Transcript

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

From Stuff You Should Know · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 39 min · 7,207 words · 175 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Selects: What Is A Mold-A-Rama? | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW", an episode of Stuff You Should Know published December 8, 2025 (39 min, about 7,207 words). It mentions 144 people, works and ideas, including Moldorama, Charles Wayne Bryant, Charles W. Chuck Bryant, Moldorama, Charles Wayne Bryant.

What this episode is about

The content explores Mold-A-Rama, a nostalgic machine that produces small plastic toys, highlighting its unique charm and cultural significance. The discussion includes reflections on its quirky name and mentions a YouTube enthusiast who showcases her collection, emphasizing the enduring appeal of these vintage creations.

Key takeaways

  • Moldama: Nostalgic tech that injects joy, not mildew—like 3D printing before it was cool!
  • Sears Tower vs. Willis Tower: Buildings with identity crises—stop trying to make 'Willis' happen.
  • Moldama fumes: Free souvenir for those brave enough to resist fainting for plastic treasure.
  • Thirdman Records: Where the mere thought of Jack White can render rockers shy and voiceless.
  • Mint Condition Moldamas: More valuable than astronaut salaries—retro machines still thriving since the groovy '60s.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Charles Wayne Bryant, Jack White, Stuff You Should Know, Charles W. Chuck Bryant
  2. – 10:00: JH Miller, Tikeke, Toledo, Molduina.com / moldville
  3. – 15:00: World's Fair, Tikeke, World's Fair, Tikeke Miller
  4. – 20:00: Charles W. Chuck Bryant, Aramark, Toledo Zoo, Toledo Zoo
  5. – 25:00: Aramark, Children's Wonderland, Mami, antifreeze
  6. – 30:00: Circleville, Ohio, Pumpkin Festival (Circleville, Ohio), Circleville, Ohio, Lawrence Welk
  7. – 35:00: Moldorama, Moldorama, Moldorama, Moldorama Incorporated
  8. – 39:07: Charles W. Chuck Bryant, Charles Wayne Bryant, Golden Goat, Moldorama

Notable quotes from "Selects: What Is A Mold-A-Rama? | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW"

