Mattel M-16 Urban Myth Won't Die

[Grumpy]

Hey Arrell !!
You must have gotten to P.I. before me.
Plt. 1103, A company. After that two years of Sea Duty!!
Airborne school, Anti terrorist and hostage rescue school.
and then right off to a line unit so I could use my training. LOL
Got to love it!!!
Semper Fi !!

[Scott Conklin]

1. Where was the mark?
2. What was the mark?
3. Was the mark raised or stamped?

Inside the grip and stock. Only visible on stock when stripped.

MATTEL No logo or trademarking.

Raised block letters.

Like I said, are we sure this was even the Mattel we all know? There are occasionally overlaps in names. Especially in the 60's and especially if the government was involved.

[Jacomm3]

You can call me crazy all you want, but when I was stationed at Coleman Barracks, Mannheim, Germany from 1982-1985, I was issued an M16A1 that was clearly stamped "Mattel" on the lower receiver. Mattel did in fact produce M16A1s for the US Army.

[Double Naught Spy]

Mattel never produced M16s. The only similar item they produced was the toy called the Maurader and you were not issued one of those in the 80s as they had been out of production for more than a decade.

[Nickel Plated]

I wouldn't consider it a huge stretch of the imagination to think Mattel made some PARTS for M16s. I mean they were one of the largest plastics manufacturers in the country, and the M16 used a fair amount of the stuff.

Plus what's so bad about Mattel making m16 stocks and grips? Those parts are plastic, and Mattel specializes in plastics. Who else would make them?

Now suggesting that Mattel made entire rifles (lower and everything) That's a load of fertilizer.

[Double Naught Spy]

Right, so you won't have an M16 wtih "Mattel" stamped on the receiver. However, even with the plastics, Mattel was not contracted to make the plastic furniture for which was stamped or had raised lettering of their name. If they did, those parts would be well known and part of people's collections and undoubtedly command a fairly high price...especially since nobdy has ever seen outside of the purported military experiences.

It is amazing how many folks have seen Mattel marked plastic furniture for M16s, in different locations and styles, and yet nobody has a photograph. Nobody has seen the public domain government contract.
http://www.snopes.com/military/m16.asp

[Sodbuster]

Well, at least an eleven year-old resurrected thread is good for seeing some Hall of Fame TFL members. Better days to be, as Ed would say.

[Nickel Plated]

Well, at least an eleven year-old resurrected thread

Oh wow, I didn't even notice that.

[44 AMP]

Its actually quite possible that some of you have seen or had M16s with "Mattel" stamped on the lower reciever.

One thing the military had (and I'm sure still has) is an abundance of those stamps for marking metal, and an abundance of practical jokers....

I personally had a Zippo lighter with the initials F.T.A. stamped in the casing...(and no, its wasn't because it belonged to Frank T. Adams...)

Often heard the M16 called "the mighty Mattel", because of the plastic. Bored GI, set of stamps....voila!

quite possible, I think.

could have even happened more than once.....

[rickyrick]

I never recall seeing a Mattel name on any m16 part, however if I did, it wouldn't have struck me as unusual. Not enough to become part of my memory.

It was always interesting to me the different companies that made army stuff but I didn't jot stuff down. My basic training unit name I'd have to dig through papers to remember, much less drill sergeants names or fellow privates.

I don't recall anything on pistol grips and stocks, just whatever system of butt numbering was used within the unit. I handled many m16s through the years and don't recall any names except colt and one with the xm16 designation, which I thought was cool.

Like I said, I thought it was neat to see all of the mfgrs of different but nothing sticks out as noteworthy and Mattel wouldn't have seemed odd or out of place.

[Eghad]

GIs are pranksters....

http://www.snopes.com/military/m16.asp

[JohnKSa]

Here is the reply I got from Armalite.

The Armalite of today is not the same Armalite that was in business in the 1960s.

Armalite was sold to a Philippine manufacturing concern named Elisco Tool in 1983 which subsequently went belly up. The Armalite division of Elisco Tool closed in 1987 as a result of the parent company's bankruptcy.

In 1995, a company named Eagle Arms bought the rights to use the Armalite name from John Ugarte, a president of the former Armalite company. Eagle Arms became Armalite and then "reorganized" Eagle Arms as a division of the new company.

http://www.armalite.com/images/Library%5CHistory.pdf

[clamman]

My issue rifle in 74 was m16a1. Knew that thing inside and out. NO mattel marks anywhere.

[Boatme98]

I had a friend of a friend who owned a M-16 made by Ronco. It was great in the field because it could slice, dice, mince, and puree like a mother!

But could it julienne potatoes?

[rickga]

Went through BCT at Ft. Lewis Wa. Jul -Oct 1971. We had a couple M16 assigned to guys in my platoon with Mattel pistol grips. don't remember if they M16 or M16A1 we had a mix of both. It seems that the were on a General Motors guns but again I'm not sure because we had Colt, H&R, and GM, and maybe some others, but I'm am damn sure about the grips. Every guy in the platoon wanted those weapons, we all fondled them and made jokes about them and at the time thought Mattel made them. But on the left side of the grip behind the trigger was the round embossed Mattel emblem that was on most of my favorite toys growing up. Somewhere there has to be a picture.

[Gunplummer]

I never took notice, but why not? .50's made by AC Spark plug Division/ 4.2 Mortars made by Whirlpool/ Grease guns made by Guide Lamp Co. These were stamped/had plates on the receiver. Anything is possible with subbed out small parts.

I did notice that the right hand guard cost more than the left (The side that broke all the time) and it was a mirror image of the left.

[jmr40]

Mattel made a toy AR-15 during the 1960's that did look very realistic. This may be part of the myth.

John Wayne used one in the movie "The Green Berets". There is a scene where a soldier dies and they don't want to leave behind a usable weapon for the enemy to find. They use one of the toy guns as a prop. Wayne smashes it against a tree breaking it into tiny pieces.

I'm not computer savvy enough to find the clip and post it, but I've seen it before. I've seen the movie multiple times but never noticed a toy gun was used in that scene before someone on another gun forum pointed it out.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by JJR

I have heard that a subsidiary of Mattel was one of the many original contractors for some of the plastic furniture on the M-16's (and it makes sense if you think about it -molded plastic things is molded plastic things). Some GI probably saw "Mattel plastics corp." or some such thing on the inside of his handguards and the Barbigun myth was born.

Originally Posted by spark@onestopknifeshop

Mattel is (or was) a contractor for M16 parts - I have first hand experience with this as my M16A1 that was issued for OSUT (Basic and MOS School rolled into one) had, you guessed it, a Mattel grip on it. Believe me, I was shocked when I saw this - but as long as the rounds hit what I aimed at, I didn't care too much in the long run.

I carried an M16 in Vietnam in 1968. It is correct that some of the plastic furniture on some of the rifles was molded by Mattel. Our early M16s were the ones prone to jamming, which gave rise to the use of the "Made by Mattel, it's swell" expression from their toy ads on the television around that era. It also led to some of us joking that we'd do better with a real rifle, and I suspect that led to the Internet myth that Mattel was making M16s.

[vito]

I had been trained with the M14, so when I got to Vietnam and was issued an M16 it FELT like a toy and could have been made by Mattel! But it did shoot like a real rifle. I will add that none of the females I ever met while in Vietnam looked anything like Barbie.

[Mike Irwin]

And apparently 16 year old threads won't die, either.

If anyone ever can come up with proof -- a signed contract, stamped parts, etc. -- please start a new thread.