The Abandoned Astrodome And Its Future

[mkultra25]

Those are Mold-A-Rama machines - there used to be one on the observation deck of the Humble Building (now the Exxon Building) which I posted about previously in this thread.

There's what appears to be a comprehensive list of Mold-A-Rama figures here, and the Houston Astrodome is on the list, but I've been unable to find a picture of one anywhere on the net.

[TJones]

I remember them having these at The Herman park Zoo also, back in the 70's.

[Fringe]

I had one of both the old Humble building and the Astrodome as a kid. Where they are now, who knows?

[TheBez]

Hey . . . they have these at the San Antonio Zoo :-) I ALWAYS burn my hand on them.

[Propps]

Those are Mold-A-Rama machines - there used to be one on the observation deck of the Humble Building (now the Exxon Building) which I posted about previously in this thread.

There's what appears to be a comprehensive list of Mold-A-Rama figures here, and the Houston Astrodome is on the list, but I've been unable to find a picture of one anywhere on the net.

That's it! Mold-A-Rama! I had a couple of the Dome and one from the Humble Building, but who knows what happened to them.

Thanks for the update.

[Vertigo58]

Does anyone recall the thread where they discuss Astroworld memorabilia? We have several items that show the park in its original state.

One tall beer mug from the Alpine Sled village area has a scene of the original rides and some characters like Marvel Mcfey frolicking around. He had to have been related to Elton John? I also have several of those tall warped softdrink bottles from the Mod Box boutique. One is a tall 7-Up green slender and twisted. They had great blacklight posters too.

PS, wouldnt it be cool if someone could locate the Astroworld Trams that would carry patrons in and out of the park? In its original 60's paint job!

Just wondered if anyone recalls the thread. Peace!

[Retama]

Ahoy! I had one of the Battleship Texas.

[TJones]

For your viewing pleasure !

[Retama]

Yes! Mine, however, was the appropriate battleship gray.

[isuredid]

For your viewing pleasure !

I seem to remember having a home version of this contraption, although on a much simpler scale. It came with plastic sheets which were heated and then it used a vacuum to cause the plastic to form over the mold. I don't remember what it was called, but I think as soon as we ran out of the plastic sheets we lost interest.

Edited July 26, 2007 by isuredid

[EastEnd Susan]

I seem to remember having a home version of this contraption, although on a much simpler scale. I came with plastic sheets which were heated and then it used a vacuum to cause the plastic to form over the mold. I don't remember what it was called, but I think as soon as we ran out of the plastic sheets we lost interest.

I had one of those too. Ahh, the smell of melting plastic. I think it was called Vacu-Form or something like that.

[sevfiv]

I had one of those too. Ahh, the smell of melting plastic. I think it was called Vacu-Form or something like that.

yeah - Vac-U-Form!

http://www.spookshows.com/toys/vacuform/vacuform.htm

[Vertigo58]

yeah - Vac-U-Form!

http://www.spookshows.com/toys/vacuform/vacuform.htm

That's absolutely hilarious!

Wonder how that junker was ever appproved for the masses? Reminds me of the old SNL skit where Dan Ackroyd was a ganster type selling children's blatantly defective & dangerous toys like "Bag-o-glass".

Vac-u-form, even the name is a riot.

I gotta find my Water Wiggle now.lol

[Propps]

Ok, this is some extreme trivia, but think hard, somebody's bound to remember:

When the Astrodome first opened, in the years when the Ushers wore gold dresses and little pill-box hats, there were some machines in the lower level lobbies, that made souvenir plastic injection molded models of the Astrodome. These machines were like giant Vac-U-Form toys that would spit out a warm, two-inch tall, by five-inch diamater model of the Dome. All for probably about a Dollar.

Comments? Pictures? Anybody?

I used to have a Vac-U-Form toy about the same time these Mold-A-Ramas were popping up. The Vac-U-Form really was dangerous and would burn the snot out of you if you weren't careful. Still, they were lots of fun. But not nearly as much fun as the craft/toy sets that would let you melt lead so you could cast and paint your own toy soldiers. Now that was exciting!

[northbeaumont]

Ok, this is some extreme trivia, but think hard, somebody's bound to remember:

When the Astrodome first opened, in the years when the Ushers wore gold dresses and little pill-box hats, there were some machines in the lower level lobbies, that made souvenir plastic injection molded models of the Astrodome. These machines were like giant Vac-U-Form toys that would spit out a warm, two-inch tall, by five-inch diamater model of the Dome. All for probably about a Dollar.

Comments? Pictures? Anybody?

Has anyone ever walked on the top of the roof of the Astrodome? (I'm talking about after it was completed; I know that the construction crew was up there).

[telwink]

Many a Houstonian has memories of the Astrodome. For some of us, it was a love with our sports franchises. For others, it represented an era in which Houston exploded onto the national map, destiend to grow into the megatropolis that Houston is today.

The purpose of this thread is for people to share their memories of the Astrodome. I was looking at old photos of it recently, and saw a photo of the hot dog stand with the yellow and orange painted lines around it. I remember the Texas emblems on the aisle seats that listed the rows. I remember people walking around, smoking cigarettes, and the whole dome had this rustic, small town in a huge stadium feel to it.

Now here's a real gem for me - I have vague memories of an 80s videogame arcade inside the Astrodome, and as I recall it was near the outfield, like right field or something. Does anybody remember anything about this arcade? Lately I've had a lot of nostalgia about the Astrodome. I suppose that's because its fate is in limbo right now :/ Anyhow, any memories of this arcade or about the Astrodome in general would be appreciated.