  • Hey everybody, Chuck here on a Saturday.
    about Charles Wayne Bryant · at
  • We're doing this show on Moldorama, which spoiler is a machine that makes that made and still makes these little plastic things, but has maybe one of the worst trade.
    about Moldorama · at
  • So, so the Tikeke and his wife established this company and in World War II, it really kind of grew because they cornered the market and they just kept going from there. And then about 10.
    about JH Miller · at
  • The song about the oneeyed, one-eared flying purple people, that was based on Tikeke Miller's creation from the 50s.
    about Tikeke Miller · at
  • 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 Montreals and Buddhas for like 50 cents, which is.
    about World's Fair · at
  • 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? Arra said, We're we're getting out of this.
    about Aramark · at
  • One called Replication Devices, one called Moldorama Incorporated. Replication Devices founded by Elden Irwin who bought a bunch of these. his dozens in the early 60s. eventually passed down through his family and right now his grandson and.
    about Replication Devices · at
  • Jones company and then I guess they got their hands on the Morama trademark in 2011 and they changed the name of the company to Moldorama Inc. again because that's originally what it was called back when Aramark was running it.
    about Moldorama Incorporated · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Charles Wayne Bryant — Person · Co-host · 5 mentions · first at
    Co-host and frequent main speaker; introduces the curated episode and participates throughout with questions, corrections, and commentary.
    Because I'm going to go ahead and plug this right off the top.
  • Charles W. Chuck Bryant — Person · Co-host · 4 mentions · first at
    One of the two main hosts guiding the discussion of Mold-A-Rama machines, adding anecdotes and reacting to Josh’s explanations.
    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 Wayne Bryant — Person · Co-host · 1 mention · first at
    One of the two main hosts; drives the discussion, asks questions, and adds personal anecdotes and commentary throughout the Mold-A-Rama episode.
  • Tikeke Miller — Person · Founder / inventor referenced · 3 mentions · first at
    Described as the originator (J. H. Miller / 'Tikeke') who created the figurines and moved from plaster to plastic; central historical figure behind the toys made by Moldorama machines.
  • JH Miller — Person · Referenced inventor / historical figure · 2 mentions · first at
    Central historical figure in the episode’s origin story: credited with early figurine-making that led to Mold-A-Rama’s development and later inventions like the 'Golden Goat.'
  • Bill Bowman — Person · Referenced collector / enthusiast · 1 mention · first at
    Cited as an authority/enthusiast who owns a machine and estimates the number of Mold-A-Rama mold designs; used to support claims about the hobbyist/collector ecosystem.
    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.
  • James Durand — Person · Referenced maker / Imagineer · 1 mention · first at
    Disney Imagineer mentioned as the builder of the 'Mini Molder' — an example of an enthusiast/creator carrying the concept forward.
    He is a Disney World Imagineer named James Durand and he has built his own moldramama called the Mini Molder. and you just look at this guy, he's an Imagineer. You look at this.
  • Tikeke — Person · 6 mentions · first at
    All right. We're going back to 1937 in the winter when JH Miller. Tikeke is his nickname.
  • Jack White — Person · 2 mentions · first at
    Me of a bygone era like where I went to Nashville recently and went to Jack White's Thirdman Records and he has one of those booths where you can go in and record a record.
  • Lawrence Welk — Person · 2 mentions · first at
    Right. And you too could have a snowman or a Groman's Chinese Theater or a space lab or a Lawrence Welk.
  • Elden Irwin — Person · 2 mentions · first at
    Called Moldorama Incorporated. Replication Devices founded by Elden Irwin who bought a bunch of these. his dozens in the early 60s. eventually passed down through his family and right now his grandson and his wife, the strials,.
  • William A. Jones — Person · 2 mentions · first at
    Yeah. So, Morama 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.
  • Josh Malcolm Clark — Person · 1 mention · first at
    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.
  • baby Jesus — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Figurines and they needed a replacement for his nativity scene. I guess his little baby Jesus was decapitated by his dog.
  • the Strials — Person · 1 mention · first at
    Eventually passed down through his family and right now his grandson and his wife, the strials, in Florida are operating 60 or 70 of these.
  • Tim String — Person · 1 mention · first at
    I saw an interview with Tim String 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.
  • James Durand — Person · 1 mention · first at
    He is a Disney World Imagineer named James Durand and he has built his own moldramama called the Mini Molder. and you just look at this guy, he's an Imagineer. You look at this machine.
  • Little Chuck — Person · 1 mention
  • Princess Jenny — Person · 1 mention

