Disclosed is a preferred mold design for producing plastic, injection molded preforms, which may be blow-molded into a container of a final, desired shape. A preferred mold includes a combination of hardened material components and high heat transfer material components to provide a mold having good wear characteristics, for a sufficiently long useful life, and to enable rapid cooling of the injected preform, in order to reduce the cycle time of an injection and cooling cycle. In some arrangements, the hardened materials may form a portion of the preform cavity thereby slowing the rate of cooling in those areas and inducing a semi-crystalline or crystalline structure in the cooled preform.