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The True Story Behind the Mattel M16 Rifle

KillerFord1977 said:
I didnt have many toy guns.
Living in the woods, i got a BB gun and by 8 yrs old had a stevens .410, then a .22 to add then a Weatherby as i got to my teenage years. Shot animals for the table my whole childhood. Mom&Dad were quite well off, but dad was a woodsman and preferred fresh wildlife over the meat market . Longed for a “M16” watching all the 70’s-80’s war movies.
Wasnt 30 till I shot one. Dept of Defense wouldnt take me for my eyesight. Been AR15 obsessed since …
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You're lucky. Dad never let me have a BB gun in the house. "Guns are not toys". I did get a Mi Carbine for my 6th birthday with one 5rd clip for hunting. YES CLIP! Back then the words clips and magazine where interchangeable like a pistol could be a revolver or an auto. Get over it. FYI dad was a WWII vet and one of the Frozen Chosen. He always referred to it as a clip. Still miss him maybe that's why nit pickers twist my tail, or maybe I'm just a grumpy old, Fudd SOB ;)
As for Mattel, I know what I saw with my own eyes, and that all I got to say.
 
I have a manufacturing background and I'm wondering how much it would have cost Mattel to tool up and make molds and set up a line for what had to amount to a very short run of parts.

I don't care how many Bots show up in this thread talking about how they had a Mattel rifle, I'm not buying it.
 
11cNunyaB said:
i had m16a1 in 1987 in Germany stamped Mattel logo sun also not a circle like that pic
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Snake45 said:
Absent further evidence, I'm calling clever Photoshop on that (or, perhaps, a custom-built lower). Very cool, either way, but I don't believe it's legit. ;)
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Apparently you were never there!!! Or never had an M16a1 from that time era in your hands. Or maybe only thing your mom let you play with was the plastic one. Stand back non believers.
 
James fort Hood Tx said:
Every one told me I was crazy, except me and my homey that was there with me. We shot them ,slept with them, ate with them really awesome to see a Pic. Wish I would have got a picture of mine. Why nobody believes that Mattel made them. Thanks Dec 1976 fort lost in woods missery
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I joined the Marines in March,1970 and after Parris Island went to Camp Lejeune for ITR at Camp Stone Bay. We were issued M-16s marked Mattel and I joked that I didn’t join to play with toys and was told that it was real ! And it was! ( retired GySgt in 1991 after Desert Storm).
 
MikeT said:
I joined the Marines in March,1970 and after Parris Island went to Camp Lejeune for ITR at Camp Stone Bay. We were issued M-16s marked Mattel and I joked that I didn’t join to play with toys and was told that it was real ! And it was! ( retired GySgt in 1991 after Desert Storm).
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I was in Marine bootcamp at San Diego in 1980. I still remember seeing Colt and Mattel stamped on my M16 rifle.
Something made me think that Mattel made the plastic parts of the rifle, because the name was on the gun stock. I don't know why it has become such a conspiracy these days.
 
Snake45 said:
Hmmmm, I forgot about those. Don't remember if they had pull-down trigger guards and took caps.

I had a Marx M1903 Springfield that had IIRC a pull-down trigger deal and took caps. I also had a Marx M14 but it didn't take caps at all--it was all-electric, took one or two D batteries in the stock, and had some sort of speaker mechanism in the magazine. The muzzle went back and forth when it shot, too.

Those Topper "Johnny Eagle" guns were the Cadillacs of toy guns when I was a kid, but they came out just as I was outgrowing toy guns and I never had one (1965-'66, maybe?). There were three lines of them, each a rifle/handgun combo. The "Lieutenant" combo was that wonderful M14 and a full-size 1911. I coveted both for years, even chase them on eBay from time to time when I'm in the mood, but today's prices on them are hideous. I DID score the Johnny Eagle Lieutenant 1911 a few years ago, but a damaged one--the mag catch is broken. I "only" paid about $20 for it; good ones easily bring three times that. I'm still glad I own it, even after all these years.

Among my several hobbies is collecting full-size toy and replica 1911s. Here are some of them. In this pic, there's one REAL 1924 M1911A1, one REAL 1966 Colt LW Commander, and the Johnny Eagle Lieutenant toy 1911. Can you spot them?

View attachment 49633
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I too had the Johnny Eagle matching set. Also had the M-60 machine gun and an M-14. I did see the M16 and thought it was a toy to see it actually
 
I googled it

No, Mattel did not have a firearms division and did not manufacture M16 service rifles for the U.S. military. The idea that Mattel produced military weapons is a persistent urban legend.
Sandboxx
Sandboxx +2
Key Facts Regarding the Myth:
  • No Contract: Mattel was a toy company, not a defense contractor. The M16 was manufactured by Colt, Hydra-Matic (General Motors), and H&R.
  • Origin of the Myth: The rumor likely started because early M16s used plastic polymers for the stock and handguards, which felt "toy-like" to soldiers compared to older wood/steel rifles.
  • "Mattel-Made" Stock Rumors: Some veterans reported seeing a "Matel" (one 't') or 'M' stamp on M16 furniture. While some of these plastic parts may have been produced by external subcontractors, there is no evidence this was the Mattel toy company.
  • "Mattel M16 Marauder": Mattel did produce a popular, realistic toy gun called the "M-16 Marauder" in the 1960s, which likely fueled the confusion.
  • Weapon Issues: Early M16s in Vietnam suffered from reliability issues, and soldiers, jokingly or cynically, referred to them as "Mattel toys" or said "you can tell it's Mattel".
The myth has been heavily researched and debunked by historians and military collectors.
Sandboxx
Sandboxx +1
 
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