Companies & orgs

  • Aramark — Company · Manufacturer / operator (as ARRA) · 4 mentions · first at
    Company that manufactured Moldorama machines (referred to as ARRA/Aramark) in the 1960s, produced ~200 machines, then exited the business in 1971 and sold machines to other operators.
  • Moldorama Incorporated — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as one of the companies still operating Moldorama machines.
  • Automatic Retailers of America — Company · Early licensee / vending partner · 1 mention · first at
    Company that Tikeke Miller licensed the vending machine concept to; later became Aramark (ARRA) and manufactured Moldorama machines in the 1960s.
    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…
  • Replication Devices — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as one of the companies still operating Moldorama machines.
  • Disneyland — Company · Historical context · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as a location where branded Moldorama machines were used.
    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…
  • Roto Fugi — Company · Retail / creative operator example · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a Chicago toy store (Roto Fugi / Roto Amatic) that repurposed a mold and created a 'helper dragon' novelty using the vending/mold concept.
    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 that you can get for six…
  • NASA — Company · Themed client example · 3 mentions
    Mentioned in passing as an organization that had themed molds (e.g., Titan missile) — used to illustrate breadth of Moldorama clients/molds.
  • Stuff You Should Know — Company · 3 mentions · first at
    Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of iHeart Radio.
  • Toledo Zoo — Company · 3 mentions · first at
    1960s. Every moldramama machine that you might encounter, including 10 at the Toledo Zoo, by the way. that's awesome.
  • iHeart Radio — Company · 2 mentions · first at
    Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of iHeart Radio.
  • Moldville — Company · 2 mentions · first at
    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?
  • Children's Wonderland — Company · 2 mentions · first at
    Called well actually it's in Mami which is a suburb of Toledo but it's called a children's wonderland and it's like this amazing 3D Christmas walkthrough diarama basically that…
  • Disney World — Company · 2 mentions · first at
    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,.
  • Moldorama, Inc. — Company · 2 mentions · first at
    This other one, Moldorama, Inc., we're not asking one to open their books for us.
  • William A. Jones Company — Company · 2 mentions · first at
    Yeah. So, Morama 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.
  • carpetbagger.org — Company · 1 mention · first at
  • Automatic Retailers of America — Company · 1 mention · first at
    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 Montreals.
  • Sinclair Oil — Company · 1 mention · first at
    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…
  • moldville.com — Company · 1 mention · first at
    And, this one dude, Bill Bowman, who owns one and runs moldville.com.
  • Circleville, Ohio pumpkin festival — Company · 1 mention · first at
    Like I found there was a Circleville, Ohio pumpkin festival moldama figure.
  • Mudhens — Company · 1 mention · first at
    That I got mine from. There was one in the 80s at the Toledo Mudens Stadium and there's a Mudhens 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.
  • San Antonio Zoo — Company · 1 mention · first at
    Grandson and his wife operate it. And yes, I from what I understand it fully supports it. The San Antonio Zoo estimated that they make 130,000 figurines a year from their one moldramama.
  • Breaking Bad — Company · 1 mention · first at
  • car wash — Company · 1 mention · first at
    Yeah. Cash businesses are ripe for the picking. I forgot they bought that car wash.
  • Knoxville Zoo — Company · 1 mention · first at
    And then every once in a while you have just some independent operators like Knoxville Zoo owns their own. They apparently got theirs from Dollywood, which man, moldas at Dollywood, they make your wig spin.
  • Dollywood — Company · 1 mention · first at
    Just some independent operators like Knoxville Zoo owns their own. They apparently got theirs from Dollywood, which man, moldas at Dollywood, they make your wig spin.
  • Roto Fugi — Company · 1 mention · first at
    There's this one cool thing I wanted to shout out this toy store in Chicago, Roto Fugi or Rouji, not sure how you pronounce it.
  • LA Zoo — Company · 1 mention · first at
    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 that you can get for six bucks. And if you look up the helper dragon and these.
  • Simpsons — Company · 1 mention · first at
    Look up the helper dragon and these dudes, it is clear that they are Simpsons fans. Did you see this thing?
  • West Egg inflation calculator — Company · 1 mention · first at
    In its original incarnation in 1962, right? which again thanks to our friends at West Egg inflation calculator tells us is about $412 in 2017 money. Today you can get a…
  • grocery stores — Company · 1 mention · first at
    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…
  • Oscar Mayer — Company · 1 mention
  • stuffodcast@iheartradio.com — Company · 1 mention
  • Tam-O-Shanter — Company · 1 mention
  • Third Man Records — Company · 1 mention
  • Toledo Mud Hens Stadium — Company · 1 mention
  • waymarking.com — Company · 1 mention

