Jim’s Mold-A-Rama page
Link to my
auctions: 
ILLINOIS 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listings are woefully out-of-date.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.
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)
ILLINOIS
Willis Tower, Chicago, Illinois
Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) has two
Mold-A-Rama machines in its arcade. The
arcade is between two gift shops at the exit to the Sky Deck attraction in the
2nd-level basement. Follow the signs to
the Sky Deck attraction entrance, and then ask to visit the gift shop. You will
pass through security and then be escorted (free of charge) to the gift shop
area. Pass through the gift shop to
reach the arcade.
The MARs are $3 each. Designs: blue Chicago skyline, and black
Willis Tower. Info accurate as of April
29, 2019.
Volo Auto Museum, Volo, Illinois
UPDATE AUGUST 2022: I visited on August 19, 2022. The Volo Auto Museum now has 3 “Disneyland”
machines, with a red Mickey Mouse, blue Goofy, and a yellow Donald Duck (the
newest design). On the day of my visit
only the Mickey Mouse machine was working, but they had the other two toys
available at the ticket counter for sale ($10).
This transportation museum northwest of Chicago
has two original World’s Fair/Disneyland machines. The Mickey Mouse machine is out of order
(apparently permanently). The Goofy
machine is still operating, and sells the toys for $5 each. The underside of the Goofy toy has inscribed
in its base “Moldville.com est 2011.”
I visited in August 2018. According to a video on YouTube, the
mold is switched every 6 months or so.
My son visited in January 2019, though, and both machines had the same
designs as in August 2018, and both were out of order.
The machines were originally located at the
1964-1965 New York World’s Fair. They
were never at Disneyland, though – the Disneyland name was only used to promote
the park at the fair. The machines also
include original painted Marx dime-store figures that were used to dress up the
display. Those are not Mold-A-Rama
figures. On occasion they can be found
on Ebay.
UPDATE: July 2019: I have received word from a
technician who used to service machines at Disneyland Park in California. While
these particular machines were not used at the park, he says there were other
Mold-A-Rama machines there – he remembers a gold Mickey and a Goofy machine in
the building that now serves as Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln in the
1960s. The machines were blue and the toys
cost 25 cents each. “I also seem to
remember we had some in Tomorrowland for a short time. (Remember this was over
50 years ago) I also seem to remember the vending company I worked for had
originally bought the machines from the inventor but sold them a year or two
later. I also seem to remember there were four machines at Marineland of the
Pacific.” Thanks to James J. for that
recollection.
2018 photos:
The Mickey mold is
broken, so the machine is out of order.
The toy appears to be
the same as one I have in my collection from an unknown source,
pictured in the miscellaneous section of the
“other states” page.
Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago
Harvested April 2014. 4 machines are located on the ground
level. Each costs $2. The designs are: Tyrannosaurus Rex (red);
Apatosaurus (green); Triceratops (light blue); giraffes (orange). The giraffes were added in late 2013 or early
2014, replacing another dinosaur mold.
The giraffes are advertised as part of a special exhibition (“The
Machine Inside”), and changed when that exhibit ran its course.
Each dinosaur has the mold name on one side of
the base, and “Field Museum Chicago” on the reverse of the green and red
figures, and “Field Museum” on the Triceratops.
The giraffe mold has only “Field Museum” on the base.
April 2018 update: The cost is now $3 per mold,
and the machines take coins, currency or credit cards. The current designs: red
T Rex, medium blue Triceratops, dark green Apatosaurus, and orange elephant.
The information desks have a list of locations.
April 27, 2019 update: same 4 designs
plus pale yellow or white Stegosaurus.
This may have been available in previous years, but this is the first
time I have visually confirmed it.
2019 photo:
2018 photos:
2014 photos:
Museum of Science & Industry (MSI), Chicago Illinois. Early to mid-2000s. Also see the Abraham Lincoln design shown
with the Henry Ford Museum collection.
It has a base (the Henry Ford Museum example does not have a base). These same designs remained available in
November 2013. Although the museum had a
Disney exhibition in 2013, it did not present any Disney-related MARs.
Locomotive; farm
tractor; space shuttle; color variations for U-Boat (grey & black)
Chicago machines:
CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS OF
MACHINE LOCATIONS
NEW MACHINE: JET AIRPLANE
Added late 2013 or early 2014 to the simulator
area on the upper (balcony) level.
April 2018 update: The price has been raised to
$3 per mold. The machines take coins, currency, or credit cards. Machine locations are shown on the guide
map. I verified the following machines
during this visit: locomotive, tractor, U-boat, space shuttle. I believe the jet fighter is still in place
(it is still shown on the guide map).
FEBRUARY 2023 UPDATE: I visited the
museum’s temporary exhibit about the history of Mold-a-Ramas, which is included
as part of regular admission and runs through 2023. The exhibit shows rare retired toys, and four
machines were moved from the museum’s regular lineup to produce new toys on old
molds. The four new toys were a silver
robot, green 1962 Seattle World’s Fair monorail, white angel ornament, and blue
HMS Bounty. As with other locations
serviced by the Mold-a-Rama company, the price is now $5 per toy.
Machine and toy photos are shown
here:
Select photos of the exhibition:
Also during my December 2022 visit,
the museum had a red Santa and a green Christmas tree mold available:
Brookfield Zoo,
Chicago Illinois. Harvested
around August 2008.
On occasion I will list
Mold-a-Rama toys on eBay. Link to my
auctions: 
New 04/29/2012
Revised 2/20/2023