept. going from there. And then about 10 years after World War. they decided to move from plaster. And. by the way, he started selling um. nativity figures, individual ones, to.

those same department stores who would. only sell them sets before, which I. think is kind of sweet revenge. Um but. they moved from plaster figures to. plastic. >> [snorts]. >> And got into um a type of injection. molding where um. 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, yeah. Made by a. man named Tyke. Uh yeah, and 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, they. sounds like they had had some good years. in there. Yeah, they did. But I 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 um.

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

the Purple People Eater. 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 people eater, that was. based on Tyke Miller's creation from the. '50s. I think it was the other way. around. Uh. I don't think so. I think the song was. based on the figure. It says here the. Purple People Eater was inspired by the. hit song. Oh, I saw I read that as the opposite. Thanks, good catch, Chuck. I think.

that's the case cuz that song was a big. uh. hit and there were all manner of Purple. People Eater souvenirs and things. Gotcha. It was a it was a big business. back then. Thank you for that one. No. problem. >> We would have gotten some email from. like three people on that. >> [laughter]. >> Tyke's uh great-grandson. Yeah. Little. Tyke. Um 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 can make these things on demand. And he was successful he licensed this.

thing actually to uh what would. eventually become Aramark, which. everyone knows that's that company's. still around. Mhm. Uh at the time they. were called the Automatic Retailers of. America. And he developed these machines with. them and in in 1962. at the Seattle World's Fair they they. premiered there doing little uh Space. Needles and Monorails. And Buddhas. And. Buddhas for like 50 cents, which is. about four bucks today. Mhm. So it. [clears throat] was not a little cheap. thing. It's not like sticking a a dime.

in a machine today. Right. No, it they. were definitely expensive. Um. but they were a huge hit at that Seattle. World's Fair. That was what, 1962? Yep. 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 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 um Mold-A-Rama. And. they had plenty of those at the World's. Fair. Some some pretty cool ones, too. Yeah. So like you said, anywhere from. Disneyland to 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. Right. It's kind of. clever. Mhm. Uh or if, you know, and. you're in Montreal, it's going to be. Canadian Mounties. Or maybe an Eiffel Tower. Right. If you. could um contact the company get them to. make you your own um like 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 and people. would take home your little branded. tchotchke. It was it was pretty cool and. it was a big hit in the '60s. And to uh. Aramark 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. That they felt like this was. the future because at the time, you. know, the early '60s, plastics was the. future. It was every 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. >> Right. You know? It was a a plastically optimistic time. That's right. And in the end they. manufactured about 200 of these machines.

over a 7-year period, but by 1971. they said, you know what, uh ARA said, we're we're getting out of this. Mold-A-Rama biz. Yeah. Should we take a break? Uh. yeah. We're we're going to go press. together our own little moldy dinosaur. and be right back. >> [music]. [music].

[music]. >> All right, Chuck. So ARA gets out of the. biz. And it's kind of understandable so why. There was there's a couple of big. problems with Mold-A-Rama machines. One, they're expensive to manufacture. They were like apparently 3,600 bucks. per Yeah. at the time. That was back in. 1962. So just under $30,000 today. It's.

a lot of money. for a little vending. machine. And then also, once you set. these things up, they required almost. constant attention. Um you had to go refill them with. plastic. You had to top off the fluids. You had to fix any parts. You had to. keep them clean. You had to get gum off. of them cuz again, these are interfacing. with little kids. Um 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.

um a couple of different groups. Yeah, I mean, th- this is a mechanical. like hydraulic machine that required. like. oil and antifreeze. It was it was no uh. 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. Okay. But um I guess. we should talk a little bit about how. these actually work, right? Yeah, we. kind of have to. And it'll be fun, I. promise. You ready? >> [laughter]. >> Well, I I will say this. First of all,

there are hydraulics. Yeah. And there. are these these two molds and you can go. to on YouTube and look at how these. things work. It's pretty neat. Um they these two molds, it's basically. one half of the little toy on each side. Oh yeah, the three like a. three-dimensional sculptured statuette. Yeah, so they move toward each other. with these hydraulics and they're. pressed together, forms a big seal. Mhm. Um and. it ends up. it ends up being hollow on the inside. That's kind of a.

a big point to make. It's like it's a. negative of the sculpture. Yeah. So then there's a couple of holes in the. bottom that lead into that sculpture. cavity. And into that you uh inject hot plastic. because one thing that a lot of people. don't realize about the Mold-A-Matic is. just beneath this this work surface that. is the the floor of what you can see, below that is a vat of 225 to 250° F.

molten plastic. just sitting there bubbling hot. Yeah, little pellets. They feed it in little. colored pellets. Right. Although for a. little while they actually had uh just. kind of neutral pellets that they used. colored powder. Right. >> But they at least wised up there and. said, why don't we just color the. pellets and just stick with the one. color. Yep. And then so the the system. has a closed um steam system that runs. hot steam through coils.

