Jim’s Mold-A-Rama page

Link to my auctions: 

Jim’s pressed penny page

 

FLORIDA, OHIO & OTHER MACHINES

 

Mold-A-Rama collecting is a lot of fun, but the resources on the Internet are rather sparse.  Many websites that purport to be complete listings are woefully out-of-date.

 

I will never be able to compile a complete listing of Mold-A-Rama designs, locations or colors.  Nonetheless, I have decided to post parts of my collection to help give a more complete picture of the toys that are available.  More will be posted as I photograph the collection.  Worth noting: there are no Mold-A-Rama machines at Disney World or Disneyland.

 

DUE TO THE NUMBER OF LISTINGS, I HAVE SPLIT THE PAGE INTO SEPARATE STATES

My home is in the Detroit area, so I regularly keep track of the Henry Ford Museum machines. All other machines are monitored only during rare visits.

 

MICHIGAN

FLORIDA

ILLINOIS

OHIO

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OTHER/

UNKNOWN

 

 

 

Recent updates:

February 2023 – Henry Ford Museum

February 2023 – Universal Studios Orlando (from January)

February 2023 – Museum of Science & Industry Mold-a-Rama exhibit (from December 2022)

 

 

 

 

 

FLORIDA

 

Universal Studios Florida, Orlando, Florida

 

Reported August 21, 2020: Although Halloween Horror Nights was canceled for 2020, a HHN “tribute” store has opened at Universal Studios with themed merchandise.  Inside the store is a M-A-R machine renamed as “Franken-Mold.”  It makes a green full-body Frankenstein monster with a cost of $6.  I do not have photos to share, but have seen photos from friends in Florida.

 

The store is quite busy, and there is typically a 30-45 minute wait to enter in observance of social distancing rules.  There are no other M-A-R machines at the store, and we know of no machines in other sections of the park.

 

UPDATE: MARCH 16, 2022: Apologies for failing to update this in a timely fashion – During my January 5, 2022 visit to the Universal Legacy Store at Universal CityWalk I found two machines.  Jaws is offered in silver-grey, and King Kong (gorilla) in dark red.  I did not buy samples, but it appears they each have “Universal Studios” on the base.  They cost $6 each.

 

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UPDATE: JULY 15, 2022: In a press release, Universal Studios Florida has announced the reopening of its Sahara Traders store.  The photo shows a “Franken-Mold” machine with a grey monster. It appears the new price point is $8. I have not personally confirmed availability. 

 

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(photo courtesy Universal Studios Florida)

 

UPDATE OCT. 23, 2022 – New designs and colors have been added for Halloween season.  Friends have reported a green Creature from the Black Lagoon at the Red (Dead) Coconut Club and a purple cat with witch’s hat (possibly at CityWalk).

 

UPDATE JANUARY 2023:  Two molds are available at the Universal Legacy Store in CityWalk.  Harvested on January 4, 2023 were the silver Jaws toy (this one has the shark’s head) and grey Back to the Future clock tower.  The price was $8. 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa, Florida. 

 

Harvested April 2013. 8 machines available, cost $2 each as of 2013.  4 have been switched to dinosaur molds during the dinosaur exhibit, which runs through late May 2013.  It is expected the machines will switch back to the molds shown below after the special exhibit has run.  The dinosaur molds have the dinosaur name, but are not marked with the zoo’s name.

 

The dinosaur molds are stegosaurus, brontosaurus, T-Rex, and pterodactyl.  These temporarily replace the panther, tiger, rhino, and manatee molds.

Of the other 4 molds, 2 have had color changes: koala and elephant.  The monkeys and giraffe molds are the same color as last year.

 

 

 

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Harvested April 2012 (below).  There are 8 machines available, and the toys cost $2 each.  The black manatee is the same mold as the silver TECO manatee viewing area design.  The machines are located outdoors, except the manatee machine (located under an overhang at the manatee underwater viewing building).

 

The machines have the same basic design and color scheme.  Most machines are painted green.  The exceptions are the koala machine (yellow) and the monkeys machine (blue).  Designs: dark green elephant; black 3 monkeys; dark gray manatee; pink panther; orange tiger; red giraffes; dark purple koala.  Not shown: rhino (green).  ▼▼▼▼

 

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Lowry Park zoo machines

 

 

Tampa Electric Company (TECO) manatee viewing area, Apollo Beach, Florida.  Harvested in January 2012.  This facility is open seasonally, and is closed during summer months.  There are two machines on-site; each takes $2 to produce a toy (2012 price). 

