Mold-A-Rama is a brand name for a type of vending machine

Vending machine

A vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine....

 that makes blow-molded

Blow molding

Blow molding is a manufacturing process by which hollow plastic parts are formed. In general, there are three main types of blow molding: extrusion blow molding, injection blow molding, and stretch blow molding. The blow molding process begins with melting down the plastic and forming it into a...

 plastic figurines. Mold-A-Rama machines debuted in late 1962 and grew in prominence at the 1964 New York World's Fair

1964 New York World's Fair

The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...

. The machines can still be found operating in some museums and zoos.

History

American inventor John H. "Tike" Miller is credited with conceiving a free-standing, plastic molding machine in the 1950s. He licensed his mold-making patent and related technology to the Automatic Retailers Association, a vending machine company, which operated Mold-A-Rama machines as a subsidiary company through 1969. As of 2010, two US companies own and operate Mold-A-Rama machines, the William A. Jones Company in Illinois and Replication Devices in Florida.

External links

• Mold-A-Mania collector site
• Moldaramaville collector site
• Mold-A-Rama Machines category on Waymarking.com
• Replicatorinc Blog site