Toy Maker Now Building Weapons For The Army
from the going-in-reverse dept
Toy makers have often made weapons into toys, but what about the other way around? Wired points out that a maker of a toy rocket has been hired by the US Army to create a variable speed gun using the same basic technology used in the toy. The weapon would allow soldiers to use the same gun to fire both lethal and non-lethal rounds. Nonlethal weapons are a big business these days, but it still seems a bit out of place for a toymaker to start building one.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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YO
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Old news?
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Re: Old news?
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M-16 mattel
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Re: M-16 mattel
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Waste of Money?
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http://www.snopes.com/military/m16.asp
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Re:
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History 101
Besides, who cares? Most toy makers need to get out of the business because all they make is overpriced, cheap plastic toys that break the moment a child takes it out of the box.
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And no, Mattel never made M-16 rifles. That is an urban legend. Soldiers in Vietnam said "you can tell it's Mattel" in reference to the cheap toylike apearance of the M-16 compared to the previous wood and steel M-14.
http://www.snopes.com/military/m16.asp
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Roombas are only a small part of revenue of the company that makes them. They are, or at least were, primarily a bomb disposal robot maker. Is that "out of place?" The company took the skills it had to make military and police robots to make a harmless consumer robot. This company is using the skill sit has to make toy rockets to make a little rocket gun.
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Re:
"Actually, I think it'd be ironic if we were all made of iron..."
But anyway, I agree, it makes perfect sense. If the idea is good and it has a useful application, why should it matter where it came from? Isn't that part of the "innovation" mantra I hear anytime an article about patents pops up on Techdirt? In this case, the government is going to the creator of the idea, crediting them as the "expert", and asking them to do something different with it. Seems like good business sense to me.
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Re:
I didn't mean out of place as in "wrong." I meant it as in weird/ironic. :)
I just found it amusing. Nothing more.
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Mattel M-16
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Mattel M16
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Re: Mattel M16
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Re: Re: Mattel M16
I was at Fort Dix in January of 1990 . I know for a fact that my m16a1 that I was issued had Mattel stamped on the lower receiver . It also had like a watermark of an eagle identifying it as property of the federal government.
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Mattel
So what if Mattel made a few parts of the rifle - or the entire thing? The weapon worked well and did its job.
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Re: Mattel
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Toy Maker Now Building Weapons For The Army
I was issued it in June of 78' at Ft. Dix N.J. And it was quite well worn then!!!
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Mattel M16
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Mattel m16A1
When I was stationed at Ft. Dix I. 1985, I was issued a M16 with Mattel Toy Division stamped on the lower receiver and then at Ft Sill I had one stamped GM Hydromatic Division.... so the rumors aren’t just rumors. They are facts.
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