 

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Manatee viewing area: blue dolphin; silver manatee

 

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TECO manatee viewing center machines

 

 

Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI), Tampa, Florida.  One machine (red butterfly) is located on the first floor, beyond the Information desk, near the back door leading to the outside amphitheater area.  There may be other machines in the museum – some listings show 3 machines without revealing their locations.  The butterfly machine can be reached without paying museum admission.  Price of M-A-R: $2.  (info current as of June 2012; probably outdated now)

 

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Busch Gardens, Tampa, Florida: I have not been to Busch Gardens, but my son tells me the price was $3 per figure (in 2012).

 

 

OHIO

 

TOLEDO ZOO, Toledo, Ohio:  OCT. 2022 UPDATE – After a 3-year absence, I visited on September 28, 2022 and found some changes to the molds, a lot of color changes, and a price increase to $5.

 

New molds: dark green monkeys replace the lion, and a red panda replaces the koala.  This is timely, considering the popularity of the Disney/Pixar film “Turning Red.”  I purchased a red panda, but had to just take pictures through the glass of the other designs.  Photos of each are shown below.

 

The current list: white polar bear; dark green monkeys; blue leaping cougar; yellow mother & baby giraffe; red red panda; black gorilla; grey penguin; red hippo; brown elephant; orange crouching tiger.

 

 

The signage in October 2022 was inaccurate, still showing the older 2019 selection that included the koala and lion, as well as other colors:

 

 

 

10/3/2019.  The zoo has 10 machines scattered across the property and call their machines “Mold-A-Matic.”  They reportedly substitute some Halloween-themed molds during that season.  When I visited on August 29 and October 3, 2019, they had the following: reddish-pink koala; grey gorilla (toy displayed in the machine is black); yellow mother & baby giraffe; brown elephant; white polar bear; grey penguin; green lion; light blue cougar; orange tiger; and reddish-pink hippo.  All have “TOLEDO ZOO” on the base.  The tiger mold has “TIGER” on the back of the base, and the koala toy has “KOALA” just above the base on the front.  None of the others have the animal name listed on them.

 

Here is the complete set of 10 toys:

 

 

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Toledo Zoo, August & October 2019

 

The Toledo Zoo machines:

 

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Toledo Zoo sign – not a map, though

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OTHERS

 

TENNESSEE

 

Third Man Records, Nashville TN Purchased at the store, pre-made, for $2 because they felt sorry for me for making a long trip only to find the machine out of order.  Third Man Records is a music store owned by Jack White of the White Stripes.  There are various novelty machines such as a mini-recording studio the size of a phone booth.  Like his Detroit store, they have a “Wax-O-Matic” machine.  This one makes a red guitar that is approximately 5.5” tall and 3.5” wide (the Detroit store produces a yellow mobile record store truck).  Purchased May 16, 2021.  The normal price is probably $3 as in Detroit.

 

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WISCONSIN

 

Kalahari Resort, Wisconsin Dells – sometimes you find them when you least expect them.  This dark grey elephant is available at Kalahari Resorts in Wisconsin Dells.  The machine is located near the ticketing area for the water park (indoors and accessible from the resort lobby).  The cost is $3 (on April 30, 2022).  The toy’s base has “KALAHARI RESORT” on one side and “WISCONSIN DELLS” on the other.  It measures about 4-1/8” tall.

 

August 22, 2022 update: When I visited on this date, there were no mold machines on the property.  I had heard of a second design, but neither one was there that day.  I’m thinking they may be updating the machine(s) to raise the price, but I don’t know for sure.

 

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Miscellaneous sources:

 

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Mickey Mouse – base says “Mickey Mouse,” and back base has copyright info for Walt Disney company.

Origin unknown, but most likely a museum in Chicago or Dearborn.  This appears to be

the same mold in a now-inoperable World’s Fair/Disneyland machine at the Volo Auto Museum in Illinois.

 

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Dinosaurs – Yellow Rex is marked “Tyrannosaurus” on one side and “COSI” on the other – from COSI Toledo

Beige Rex is marked “Tyrannosaurus” on one side, and no markings on other side.  Mold is otherwise identical to yellow Rex.

Blue stegosaurus is marked “Stegosaurus,” but with no origin noted. 

red Stegosaurus is old, and is from the Sinclair traveling World’s Fair exhibit – marked “Sinclair Dinoland”

 

On occasion I will list Mold-a-Rama toys on eBay.  Link to my auctions: 

 

Jim’s pressed penny page

New 04/29/2012

Revised 2/19/2023