Products & tech

  • Moldorama — Product · Case-study product / Historical vending product · 6 mentions · first at
    Central object of the episode — the on-demand injection blow-mold vending machine that created hollow plastic figurines; the hosts describe its history, mechanics, operators, and cultural impact.
  • Moldorama — Product · Business focus · 4 mentions · first at
    Main topic of the episode, discussing the history and operation of Moldorama machines that create plastic toys on demand.
    We're doing this show on Moldorama, which spoiler is a machine that makes that made and still makes these little plastic things, but has maybe one of the worst trade.
  • Miller aliens — Product · Product line / popular figurine series · 2 mentions · first at
    A branded line of figurines (also called Earth Invaders) produced by Tikeke Miller's company; includes the notable 'purple people eater' variant referenced in the episode.
    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.
  • Mini Molder — Product · Modern derivative / fan-built machine · 1 mention · first at
    A modern, smaller Moldorama-like machine built by Disney Imagineer James Durand (described as the 'Mini Molder'), illustrating ongoing maker/enthusiast interest.
    He is a Disney World Imagineer named James Durand and he has built his own moldramama called the Mini Molder. and you just look at this guy, he's an Imagineer. You look at this.
  • record — Product · 2 mentions · first at
    Thirdman Records and he has one of those booths where you can go in and record a record.
  • antifreeze — Product · 2 mentions · first at
    Yeah. Yeah. this is a mechanical like hydraulic machine that required like oil and antifreeze. It was no if it sounds like And I guess we can go into the process a little bit. It gets a little wonky for.
  • Golden Goat — Product · 2 mentions · first at
    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…
  • penny smasher — Product · 1 mention · first at
    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 a lot.
  • gumball machine — Product · 1 mention · first at
    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, right?
  • Earth Invaders — Product · 1 mention · first at
    That really put his company on the map as far as kids were concerned were called Earth Invaders.
  • Miller aliens — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Yeah. also known as Miller aliens. And there was a line of tons of them.
  • dishwear — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Just like on demand novelties but on demand everything like on demand dishwear on demand jewelry on demand combs on demand ashtrays that they felt like this was the future…
  • jewelry — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Just like on demand novelties but on demand everything like on demand dishwear on demand jewelry on demand combs on demand ashtrays that they felt like this was the future…
  • ashtrays — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Demand everything like on demand dishwear 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…
  • colored powder — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Although for a little while they actually had just kind of neutral pellets that they use colored powder, right?
  • hydraulic fluid — Product · 1 mention · first at
    And like we said, tons of upkeep, you've got steam, you've got hydraulic fluid, you have antifreeze, sometimes cold water, but I would suspect antifreeze in most cases.
  • Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Actually. The St. Louis Arch is surprisingly cool. You wouldn't think it'd be that cool. The Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile.
  • Frankenstein coin bank — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Oh, here's one. Universal Studios had one that made a Frankenstein coin bank. That's kind of cool.
  • helper dragon — Product · 1 mention · first at
    That was originally the LA Zoo and they call it the Roto Amatic. And they have something called a helper dragon that you can get for six bucks. And if you look up the helper…
  • Mini Molder — Product · 1 mention · first at
    He is a Disney World Imagineer named James Durand and he has built his own moldramama called the Mini Molder. and you just look at this guy, he's an Imagineer. You look at this machine and you're I would hire that guy.
  • aluminum cans — Product · 1 mention · first at
    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…
  • iHeart Radio app — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
  • combs — Product · 1 mention
  • oil — Product · 1 mention
  • plastic pellets — Product · 1 mention
  • Seattle World's Fair souvenirs — Product · 1 mention

Concepts & topics

  • Molduina.com / moldville — Concept · Collector community / fan hub · 2 mentions · first at
    Referenced as an online collector/enthusiast community (Moldville) and a dedicated collector who amassed many machines; resource for tracking machines.
    And, this one dude, Bill Bowman, who owns one and runs moldville.com.
  • Moldorama — Concept · 4 mentions · first at
    We're doing this show on Moldorama, which spoiler is a machine that makes that made and still makes these little plastic things, but has maybe one of the worst trade.
  • World's Fair — Concept · 4 mentions · first at
    Tower. Who keeps calling it Willis Tower? Stop that. Sears Tower or a a World's Fair or something.
  • injection molding — Concept · 3 mentions · first at
    Of sweet revenge. but they moved from plaster figures to plastic and got into a type of injection molding where u air is blown into it, which saves on plastic and creates a…
  • Purple People Eater — Concept · 2 mentions · first at
    But the one that is still today the most prized of all was the purple people eater.
  • Vending Machines — Concept · 2 mentions · first at
    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…
  • Seattle World's Fair — Concept · 2 mentions · first at
    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 Montreals and Buddhas for like 50 cents, which is.
  • Disneyland Toy Factory Moldaramas — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    I got to check that out. I saw her use one of the Disney Disneyland Toy Factory Moldaramas.
  • nativity scene — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    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.
  • liberty figures — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    Yeah. And we 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 Americanmade ones you could call liberty figures.
  • freedom fries — Concept · 1 mention · first at
  • Liberty Cabbage — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    Right. I think they actually called Sauerkraut Liberty Cabbage. I'm not kidding.
  • Buddhas — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    They premiered there doing little Space Needles and Montreals and Buddhas for like 50 cents, which is about four bucks today.
  • New York World's Fair — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    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.
  • World Expo — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    Yeah. So, like you said, anywhere from Disneyland to Montreal's World Expo.
  • Canadian Mounties — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    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 contact the company, get them to make you your own like signage I guess to put on the.
  • plastics was the future — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    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…
  • hydraulics — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    Well, I will say this. First of all, there are hydraulics.
  • steam system — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    Yep. And then so the system has a closed steam system that runs hot steam through coils.
  • injection blow molding — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    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…
  • compressed air — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    So 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.
  • geocache — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    Actual like longitude and latitude coordinates if you wanted to, I guess, geocache your way to them.
  • space lab — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    Right. And you too could have a snowman or a Groman's Chinese Theater or a space lab or a Lawrence Welk.
  • Titan missile — Concept · 1 mention · first at
  • Titan 3C missile — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    There was a Titan 3C missile in a Lawrence Welk. It says other famous people. I'm kind of curious.
  • Roto Amatic — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    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 that you can get for six…
  • Cyclops alien — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    Yeah, like just Google image the helper dragon rotoatic 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.
  • recycling — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    And then it would compact those cans and then later on that is that aluminum would be sold as scrap for recycling.
  • green movement — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    The thing 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.
  • 1964 to 1965 New York World's Fair — Concept · 1 mention
  • jai alai — Concept · 1 mention
  • Mold-A-Rama — Concept · 1 mention
  • Moldorama trademark — Concept · 1 mention
  • Toledo Zoo Mold-A-Rama machines — Concept · 1 mention