>> that runs through these plastic pellet. vat, this plastic pellet vat, and it it. melts the pellets and then keeps them. molten. So then when that when the the. um. the mold seals up above come together. and form that seal. hot plastic is injected into the um mold. and fills it up. Right. >> Hot plastic injection, great band name. Yep. Uh and then these things obviously. have to be cooled pretty quick like.

uh in order for them to uh I mean, what, solidify? Is that the right word? Mhm. Um but when they do come out, like you. said, they are warm. And um I'm surprised I mean, this seems. like something that you could not create. today. without there being so much liability on. your hands. Well, again, they still are. in use. They 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. >> 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." Mhm. Don't let the the molten. plastic drip on little little Timmy's. hand. >> That's exactly right. So 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 Mold-A-Rama. tchotchkes are so fragile, is that. they're hollow inside. Yeah. So the the.

um the 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 the shape of the mold, right? >> Mhm. 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. And. that's reused, right? 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 a. hollow object rather than a solid one. Right. 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 cuz there's still that hole at. the bottom that that little hot plastic. can, like you said, burn Timmy's hands. That's right. And the smell, Chuck. You've never smelled anything like it.

>> remember the smell? Yes, I can remember. the smell. It was. it's. it's at the same time pleasing and. totally noxious. Interesting. Like as a. kid, you're like, "Yeah, it smells weird. and cool." But as an adult, I'm sure. you'd be like, "This is going to kill my. whole family.". It it's going to kill my. great-grandchildren somehow. Well, back. then no one cared. No, they didn't. You. know. Uh and like we said, tons of upkeep. You know, you've got steam, you've got. hydraulic fluid. Mhm. You have. antifreeze. Mhm. Sometimes cold water,

but I would suspect antifreeze in most. cases. Yeah. Uh and. until the 1970s, like I said, you had um. uh powdered coloring. I mean, this whole thing is uh. I'm surprised they didn't explode. at any point. 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. Airmark was making them.

And then these things also, because they. put off these terrible fumes, they keep. they're they're kept outside. So they've. been sitting in the elements for 50-plus. years, and they still work. And they're. they're pretty pretty well-built. machines, for sure. I think they've. they've got some now that they have been. able to move indoors. Yeah, from using a. different type of plastic, I think. Yeah, I it's crazy these things had to. be outside. 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. you if you look at the canopies, you can. tell they're kind of new. They've been. outside basically for 50 years. I I'm so. going to be on the lookout for these. now. So there is a website, Chuck, called. uh waymarking, w a y m a r k i n g dot. com. They have a comprehensive list of every. single Mold-A-Rama in use today in the. United States, and they they have like. actual like longitude and latitude.

coordinates, if you wanted to I guess. geocache your way to them. Well, what I. want is an app that will text me when. I'm within 500 ft of one. Oh, that's a. that's a good idea. There's a $10 app. >> [laughter]. >> And that by $10 app I mean you would. make $10. Yeah. Other people are crazy for these. things still. We'll see. They're not in. Atlanta, right? Not that I saw, no. Ugh. But again, there's a bunch in Toledo. I found the. machine that I almost certainly got my. angel from. Oh, wow. It they keep it in.

storage at at Tam-O-Shanter, which is a. ice skating rink in um I guess a. Scottish ice skating rink, I don't know. In 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. And your DNA is on that machine. still. Somewhere. >> [laughter]. >> in the form of a wad of gum. All right. Well, let's take another. break. We'll come back and talk a little bit. about some of these fun figures and uh. the people that are still trying to keep.

this tradition alive. >> [music]. [music]. [music]. >> All right. So. here's the thing that I wanted to know. and that our article didn't get to till. three-quarters of the way through. I was.

