MOLD-A-RAMA Triceratops Machine at the Field Museum in Chicago

I regret that I mispoke at the end and said "Tyrannosaurus is my favorite". Obviously I meant Triceratops.
I was going through some old hard drives and found this video from May 10th 2014.
#Triceratops
#Dinosaurs

[@MidwestMedic]

Wow. All the nostalgic feels. The smell of the plastic. The warmth of it in the hand. Those things were great. Glad to know they’re still around.

[@rdear]

Last week I went to the Henry Ford museum with my wife and two kids. They had about a dozen or so of those machines. I got an Edison’s first lightbulb one, my wife got a bust of Abraham Lincoln, my son got the mustang and my daughter got a model of Rosa Parks’ bus. It never got old or boring watching them and pulling the model out when it was done.

[@joshjlmgproductions3313]

Ay, cool. I also got the Mustang one.

[@John_Ridley]

I got a weinermobile :)

[@rdear]

@@John_Ridley my now ex-wife got a weinermobile. Thanks for that awful memory! I’m reporting your account to KZbin for hate speech or something.

[@macbomb]

"It's for my son...." yeah my dad said that too!

[@joshridderhoff2050]

Our zoo had these when I was a kid. Short of getting to ride the train, it was seriously my favorite part of the day. I can still smell them... aw, the nostalgia.

[@monkeyaxis]

I had one from there in my childhood too! Awesome to see again.

[@WaltSorensen]

My childhood too, back from an era when cool machines were a staple of museums, visitors centers, and tourist locations.

[@Roy_Godiksen]

That came out impressively well! It looked Great! I'd get two.

[@cushmanproductions]

I love everything about Chicago's museums.

[@gdj1980]

I had one of those from that exact same machine from 30 years ago. Interesting to see it is still there pumping out childhood memories for $2 a pop.

[@frollard]

Black hoses on top = cooling water to make the plastic solidify quickly. air hoses to cylinders = clamping force as destin says.

[@FailedRorschachTest]

I grew up near Chicago, and we would go to the field museum all the time. Sometimes I would get to have one of these molded plastic dinosaurs, usually Usually brontosaurus, always destroyed within a week. So when I visited it, by myself, as an adult, I was wandering around the lower levels when I smelled something familiar. The acrid and sickly sweet aroma drew me to the, until then, forgotten mold-a-Rama. When I plucked my green brontosaurus from the tray, just as I had as a kid, in this beautiful building that absolutely inspired a lasting wonder and curiosity in me. I smilies, and I cried.

[@Tinker_it]

These are awesome, i remember getting dolphins like this when I was a kid in Florida.

[@Deacetis1991]

My childhood, field trips to the field museum! The whole class would line up at these things. I had so many of these dinos.

[@jimbo111589]

I love Chicago's museums. I buy a membership to MSI every year for my family. We go about ten times a year, never get tired of it.

[@geneard639]

The Sinclair Traveling Dinosaur Exhibit originally was part of the 1964 World's Fair in Queens. Mold-A-Rama were part of it, each dinosaur had a dedicated machine. I got a T-Rex and Stegosaurus, also in the line up Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, and the most popular Brontosaurus.

[@silverstar9000]

I remember the smell of those things. Really brings back childhood memories!

[@twaddington]

When I was a kid they had two of these at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison. I still remember how they smelled. Best part of the Zoo.

[@smith8825]

That looks pretty big for only costing 2 dollars

[@Surgical02]

That's what she said...

[@smith8825]

Surgical02 lol

[@lotrnerd5037]

It’s an old machine. Back then2 dollars was worth more

[@WaltSorensen]

It's mostly air, if you look closely at the bottom you can see three holes, two are for injecting air and venting. The process melted polyethylene pellets at about 225 degrees and then injected the resulting liquid into a two-piece mold. Before the plastic could completely cool, a blast of high-pressure air would push any remaining liquid out a drainage hole in the bottom of the mold, leaving the sculpture hollow

[@Liza.Wharton]

I feel like $2 is way too over-priced for one mold. I bet it costs less than 10 cents to make but this is a novelty, one mold per machine type of deal which isn't suitable for mass-production.

[@CaptainCretaceous91]

I would be so happy if they made these machines again.

[@TechPlasma]

I remember that machine. Used to always get one from there when I was a kid and we were visiting the Field Museum.

[@ryanmartinson4531]

We had an entire set if these when we were kids. My mother had collected them from the local zoo. Thank you for pulling back the curtain on the mystery of how they were made.

