MOLDVILLE is not affiliated with Mold-A-Rama, Inc. of Brookfield IL
Disneyland TOY FACTORY (Historical Information regarding Mold-A-Rama, Inc. of L.A. machines)
Below is a VINTAGE photo of a prototype Disneyland Toy Factory made by Mold-A-Rama, Inc. of Los Angeles around 1962. Note the wire Disney figures mounted on the deck in various positions: Mickey Mouse riding the dispensing shovel; Pinocchio on top of the right mold half; Jiminy Cricket; Ludvig Von Drake; Goofy; Brer Wolf mischievously turning the temperature knob. The production model of the Di
Disneyland Toy Factory was a Type B (cams and switches below the deck, and the countdown lights, which were in the backglass of the standard Type A machine, were moved to the back of the deck) MOLDVILLE.com's Disneyland machine is a Type B production model of the Disneyland Toy Factory!
Here are some of the original workers from the deck of the early '60s machine originally operated by Mold-A-Rama, Inc. of Los Angeles, on break from years of service, appropriately soiled, waiting to be put back to work in their cleaned-up Disneyland Toy Factory. These wire twistable figures, manufactured in 1961 by Marx, are collectible in their own right and most that started their lives in a machine have since made it into collector's hands.
One renowned operator of machines whose family many decades ago purchased their business from Mold-A-Rama, inc. of Los Angeles, remembers these Disney wire figures on the deck of the Disneyland Toy Factory machines with such detail that he recalled that there was a Herman the Beetle figure in the pocket of Ludvig Von Drake! Note his own book on Psychiatry in his hand, his left index finger pointing toward the wax figure on the deck of the machine, and the mounting hole in his left foot!
Here is an original Mickey Mouse figure mounted to a shovel just as he was in 1964.
A complete set of the twelve different wire twistable figures made by MARX in 1961.
These are Disneyland TOY FACTORY machines on location at the 1964 NY World's Fair.
This is the 1976 license that was on the MOLDVILLE.com machine when found, evidencing that the machine was last used in 1976. "CONTOUR SHOPS, INC." is Eldin Irwin's company, and this license relates to when Eldin trailered 4 machines around the mid-west to county fairs, etc.
The DISNEYLAND TOY FACTORY machines have served a long time. This is one of them in the doorway of a storage facility in the 1980s. Note the MICKEY MOUSE wire figure still ready to push on the vending shovel, and the Ludwig still standing guard to the left of the gauges!
I LOVE this photograph! It was taken in 1966 at the Better Homes and Gardens show in Detroit at Cobo Hall. There are lots of things to note here, e.g., wire figures can be (barely) made out on the decks of the machines; all of these machines have the red deck with yellow backsplash, and the use of a single floodlight hanging above each machine. Also, the display box above three of the machines is the precursor to the auxiliary supply hopper with similar functionality (display box, advertising
area) made by Eldin Irwin in the 1970s. No display box of this particular design is known to survive, but MOLDVILLE has one of the 1970s hoppers of similar functionality currently undergoing restoration. All figures in the display box are Disney figures, with the exception of the waving gorilla.