like, "Can 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. Yes, but you can. change the color, and you'll have a. different color dinosaur. Well, until they started using the. single color pellets. Right. W- 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. Right. But could you say. purple and hit a purple button? No. Or.

it's whatever the kid who worked there. decided to put in that morning. >> That's exactly right. The thing is. though is is and again, it's not even. just the toy that comes out. The toy is, especially as a kid, invariably. disappointing. >> Sure. But it's the process. It's watching this. thing happen. And the the Mold-A-Rama. machines will have like little little. different lights that light up, like, "Now we're cooling. Now we're about to. to launch the toy to you." You know, it. it tells you what's going on, so you're. following the process, which is at least.

as as probably 80% of the the appeal of. the whole thing. >> Stand back right now, because if I were. to explode, it would be during this next. 8 seconds. >> [laughter]. >> Um all right. So. >> mom who's standing there missing her one. arm from saving you in a car wreck, it's. like, you probably should stand back. >> Exactly. Um. the no one knows exactly how many of. these molds were made, but there like we. said, are enthusiasts who collect these, and uh this one dude, Bill Bollman,

who owns one and runs moldville.com. Mhm. Bad bad URL there. Right? Yeah, it is bad. I got to 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. Yeah, that's where. he went MySpace, and then he went. Facebook. >> [laughter]. >> But there will never be another site. better than Facebook, so I'm sure it's. all over, right? Probably. So he um his estimate is about 300. designs. I bet it's more than that.

I don't know. This guy knows what he's. talking about. He. He counted 196. original ones. And then he said after the '60s, more. people started to make them. They. weren't just commissioned by Airmark, who was keeping track of these things. And and and I would I would say this. guy's probably the person on Earth who. could estimate how many there are the. closest. And not just me guessing. randomly. >> [laughter]. >> I bet it's more. And what's cool though.

also is again, like if you were. it you could be anybody. If you wanted a. a. Mold-A-Rama thing at your event, you. could. it could happen. Sure. >> Like I found there was a Circleville, Ohio Pumpkin Festival Mold-A-Rama. figure. >> Wonderful. 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, cuz again, there's 10 at the. Toledo Zoo. There's the one at. Tam-O-Shanter that I got my from. There.

was one in the '80s at the Toledo Mud. Hens 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. Right. And you, too, could have a. snowman, or a Grauman's Chinese Theatre,

or a space lab, or a Lawrence Welk. Yeah. Yeah. >> missile. Yeah, and NASA had a. a lot of these things, actually. I'm. sure. What else was there? Um well, the. Lawrence Welk, none of those were jokes. Those were real. Oh, yeah, for sure. There was a Titan 3C missile. and a Lawrence Welk. It says other. famous people. I'm kind of curious. I. didn't see anybody besides presidents. and Lawrence Welk. >> [laughter]. >> There's one of the Georgia State Capitol. Building.

Oh, really? Yeah. Um. there were some cool ones, actually. The. the Saint Louis Arch is surprisingly. cool. You wouldn't think it'd be that. cool. The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Mhm. Uh the. this one was kind of random. It was it's. a jai alai player, and then at the base. it says, "Jai alai in Miami." Mhm. Okay. Um the water skier from Cypress I. think Cypress Gardens, Florida.

And the mermaids from Weeki Wachee. Springs, Florida. >> Oh, we talked about them. Mhm. Um oh, here's one. Universal Studios had one. that made a Frankenstein coin bank. That's kind of cool. It is very cool. Like a lot of these are actually super. cool, especially the original retro. ones. You can actually see like. um. I can't remember the woman's name but. there's 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 the decisions she's. making. produces just a better Mold-A-Rama toy. Yeah. Because again you're you're. dealing with melted plastic in a mold. that is two halves pressed together. There's a lot of like. details that can go wrong and this this. great sculptor is is taking all of them.

into account making some really boss. ones. Like the Wienermobile. It's it's. art to behold. This the detail in that. is really really nice. Should we talk. about a couple of these companies that. are. still still going strong? Yeah, for. sure. Or at least going. No, they're going strong, man. Okay. Mhm. Good. Um there are a couple of them. one called Replication Devices and one. called Mold-A-Rama Incorporated. Replication Devices founded. by Elden Erwin 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 Strigels. in Florida. are operating 60 or 70 of these. Yeah, and let's think about this for a. second. So Elden Erwin bought dozens. Now they're up to 60. maybe 70. and those Mold-A-Rama machines have. supported three generations of this.