[@mikem1959]

An identical machine used to spit out dinosaurs for 50 cents at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago... 55 year ago.!!

[@EtzEchad]

I bet it glows in the dark! I remember those machines from my childhood too. I think it cost $0.25 then though.

[@micahphilson]

It'd be great if it had a clear mold so you could watch it injecting!

[@Shaeress]

Yeah, but that's pretty hard. The pressure is needed, so is the hating/cooling cycles and we want the mold to last for a long time, so we want a material that's hard (but not hard enough to shatter/explode if it breaks under pressure), that doesn't crack or deform by repeated cooling/heating, that can withstand the pressure (obviously) and that's not too expensive (the mould is carved from two solid blocks). Glass could probably do it for something this small, but its lifespan would be reduced and it's often a difficult material to shape, but the kicker is that glass can break rather violently under pressure and can break from repeated heating/cooling cycles.

[@mattmicken6379]

Like 4 or 5 years ago, we (my work) worked with with some local foundries to develop a process for rapidly designing and 3D printing molds for wax (They were investment foundries). The molds were translucent plastic, and although they didn't conduct the heat into the plattens of the molding presses very well, they did allow you to see the wax flow through the cavities of the mold. The guys in the foundries that we tested them in loved watching the wax flow in a new mold, but we're sick of them after about the 5th shot because the wax would start sticking due to the heat.

[@Lazy070988]

"I'll cover it in glitter!" xD

[@eaterdrinker000]

She's a dinazzler.

[@nickmoniker]

Chigago museums are the best places to find Mold-o-Rama. I made 3 at the Museum of Science and Industry last Wednesday. Also, the Henry Ford in Detroit still has about 10 different machines.

[@andrewcostanza6802]

Randy Cox I commented about the Henry Ford but haven't been there in a few years, are they still there?

[@strange2684]

Andrew Costanza Not the original commenter, but the ones at the Henry Ford are still there!

[@slikrx]

I haven't been to the Henry Ford / Greenfield Village museums in over 40 years. I loved the Ford museum, especially all the steam powered stuff...

[@John_Ridley]

@@andrewcostanza6802 Henry Ford is indeed still there, we're members. Greenfield village as well and you can also take a tour of the Rouge River factory where they make F150 pickups.

[@4_Science]

"I'd cover it in glitter" is going places 👍

[@eaterdrinker000]

She's a dinazzler.

[@starvingscientist]

“I’d cover it in glitter” YES

[@eaterdrinker000]

She's a dinazzler.

[@BobOgden1]

I ran an injection molding machine back in the day. 20,000 ton closing pressure and 6,000 ton injection. It was 5m tall 4m wide and 30m long. Spat out a chair or lobster pot or whatever every 30 seconds. Got boring really fast

[@martindinner3621]

Yep, do anything more than 10,000 times and it starts to lose the sense of wonder. Ran a 100 ton press that hydroformed brass tubes into brass faucets...working fluid was injected at 25 k psi. One inch diameter tube, three feet long. Total force exerted on tube: 2,827,433 lbs.

[@sahibjot01]

hi bob

[@northwestadventures318]

I used to run those too. I don’t know what was worse, the 1000 ton machine with a 4.5 minute cycle time or the little ones where you had to manually open the door and remove a part every 20 seconds. It made for long nights.

[@BobOgden1]

Northwestadventures yeah, midnight to dawn is the worst. We used to get the occasional moth fly in and get squished to tabletop size to show you what would happen if you got dozy

[@merlin357]

I remember using one of these at the Henry Ford museum 15-20 years ago!

[@seanohara1387]

I saw this at the museum today and thought “wait, didn’t Destin get these at a museum?” Then I saw the Triceratops and now I have a Mold-a-Rama Dino collection for my desk

[@jeremybuscay]

If I remember correctly, I got a green brontosaurus from one of the machines there. The Field museum was incredible!

[@fattywithafirearm]

I remember these at my local zoo in the 90's. They had 12 of them. All different. I remember having all the animals. I think my zoo is refurbing them and putting them back in the park. When they do I'll go get a new set.

[@bubzthetroll]

I had a U-505 mold from the Museum of Science and Industry when I was a kid.

[@0cujo0]

I remember this! When I was a kid I got a Stegosaurus made in teal :-)

[@starvingfilmcritic]

Destin: You Should Know that those mold-a-rama's are all over the Field Museum and Chicago in general. My wife and I have a Triceratops and Stegosaurus. There's a T-Rex somewhere as I recall.