In case you stumbled into this thread and don't know anything about the Arcade that was located in the outfield, check out this article I found about Cigarette Haze Control in the Astrodome: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5PR...ag=artBody;col1

This is a somewhat scatterbrained Astrodome thread, but any nostalgia would be appreciated.

Edited August 9, 2008 by Bengiann

[cowboybud]

I remember a drunken Oiler fan pouring a beer on my 14-year-old head.

[Aland11223]

I remember watching the Houston Cougars play the many random teams in the South West Conference. Plus many years before that I remember watching a Houston Gamblers football game. Now there is something you don't ever hear about anymore.

Plus somewhere at the moment at a UH football game, I remember my mom taking me up to one of the sky boxes and during that moment I remember wanting to throw up over the rail as I was looking down toward the field.

[TexasVines]

A neighbor friend had a hookup for The Bad News Bears II filming so my mom my brother and me and the neighbors 3 daughters and their mom and the other neighbor with the hookup and her kids all skipped school and went there for the filming. It was the first time I really saw how movies work and how they can make a small crowd look big

We were suppose to sit in the outfield, but the neighbor got us behind the dugout. Best part was we all got paid like 36 bucks which was big bucks for a kid back then especially to skip school!

Another time as an Astro Buddy I was way up in those high seats that Astro Buddies got and behind home plate. While coming back from the concessions I stopped at the rail for a second and a pirate hit a foul ball and it came way back behind him up and damn if it did not hit my hand, but it was too hard for me to hold and the kid in the seat behind me ended up with it

I remember warm Dome Foam when I got a bit older. They never seamed to card at The Dome

[musicman]

Now here's a real gem for me - I have vague memories of an 80s videogame arcade inside the Astrodome, and as I recall it was near the outfield, like right field or something.

so it's a gem but you have vague memories?

[telwink]

so it's a gem but you have vague memories?

I was all of about 7 years old. Do me a favor and school me on what percentage of a memory needs to be crystal clear in order to consider it of personal value.

Edited August 9, 2008 by Bengiann

[musicman]

I was all of about 7 years old. Do me a favor and school me on what percentage of a memory needs to be crystal clear in order to consider it of personal value.

just sounds odd.

Edited August 9, 2008 by musicman

[ding]

i went to 2 baseball games there - one against the giants,and the other against the pirates. we lost both. back then, there was this new rookie, ces

[TexasVines]

Rodeo reminds me

a friend had some pretty good tickets for Hank Williams Jr. one rodeo season and me and some other friends went when we were all about 14

my one friend was going crazy yelling and screaming and jumping up and down during Hank and the people behind us got the usher to try and tell us we would get kicked out if we did not calm down.....we told them they were just mad a bunch of kids had better seats than they did and let him keep going crazy.......it was a concert and RODEO people

[FilioScotia]

Many a Houstonian has memories of the Astrodome. I remember people walking around, smoking cigarettes, and the whole dome had this rustic, small town in a huge stadium feel to it. check out this article I found about Cigarette Haze Control in the Astrodome:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5PR...ag=artBody;col1

I remember the games before smoking was banned in the dome.

People smoked everywhere. In their seats, on the concourses, wherever they happened to be. By the middle innings of a game there was a grey haze in the higher levels of the dome. The cig smoke rose to the dome ceiling and stayed there. By the 6th or 7th inning it looked like a layer of fog hanging down from the rafters. People in the skyboxes and the purple loge level seats had it bad.

I remember the Astros and dome management finally started paying attention when players started complaining about the smoke. Even if it couldn't be seen down on the ground at field level players said the smell was still strong enough to affect their play.

I forget what year it was, but that's when they banned smoking in the dome. Forget what the smoking did to the non-smoking fans. The management did nothing till it was made clear to them that it was affecting the money-makers -- the players.

Edited August 9, 2008 by FilioScotia

[misplaced txgirl]

wow! what fun the astrodome was...i went to soooo many rodeos there over the years...even showed horses there a few times...and won! the baseball games and football games were a lot of fun too...always had to have nachos and a beer... one of the best memories was UH Band Day and getting to be on the 'dome field with most area high school marching bands during a football game... i still remember seeing pictures of the judge's living quarters behind the scoreboards...they were really something - what happened to all the stuff that used to be there? i heard the scoreboards were sold...where'd they go? i can't believe astroworld is gone...that was a fun place.

[57Tbird]

I went to the first four opening games in 1965. What a sight when I first walked in. It actually seemed, at the time, like the "Eighth Wonder of the World". Saw Muhammed Ali clobber Cleveland Williams in a media-hyped, championship bout that turned out to be a laugher. Saw UH play Ole Miss. when Archie Manning was the Miss. QB. Don't remember who won. Also went to the bullfights. At the time, I thought the Astrodome would last forever. Appears that I might outlive it.

[KimberlySayWhat]

Wasn't there a similar thread once before?

The Astrodome to me was rodeos, Ringling Bros. and New Kids on the Block.

[Fringe]

Foamer nights were the best. Sometimes they had concerts after the game. Saw Doug Kershaw get married at one game and play a concert after. Just happened to be foamer night and someone hit a homer. We stocked up on free beer for the concert afterwards. Don't remember to much else.

[Heights2Bastrop]

I have a number of wonderful memories from the Dome, two of them involving the Rockets and