Places & events

  • World's Fair — Event · Launch / exposure events · 4 mentions · first at
    Key public exhibitions (Seattle 1962, New York 1964–65) where Moldorama machines were showcased and gained mass popularity.
  • Toledo Zoo — Place · Example operating site · 3 mentions · first at
    Cited as a current location with multiple operational Moldorama machines (hosts mention about 10 machines at the Toledo Zoo).
    About a sevenyear period during the 1960s. Every moldramama machine that you might encounter, including 10 at the Toledo Zoo, by the way. that's awesome.
  • Seattle World's Fair — Event · Setting · 2 mentions · first at
    Where Moldorama machines premiered in 1962.
    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 Montreals and Buddhas for like 50 cents, which is.
  • New York World's Fair — Event · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Where Moldorama machines became widely popular in 1964-1965.
    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.
  • Toledo Zoo — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as a location where Moldorama machines are still in use today.
    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.
  • Disneyland — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as a location where Moldorama machines were used.
    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…
  • Children's Wonderland — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at
    A Christmas-themed attraction in Mami where a Moldorama machine was located.
    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 moldama machine and it made a…
  • Dollywood — Place · Source / prior owner of a machine · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a place that previously owned Moldorama machines; Knoxville Zoo reportedly got one from Dollywood.
    And then every once in a while you have just some independent operators like Knoxville Zoo owns their own. They apparently got theirs from Dollywood, which man, moldas at Dollywood, they make your wig spin.
  • Mami — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at
    A suburb of Toledo where Children's Wonderland is located.
    I don't know. In Mami, 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.
  • Circleville, Ohio — Place · Local event example / custom mold subject · 2 mentions · first at
    Referenced as an example of a small local festival (Pumpkin Festival) that had its own Moldorama mold/figure (pumpkin).
    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.
  • Pumpkin Festival (Circleville, Ohio) — Event · Source of a custom mold · 2 mentions · first at
    Specific event that commissioned/was represented by a Moldorama figurine (pumpkin) demonstrating local/custom uses of the machine.
    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.
  • Toledo — Place · 5 mentions · first at
    1960s. Every moldramama machine that you might encounter, including 10 at the Toledo Zoo, by the way. that's awesome.
  • Circleville, Ohio — Place · 2 mentions · first at
    Like I found there was a Circleville, Ohio pumpkin festival moldama figure.
  • Sears Tower — Place · 1 mention · first at
    Let's say it's the Sears Tower, not Willis Tower. Is it Willis?
  • Willis Tower — Place · 1 mention · first at
    Let's say it's the Sears Tower, not Willis Tower. Is it Willis?
  • Quincy, Illinois — Place · 1 mention · first at
    Anyway, of Quincy, Illinois. he was 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.
  • Montreal — Place · 1 mention · first at
    Yeah. So, like you said, anywhere from Disneyland to Montreal's World Expo.
  • Eiffel Tower — Place · 1 mention · first at
    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 contact the company, get them to make you your own like…
  • St. Louis Arch — Place · 1 mention · first at
    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 Meyer Weiner Mobile.
  • Cypress Gardens, Florida — Place · 1 mention · first at
    H Okay. the water skier from Cypress, I think Cypress Gardens, Florida, and the mermaids from Wikiwatchi Springs, Florida.
  • Minnesota — Place · 1 mention · first at
    Yeah. And they're mainly in the Midwest, Minnesota, Michigan, bunch of them in Illinois and one in Texas it looks right?
  • Georgia State Capitol — Place · 1 mention
  • Graumans Chinese Theater — Place · 1 mention
  • Hialeah — Place · 1 mention
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  • Space Needle — Place · 1 mention
  • Weeki Wachee Springs — Place · 1 mention