family. Fully? From what I understand, yes. I would I saw an interview with Tim. Strigel 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 Mold-A-Rama. Two bucks a pop. that's 260,000 gross. Times 60 or 70. So.

yeah, they're doing just fine. This other one Mold-A-Rama Inc. Like we're not asking anyone to open. their books for us. No, for sure and I certainly don't want. to shine the light on these people's. finances but but I'm just saying like. it's 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 them. I. just think that's super cool. Yeah, I. mean it sounds like.

it's kind of like people who own car. washes. Sure. Isn't it like a front always to. to launder money from drug sales? I. would guess. >> [laughter]. >> Think it's low hanging easy to to buy. I'm just kidding everyone out there that. owns. car washes. I've [clears throat] watched too much. Breaking Bad. Oh, that's right. That's right. But I. think that is like a legitimate thing. like car washes are like. >> Yeah, cash businesses are are ripe for. the picking. I forgot they bought that. car wash. Yeah. So Mold-A-Rama 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. Mold-A-Rama. then they expanded. bought more machines and it is still a. family business again. They got about 60. of them. Yep. And they they were the William A. Jones. company and then I guess they got their. hands on the Mold-A-Rama trademark in.

2011 and they changed the name of the. company to Mold-A-Rama Inc. again. because that's originally what it was. called back when Aaron Mark was running. it. Yeah, they're mainly in the Midwest. Minnesota, Michigan. bunch of them in Illinois and one in. Texas it looks like. Right. Not bad. And then every once while you. have some independent operators like. Knoxville Zoo owns their own. They. apparently got theirs from Dollywood. which man Mold-A-Ramas at Dollywood. that'd make your wig spin.

>> [laughter]. >> There's this one cool thing I wanted to. shout out this toy store in Chicago. Rotofugi or Rotofuji not sure how you. pronounce it. They repurposed their own Mold-A-Rama. they they bought one and repurposed it. that was originally the LA Zoo and they. call it the Roto-Amatic. and they have something called a helper. dragon. They 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?

Yeah, I did. I saw a video of it but it. was kind of out of focus. Yeah, like it. just Google image the helper dragon. Roto-Amatic 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. Nice. That's my take on it. Very nice. And then there is this one other guy.

He is a Disney World Imagineer named. James Durand and he has built his own. Mold-A-Rama called the mini mold. and you just look at this guy you know. he's an Imagineer you look at this. machine. and you know I I would hire that guy to. build and do anything cuz he's clearly a. brilliant genius. Yep. Really cool. looking thing. And a bit of a show-off. frankly. You think? I'm just kidding. >> [laughter]. >> So I've got two more things. >> All right. The Mold-A-Rama.

used to be 50 cents. in in its original incarnation in 1962. which again thanks to our friends at. Westegg inflation calculator tells us. it's about $4.12. in 2017 money. Today you can get a Mold-A-Rama for two. bucks which means that the price has. gone down by half over the last 50. years. >> Oh, interesting. 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 you 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 is that aluminum would be sold. as scrap for recycling.

The thing is is this was years before. the green movement was ever even thought. of. This 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 he he. was like one of those great Midwestern. tinker inventor guys. >> Yeah. I I hats off to him. God bless all. those people. Yep. So there you go. Nativity figures. plastic. >> [laughter].

>> If you want to know more about. Mold-A-Rama 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 listener mail. I'm going to 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 [music]. adorable. Cuz 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 [music] 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? Yeah. Well Jake we have a really big.

surprise for you. If you will go to your. back door. >> [laughter]. >> I think you're going to find something. pretty special out there. 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 [music] in the world. Yeah, and your. mom is the best mom in the world. Yeah, that was pretty cool for her to write in. and let us know. [music] So way to go. Jake for listening to us. Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Yeah, thank you Jake. Thank you Jenny. We count literally count on people like. you to [music] spread the word so we. appreciate it. 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 him or her. You can send us an email to. stuffpodcast@iheartradio.com. >> [music]. >> Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts [music]. from iHeart Radio visit the iHeart Radio. app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you. listen to your favorite shows.