[@strikeriiii]

they have/had one at the henry vilas zoo in madison wisconsin. seeing that takes me back , thanks!

[@ieuphorius]

I was just there last weekend! Awesome place. Wish I could have got to meet you!

[@ElgrimTheElder]

I can’t tell you how many of these I’ve bought from the Field museum. I’m sure I still have one somewhere in my house from like 2002.

[@My2CentsWorth1]

"I'd cover it in glitter" sounds like what my daughter would say.

[@drumermp]

Been there many times growing up :-) good stuff

[@SmilerAndSadEyes]

"i'd cover it in glitter" yes please, may i have one covered in glitter also?

[@eaterdrinker000]

She's a dinazzler.

[@MissLilyputt]

They still have the mold-a-rama at the zoo in Miami (used to be called Metro Zoo) and at Seaworld in Orlando. Love it!!!

[@JeffinBville]

Going back to the '64/'65 World's Fair in NYC they had one of those that would put out a green brontosaurus.

[@carlwitt7950]

Don't ever change Dustin... not even a little.

[@Tulkusiii]

Oh man I remember getting one of those at SeaWorld. It was an Orca. I ate it before we left the park. I was 5 lol

[@ajanta7]

at one of the museums in chicago, may have been that one I got the tractor, submarine, spaceship, and a train! theyre pretty neat

[@itsjjbones]

So cool. I love your channels. Keep it up.

[@htmagic]

About 45 years ago, they had a similar machine like this at an aquarium in Florida and I got a dolphin. But it was wax, not plastic. Similar blue color.

[@laserwaffles9364]

Hey I remember that day! I was there! I'm the guy holding the phone at 1:52

[@WeArePharmers]

aaaaaah! you were in Chicago, my home!

[@DarrenPoulson]

I remember them from my childhood trips to florida. Got an alligator one from the everglades, and a dolphin one from sea world! Think I may still have them somewhere. (the models, not the machines obviously. :P )

[@goodnough1]

Darren Poulson ha ha me too! I remember getting one from a water ski show that had skiers standing in each other's shoulders. And the smell, I can still remember the smell.

[@DarrenPoulson]

Sounds like it was Cyrpus Gardens, I remember seeing the water skiing.

[@jsmit5635]

I was just in Chicago last weekend and thought about going to the Field Museum, but didn't have time. When I was a kid we used to go to this event/place in Toledo, OH called Children's Wonderland. It was basically a big building and the inside was all decorated with Christmas decorations with animatronics and stuff. Just Google "children's wonderland Toledo." We went there almost every year around Christmas time and got a bunch of these in the shape of Santa, snowman, reindeer and stuff like that. We still have a bunch of them.

[@beliasphyre3497]

Had to watch that twice. It looked like the horns were symmetrical, which would be a feat with a plastic injection molder. Looking at it again, they are at slightly different angles.

[@TheBlacksuitspider]

They've got a few of those at the local zoo here in Battle Creek, MI.

[@feirisWheel]

I was at the Field Museum last week, great place!

[@Unmannedair]

That was cool. I've been trying to get there for years now. Each time I get to Chicago my schedule gets sabotaged.

[@dustin9258]

My first thought is that it would take forever to pay for the mold alone at $2 a piece. Then I figured someone probably made that thing out of scrap pieces that were just sitting around just to make something cool. Either way it’s cool.

[@AmericanMadeMud]

I remember this from my visit to the museum in 1968. I think it only cost a quarter then.

[@haydenunsell]

I miss those thing I remember those being at the zoo in okc years ago and being so happy watching the animal get made

[@jocax188723]

The Field Museum? I sense a wild Graslie nearby....

[@M.J.C.W.]

I bought so many of those like the space shuttle.

[@Benjamin_Whitlock]

I used that exact same machine as a 9 yo and still have it in my room

[@enoughofyourkoicarp]

That's awesome, I wish I had one of those!

[@Deathzmeasure]

So many layers of skin I lost to these as a kid 😂

[@willys4869]

Sweet! 2 bucks is a great deal! I have to admit to buying things for myself by saying it is for my daughters.

[@redcrosswire4391]

I remember getting one in Oklahoma City zoo in the 80's and 2 years ago. Lol

[@accunutoutdoors2717]

While you are in Chicago you should check out the Museum of Science and Industry! It is by far the most interesting museum I have been to. If you do go DEFINITELY get the U-Boat tour as well!

[@jcoronet2000]

they have 2 U-Boats now

[@GrantS112]

That's so cool!