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Full transcript with timestamps

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 moldama? Uh, I'm not even going to tell you what moldama 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 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, Arama. You know, it's kind of funny that you did that little doot doo.

Mhm. Because I'm going to go ahead and plug this right off the top. Okay. Uh we're doing this show on Moldorama, 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, Moldorama. 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 Moldarama um little plastic toys that she's collected.

carpetbagger.org. Oh yeah, moldama. Just look up that YouTube. She is adorable and she's the best. And when she

um shows her suitcase full of moldama 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 Moldaramas.

Yeah, I saw that. 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 show.

Okay, let's wait for I think five or six minutes and done. Yes. Time passes faster here at Stuff You Should Know, doesn't it?

It does. I'm 80 years old. So, so with like you said, moldama, 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 ondemand 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, not Willis Tower. Is it Willis?

Oh, yeah. That was Willis Tower. Sears Tower. Who keeps calling it Willis Tower? Stop that. Sears Tower or a or a uh a World's Fair or something.

Um and there is a machine that looks sort of like a jukebox from 50 feet 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

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 moldama.

Right. I think that was a pretty good job you just did of describing it. And I think this is super neat because this reminds me of a bygone era

like where uh I went to Nashville recently and went to Jack White's Thirdman Records

and he has one of those booths where you can go in and record a record. Mhm. What did you record?

Well, I didn't do it. I chickenened 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.

Oh. 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 to people to hear me.

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 a lot.

Yeah, those are cool. Not really, but still there's it's an app comparison. I will just say I'm surprised that my brother doesn't have a moldama in his basement. So, I am too because there's a guy uh 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 Molarama 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 sevenyear period during the 1960s. Every moldramama machine that you might encounter, including 10 at the Toledo Zoo, by the way. Um,

that's awesome. 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 Molarama 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.

They're still around. They are still around. I actually I got one at there's this thing in Toledo called well actually it's in Mami which is a suburb of Toledo but it's called a children's wonderland and it's like this amazing 3D Christmas walkthrough diarama 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 moldama machine and it made a gold smelly plasticky angel. It was kind of boring, a 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 Moldarama, 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.

Sure. Okay. Nostalgizing. I think that's a word, right? It is now. All right. We're going back to 1937 in the winter when JH Miller. Tikeke is his nickname.

Mhm. Uh I don't know what that comes from. Was he little? I don't not that I saw.

Well, 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.

Like, you got to buy the whole nativity scene. And he was like, "What am I going to do with that?"

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?

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 II came around, they said nine for you. Right. And we had a shortage.

Yeah. And we all we wanted was um liberty figures is what they called them during World War II. Not nativity because the Germans had supplied us with nativity figures. So Americanmade ones you could call liberty figures.

Is that like freedom fries? Right. I think they actually called Sauerkraut Liberty Cabbage. I'm not kidding.

So, so the the uh Tikeke and his wife established this company and um in World War II, 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 II, 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 and got into um a type of injection molding where u 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 Tikeke. 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 added 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. 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.

Oh yeah. 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 oneeyed, one-eared flying purple people, that was based on Tikeke Miller's creation from the 50s.

I think it was the other way around. Uh I don't think so. Oh, I think the song was based on the figure.

It says here, "The purple pe 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 because 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. Tikeke's great grandson. Yeah,

little Tikeke. 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 could make these things on demand." And he was successful. He licensed this thing actually to uh what would eventually become a mark, which everyone knows that's that companyy's still around.

