It was a rumor started by soldiers who (understandably) didn't like the early M16 models and said they were toy guns or had furniture made by Mattel.
A persistent one too, you can find vets who swear up and down their rifle had Mattel markings on it but Mattel never had such a contract and there's no evidence of them ever making parts.
Le_Garcon t1_iv0qxl7 wrote
Reply to comment by jordantask in The company WHAM-O (known for producing toys) also had an extremely limited run of firearms under the brand name WAMO by Doobliheim
That's a myth, Mattel never made M16 parts.
It was a rumor started by soldiers who (understandably) didn't like the early M16 models and said they were toy guns or had furniture made by Mattel.
A persistent one too, you can find vets who swear up and down their rifle had Mattel markings on it but Mattel never had such a contract and there's no evidence of them ever making parts.