[@george7561]

Omg i havent seen these things in ages

[@AltamishM]

Triceratops is my favourite, too! (^^,)

[@unconteur]

WHY have I never seen this machine at the Field Museum? I feel like traveling from Canada just to try it out!

[@SeaJay_Oceans]

MOLD-A-RAMA = Brilliant ! Only makes the toy when you pay for it, the very first Just In Time inventory vending machine !

[@Kastnerd]

I used that machine 20 years ago

[@andreabak]

That thing looks like it came straight out of bioshock

[@justgiz]

"id cover it in glitter"

[@eaterdrinker000]

She's a dinazzler.

[@coleleo1220]

Aww man you were at the field museum and i missed it!?!?!

[@UatuOmega]

Are you going to be doing a collab with Emily?

[@unvergebeneid]

My thought exactly!

[@josephtixier2404]

we need an answer... up up up you go!

[@josephtixier2404]

"I was going through some old hard drives and found this video from May 10th 2014." in his description

[@UatuOmega]

aw, shoot! :( Well, thank you for doing the detective work and finding out. :D

[@woodlandwonders6887]

I remember this machine from a school visit their in the 70's. If I remember correctly it was a figure of Abraham Lincoln back then.

[@miloscirkovic9914]

Triceratops is my favorite too!!! 😁

[@mute8s]

I had one done at the Mann Chinese theater as a kid (I guess its Grauman's Chinese theater now) As odd as this sounds it smelled really good. I wonder if these have that same unique sweet smell.

[@CarstenSvendsen]

Does it have different molds that you can select or is it just the triceratops? Otherwise, cool machine

[@feirisWheel]

Each machine has a single mold, and there are multiple machines through out the museum

[@auroraourania7161]

Just the triceratops, but there like 20 other ones with other stuff throughout the museum.

[@Tfin]

Changing that mold would be a bit messy. The hydraulic cylinders on either side have their own plates that the mold halves are secured to with 4 bolts, so that part is easy, but the coolant hoses on the top are connected directly to the mold, and almost certainly meed to be drained before disconnecting. It's just a two-piece mold without removable inserts that would make changing it a matter of a couple minutes or less.

[@ashley587]

Are those your grad students by any chance? Cause that's incredible if you took them on a field trip!

[@pip12111]

Ahh, that aroma.

[@hilariousmax6732]

Did she say "I'd cover it in butter" ??

[@blusun2]

I think I have an extra buffalo from the Brookfield Zoo here in Chicago. I’ll gladly send it to you if you want it.

[@2450logan]

Add that to my list of reasons on why I NEED to go to America for a holiday 🤔

[@marylagua5079]

Yes, it’s nice.👍

[@CynBH]

Did you miss the big red sign next to the chute that said to hold it upside down until it cooled?

[@OFFFishing]

Cool👍👍

[@redwolfjoy]

The one I had was Jiminy Cricket.

[@1stopmotionart]

i'm watching this just after i pulled a flexi triceratops model off my 3d printer,although its definitely for me(and took 3 hours not 30 seconds)

[@rotate85]

Who need an injection machine when you can 3D print that in mere 3 hours.

[@haydenunsell]

rotate85 3D print is lowtech

[@indigo1324]

rotate85 not everyone just has a 3D printer in their house lol. I don’t have one in my house.

[@aarontracy6015]

Destin - I hope you get this one comment. PLEASE oh Please do a video on how the device you insert the money into reads and can interpret $1 bills. They have been around for 40 years and I still am surprised by the tech, not because it can detect new money, but the old money. Not that I made a fake bill and tried it when I was maybe ten years old in the early 80s, but I KNOW it can tell the difference.

[@donaldswink6259]

When I was a kid the T-Rex was a quarter.

[@andrewcostanza6802]

At the Henry Ford in Detroit they have (or had, it's been a while) a few of those that do all sorts of molds. Triceratops, car, bust of Abraham Lincoln......

[@patrickkelly3486]

Do other cities not have these? I have a ton of these in my room

[@Tund_]

i was just there 2 days ago

[@haydenc2742]

So Cool...I have a 3D printer and the 3D printing professor has made TONS of low poly models that can be scaled to any size and still retain it's correct "dimensions"

[@richardmhernrh]

How long would it take an you to print out a dinosaur at the exact same size and what would be your cost.

[@haydenc2742]

areyousure? Maube an hour or so, minus cost of printer, a few dollars in plastic filament

[@Chinook550]

Next time you’re in the area stop by Brookfield Zoo and Shedd Aquarium; they have machines with other animals your son (and you) might like.