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 Montreals

and Buddhas and Buddhas for like 50 cents, which is about four bucks today. So, it 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 moldramama. 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. 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 uh 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 statueette that had that. You could set it up and and people would take home your little branded chachki. It was it was pretty cool. It was a big hit in the 60s and to uh Aramarker Arra 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 dishwear 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 seven-year period. But by 1971, they said, "You know what? Uh, Arra said, "We're we're getting out of this moldama biz."

Yeah. Should we take a break? Uh, yeah. We're going to go press together our own little moldy dinosaur and be right back.

Learning things with chalk and Josh you should know. All right, Chuck. So, ARRA gets out of the biz and it's kind of understandable. So, why there was there's a couple of big problems with moldramama 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 per machine 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 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. Um, so there was a lot of maintenance and upkeep to them as well. So Aramark said, "We're done." And in the 70s they sold off their machines to um a couple of different groups.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, 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 we kind of have to. And it'll be fun. I promise. You ready? Well, I will say this. First of all, there are hydraulics.

Yeah. And there are these these two molds. And you can go 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 statueette. Yeah. So they move toward each other with these hydraulics and they're pressed together. Forms a big seal.

Um and it ends up it ends up being hollow on the inside. That's kind of a a a big point to make. It's a 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 moldmatic is just beneath this the work surface that is the the floor of what you can see below that is a vat of 225 to 250° Fahrenheit 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 use 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.

Crazy. 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.

That's right. Hot plastic injection. Great band name. Yeah. 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 surpris 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 and 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 moldama chachkis 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 it takes on this 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 when it's reused. 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 because there's still that hole at the bottom that that little hot plastic can like you said burn Timmy's hands.

That's right. The smell, Chuck, you've never smelled anything like it. Do you 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, "Ah, this smells weird and cool." But as an adult, I'm sure you'd be like, "This is going to kill my whole family. You know, 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,

you have antifreeze, 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 Aramark 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. 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 that these things had to be outside. Yeah. And they still are. Most of them are. A lot of them have like kind of builtin 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.

I I'm so going to be on the lookout for these now. So there is a website, Chuck, called uh way marking w a y m a r k i n.com.

They have a comprehensive list of every single molarama 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. And by $10 app, I mean you would make $10. Yeah. Although people are crazy for these things still is. We'll see.

There none in Atlanta, right? 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.

Oh, wow. It they keep it in storage at at Tamos Shanner, which is an ice skating rink in um I guess a Scottish ice skating rink. I don't know. In in Mami, 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 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. Learning things with char.

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, 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? 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 it's 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 mold 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's it tells you what's going on. So, you're following the process, which is at least as is 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,

right? Um All right. And your mom who's standing there missing her one arm from saving you in a car wreck is like you probably should stand back.

Exactly. Um, 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 Bowman, who owns one and runs moldville.com.

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 it 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?

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 that's true 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 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. I bet it's more. And what's cool though also is again like if you were you could be anybody. If you wanted a a a moldama thing at your event, you could it could happen. Sure.

Like I found there was a Circleville, Ohio pumpkin festival moldama 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 because again there's 10 at the Toledo Zoo. There's the one at Tamos Shanner that I got mine from. There was one in the 80s at the Toledo Mudens Stadium and there's a Mudhens 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 Groman's Chinese Theater or a space lab or a Lawrence Welk.

Yeah. Or a Titan missile. Yeah. NASA had a uh a lot of these things actually. I'm sure.

What else was there? Um well the Lawrence Welk. None of those were jokes. Those are real.

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

I didn't see anybody besides President and Lawrence Welk. There's one of the Georgia State Capital building.

Oh, really? Yeah. Um, there were some cool ones actually. The the St. Louis Arch is surprisingly cool. You wouldn't think it'd be that cool. The Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile.

Uh, this one was kind of random. It was It's a Halai player and then at the base it says Hyalai in Miami.

H Okay. Um, the water skier from Cypress, I think Cypress Gardens, Florida, and the mermaids from Wikiwatchi Springs, Florida.

