Zesko Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 Recently, I have been buying up a lot of wax dinosaurs online... These are the dinosaurs that were produced from wax-injection machines in the 1960s... Specifically, the Sinclair Oil Company manufactured a bunch of these things from 1964 forward... Today I believe they call these wax machines Mold-O-Ramas, that are still in use today.... Question: Are there any wax robots that came out of this period of wax-injection manufacture? Seems logical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robot polishing his rocket Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 sounds interesting!zesko, can you show us all some pics of these guys, and can they be used as candles?FANTASTIC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 Are these the same wax used in those little wax bottles filled with Kool aid that were sold in the 50's- 60's? And those Wax Lips! I've never seen dinos before. Interesting... <_<Did a search on Ebay for wax dinosaurs and only came up with Topps Dino trading cards, containing Gum! No wax! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zesko Posted March 13, 2003 Author Share Posted March 13, 2003 zesko, can you show us all some pics of these guys, and can they be used as candles? These pieces are very fragile, and most owners don't realize that they are made of wax... Usually, they are sold online as "plastic dinosaurs"... If you see these things in one piece, anywhere, it's a miracle, because they are as fragile as a candlestick. But I was wondering, if they produced dinosaurs in injection-wax, did they produce anything else through injection-wax? Specifically, ROBOTS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kirk Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 I had one of these. It was a little red robot. I haven't seen it in a while and I suppose it must be buried at my parents house someplace. I think there is a picture of it in those images I posted a while back of my collection when I was little. I remember (I think) that the molds closed up as you watched and the little toy fell out when it was done. If I recall, it was 50 cents. That's a lot when you consider nice Japanese tin could be got for 89 cents! Ah, and here is a little fragment of the picture from Christmas of 63. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zesko Posted March 13, 2003 Author Share Posted March 13, 2003 Where did that double-post come from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zesko Posted March 13, 2003 Author Share Posted March 13, 2003 Did a search on Ebay for wax dinosaurs and only came up with Topps Dino trading cards, containing Gum! No wax! Well, that's the secret to finding and buying them... Hardly anybody remembers that they are wax... These dinos were originally manufactured in wax vending machines for the Sinclair Dinoland exhibit at the 1964-65 New York World Fair... 50¢ each, which was expensive back then. Afterwards, the Sinclair exhibit went on the road, touring the entire U.S. through the late 1960s... So there are wax dinosaurs that are clearly marked "New York World Fair" and there are those marked simply "Sinclair Dinoland"... Not too many sellers online are knowledgeable of their history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zesko Posted March 13, 2003 Author Share Posted March 13, 2003 I remember (I think) that the molds closed up as you watched and the little toy fell out when it was done.You remember well, David... The wax-injection machines had transparent fronts, and you could watch the wax figure being molded... When the retaining screws backed off, your wax toy fell into a hopper, where you picked it up, warm and soft... It quickly cooled solid to the consistency of a Crayola crayon... A BIG Crayola crayon, but just as fragile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zesko Posted March 13, 2003 Author Share Posted March 13, 2003 Did a search on Ebay for wax dinosaurs and only came up with Topps Dino trading cards, containing Gum! No wax!Sorry I didn't answer earlier... Search for Sinclair Dinosaurs... More often than not, you'll see me as the high bidder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zesko Posted March 13, 2003 Author Share Posted March 13, 2003 I didn't give you any scale of measurement, so remiss of me... These wax dinos are actually pretty big; about six inches across the base, most of them around five to six inches tall. These are big pieces in wax, making them all the more unlikely to survive almost 40 years of mishandling. Let's keep in mind that I was asking about robots... David Kirk gave me a chill when he said he may have owned such a thing... A wax robot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robotnut Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 These Sinclair Machines are not dead and gone !!!There are still three of them in service at the HenryFord Museum in Dearborn Michigan. Last fall, I tookthe kids there and they had one making SteamLocomotives, one making Model T's and anotherDinosaurs !For $1.50 in quarters my son got the Loco. It cameout warm and waxy and quickly cooled to a hardplastic like material. After a few days of handlingthe smoke stack snapped off...www.robotnut.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dratomic Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 I remember when I was a kid, I visited my grandparents in Florida (This must have been about 22 years ago, maybe a little longer). There was one of those wax injection machines, and I remember getting a yellow stegosaurus. I don't, however, remember any markings on the machine, so I don't know if it was a copy of the ones you guys are talking about. As for robots, I don't seem to recall that being an option -- if it were, I would have picked that one over the stego. And you know, I never realized that it was made of wax... too young to identify it as such, I think. Just seemed like a soft plastic to me. It is, sadly, long gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robothut Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 I recall seeing one of those machines at the Seattle Worlds fair in the early 60's, was that 1962? any way clear plastic front and machine said injection molding! I think it made Space Neadles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikola Tesla Posted March 13, 2003 Share Posted March 13, 2003 These Sinclair Machines are not dead and gone !!!Yah, the Wax-A-Ramas are still in use at the San Diego Zoo, last time I checked---but it's the event-dated pieces that you want. Worlds Fair, etc. These are what you call "triple threat" cross-collectibles---they appeal to wax collectors, world's fair collectors, dinosaur collectors, petroliana collectors. Okay, "quadruple threat" ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixter Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 When I was a kid there used to be a museum in San Francisco that overlooked Seal Rock...The building is still there but is now a resturant. In the lower level they had the waxmachine spitting out Dino's... I had a few of them myself. Now every time I get to San FranI think about that Seal Rock... Great place then and today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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