Cory Funk walked into St. Paul’s Como Zoo and Conservatory on Sunday morning with only one mission: securing a full collection of plastic animal figures from the zoo’s four Mold-A-Rama machines.

He recruited his 16-year-old son, along with his wife, to help him.

An hour after the zoo opened, the family had all the figurines: a red sea lion, black gorilla, yellow lion and a blue polar bear.

“That burnt plastic,” said Funk with a smile. “I remember that smell very, very vividly — the hot, hot plastic. It's not good for you, but I remember it, and I like it.”

The Mold-A-Rama machines were first brought to the zoo in the ‘60s and have been a longtime fixture. They disappeared for some time and made a comeback nearly 20 years ago.

But Minnesotans only have another week before the Mold-A-Ra

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