Oh, we talked about them. 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 is a woman who was hired by one of the companies that still operate these things uh 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 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 uh this great sculptor is is um taking all of them into account, making some really boss ones like the Wii mobile. Yeah,

it's it's art to behold. Just the detail in it is really really nice. Should we talk about a couple of these companies that are uh 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 uh one called Replication Devices, one called Moldorama Incorporated. Um Replication Devices founded by Elden Irwin who bought a bunch of these. his dozens in the early 60s. Uh eventually passed down through his family and right now his grandson uh and his wife, the strials, um in Florida are operating 60 or 70 of these.

Yeah. And let's think about this for a second. So Elden Irwin bought dozens. Now they're up to 60, maybe 70.

And those Morama machines have supported three generations of this family. fully

from what I understand. Yes. Okay. I I saw an interview with Tim String 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, I from what I understand it fully supports it. The San Antonio Zoo estimated that they make 130,000 figurines a year from their one moldramama.

Two bucks a pop. That's 260,000 gross. times 60 or 70. So, yeah, they're doing just fine.

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

No, for sure. And I certainly don't want to shine a 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 uh it's kind of like people own car washes. Sure. Isn't it like a front always to to launder money from drug sales?

I would guess. I think it's lowhanging, easy to to buy. I'm just kidding. Everyone out there that owns car washes.

I watch 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, um, Morama Inc., like I said, William A. Jones Company, uh, 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 Morama.

Uh, then they expanded um, 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 Morama trademark in 2011 and they changed the name of the company to Moldorama Inc. again because that's originally what it was called back when Aramark was running it.

Yeah. And 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 in a while you have just some independent operators like Knoxville Zoo owns their own. They apparently got theirs from Dollywood, which man, moldas at Dollywood, they make your wig spin.

Uh there's this one cool thing I wanted to shout out uh this toy store in Chicago, Roto Fugi or Rouji, not sure how you pronounce it.

I don't know. Um they repurposed uh their own mold. 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 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?

Uh yeah, I did. I saw a video of it, but it was kind of out of focus. Yeah, like just Google image the helper dragon uh rotoatic 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 that's my take on it.

Very nice. And then there is this one other guy. Mhm. He is a a Disney World Imagineer named James Durand and he has built his own moldramama called the Mini Molder. Uh 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 because he's clearly a brilliant genius.

Yep. Really cool looking thing and a bit of a showoff, frankly. You think? No, I'm just kidding.

So, I've got two more things. All right. The moldama used to be 50s in in its original incarnation in 1962, right? which again thanks to our friends at West Egg inflation calculator tells us is about $412 in 2017 money. Today you can get a molarama 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 Tikeke 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 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 had he was like one of those great Midwestern tinker inventor guys.

Yeah, hats off to him. God bless all those people. Yep. So there you go. Nativity figures plastic. If you want to know more about molarama, 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 uh just kind of a quick shout out. We don't do these a lot um because we get a lot of shout out requests, but this one was adorable cuz this little kid.

Mhm. So, this is from Jenny. Uh 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. Uh, and you love the show so much. Um, 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? Yep. Well, Jake, we have a really big surprise for you. If you will uh go to your back door, 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 uh heard this beforehand and is the best mom in the world.

Yeah, but your mom is the best mom in the world. 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.

Yeah, thank you, Jake. Thank you, Jenny. We count literally count on people like you to 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. Uh, you can send us an email to Stuff Podcast@ iheartradio.com. Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Selects: What Is A Mold-A-Rama? | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW"?

Charles W. "Chuck" Bryant (Host), Josh Clark (Host), Jerry (Guest), Jenny (Guest), Jake (Guest).

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

The content explores Mold-A-Rama, a nostalgic machine that produces small plastic toys, highlighting its unique charm and cultural significance. The discussion includes reflections on its quirky name and mentions a YouTube enthusiast who showcases her collection, emphasizing the enduring appeal of these vintage creations.

What is mentioned in this Stuff You Should Know episode?

144 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Moldorama, Charles Wayne Bryant, Charles W. Chuck Bryant, Moldorama, Charles Wayne Bryant, Tikeke Miller. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Selects: What Is A Mold-A-Rama? | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW"?

The episode runs 39 min; the transcript is about 7,207 words in 175 timestamped sections.

More from Stuff You Should Know

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated February 10, 2026.