Old Marauder Ad.

[CBT]

Anybody here own one back in the day?

Classic Ads: Brap! Brra-a-a-ap! (http://comiccoverage.typepad.com/comic_coverage/2008/04/classic-ads-bra.html)

Little boy love guns. They love pretending to shoot guns. In fact, boys probably pretended to shoot guns before they were actually invented. Looking back at my own childhood, a virtual arsenal of toys guns was scattered throughout the neighborhood: Daisy B-B guns, Wham-O Air Blasters, rifles with puffs of simulated smoke, and....the king of all kiddie firearms:

http://comiccoverage.typepad.com/comic_coverage/images/2008/04/09/m16_marauder.jpg (http://comiccoverage.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/09/m16_marauder.jpg)
(click on the ad for a larger view)
Appearing on the backs of DC comics cover-dated August of 1967, the simple illustration of a lucky lad packing serious heat and the alluring sales pitch was enough to get any boy to break into his piggy bank. The first selling point?...

http://comiccoverage.typepad.com/comic_coverage/images/2008/04/09/wow.jpg (http://comiccoverage.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/09/wow.jpg)
Sure, considering most of us boys would settle for stray tree branches or baseball bats as impromptu gun stand-ins, "authenticity" wasn't high on our list....but when a toy gun was said to be the most authentic toy gun we've "ever seen", well...that captured our moth-like attention spans.
Here...you be the judge. The top photo is an actual M-16 5.6 mm assault rifle, and the bottom photo is an actual Mattel M-16 Marauder:

http://comiccoverage.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/09/m16toycomp.jpg
Sidenote: When the M-16 was used by American forces in Viet-Nam, its small size, use of plastic parts and frequent jamming caused frustrated soldiers to apply the term "You Can Tell It's a Mattel" to the troubled weapon (which happened to be the toy company's official slogan at the time). In fact, this disparaging label was so common, an actual urban legend popped up claiming that soldiers noticed the Mattel logo on the M-16's handgrip, which Mattel had supposedly manufactured. No doubt Mattel's toy M-16 further blurred the distinction between myth and reality.
Okay, back to the ad: As cool as the promise of visual authenticity was, it was the M-16 Marauder's authentic sound that really grabbed our imaginations...

http://comiccoverage.typepad.com/comic_coverage/images/2008/04/09/m16_3.jpg (http://comiccoverage.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/09/m16_3.jpg)
What more could a young lad ask for than "a solid blast a whole minute long"? With the "loud, realistic sound of the actual M-16 rifle", no less?
(Because if anyone could verify its uncanny similarity to the sounds of an actual M-16 rifle, it was midwestern grade school boys with not even a millisecond of real weapon experience).
Well, because the toy gun looked and sounded so much like the real thing, it quickly fell out of fashion as anti-war sentiment grew through the late 60's, to the point where toy guns were virtually gone from stores by 1969. However, enough of the M-16 Marauders remained in toy boxes and were passed down from big brothers for me to experience their "authenticity" during my early-to-mid 70's boyhood.
As time wore on and the moral landscape steadily darkened, kids packing ultra-realistic toy firearms became a thing of the past as cartoon-like fantasy guns and orange-tipped machine guns eventually replaced their "authentic" plastic predecessors.

http://comiccoverage.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/09/modern_guns.jpg

[W4LTD]

"Keep cocking the fantastic M-16 Marauder and you can cut loose..." :lol:

[Blk Mamba]

Two years after the release of Mattel's M-16, I found myself with the real thing in my hands, BRRRA-A-A-AP.

[Vortex]

http://users.rcn.com/ed.ma.ultranet/dr3.jpeg

Me and my brother had these. Probably illegal nowadays.

[dakslim]

http://www.icollect247.com/itempics/280_1251775135A.jpg

I had one of these...a Fanner 50.

[dakslim]

Two years after the release of Mattel's M-16, I found myself with the real thing in my hands, BRRRA-A-A-AP.

Never fired one of those...I did fire an M-1, M-14 and M-60 though.:uzi:

[Egon Spengler]

I remember being able to run around with realistic fake guns as a kid playing cops and robbers. Heaven forbid now-a-days!

[Spectragod]

Sidenote: When the M-16 was used by American forces in Viet-Nam, its small size, use of plastic parts and frequent jamming caused frustrated soldiers to apply the term "You Can Tell It's a Mattel" to the troubled weapon


They jammed because the bolts were originally made out of aluminum, instruction in the field was to piss down the barrel to cool it off. Whether that was ever written anywhere, I don't know, nor was I in Southeast Asia, but I have heard the same story from friends and family that were.

[Blk Mamba]

I more strongly believe that the increase in cleaning needed, as opposed to previous weapons, was the cause of jam's, although I never had a problem, possibly due to the chromed receiver group, on the later models. BTW I have also fired the M-1, M-14, & M-60, among others.

[CBT]

They jammed because the bolts were originally made out of aluminum, instruction in the field was to piss down the barrel to cool it off. Whether that was ever written anywhere, I don't know, nor was I in Southeast Asia, but I have heard the same story from friends and family that were.
Interesting! I copied that whole article, I have no idea if they jammed or not tho.

[PurdueRifleman]

They jammed because the bolts were originally made out of aluminum, instruction in the field was to piss down the barrel to cool it off. Whether that was ever written anywhere, I don't know, nor was I in Southeast Asia, but I have heard the same story from friends and family that were.

<gunnerd>

There were any number of reasons they jammed, but the biggest culprit was the original M193 5.56 NATO rounds used powder that burned very dirty. This isn't something that's desirable, especially when the rifle operates by blowing gas directly into a gas key that sits on top of the bolt carrier. In a relatively short amount of time, excessive carbon fouling would build up and cause a jam. As a last ditch effort around carbon fouling, a device on the right side of the upper receiver (known as a forward assist) was added and could be used to "force" the bolt through excessive fouling and lock up with the breech, but was only partially addressed the problem. The powder that was used in the newly designed 5.56 cartridges in 1964 burned cleaner, but also burned hotter, created more pressure, and took the rate of fire up from 800rpm to 1,000 which also created unacceptable fouling (more gas moving through a tiny hole in an even quicker amount of time). This was solved by adding a heavier recoil buffer to slow down the rate of fire.

You could also thank a lack of chrome-lined barrel and chamber for allowing more fouling to "stick."

In 1967 the gov't had largely addressed M16 rifle system's fouling problems and even began to include adequate cleaning kits with copper/carbon solvents.

</gunnerd>

[J D]

I remember being able to run around with realistic fake guns as a kid playing cops and robbers. Heaven forbid now-a-days!

I'm right there with ya Egon, I used to play soldier at recess with my friends and thought I was king of the hill when I played with my old Larami Beretta: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d-AITE0ANk

Now, the NYC has all toy weapons banned due to some misfortunes with police, and God help you if a child points a damn chicken finger at someone the wrong way, they'll lock a kid out of school and send them to a shrink.

I'll miss those days, and feel sorry for those who come next and never experience it. But if I had that M16 Marauder with my Larami and a nice kids sized army costume, I could have had the best Halloween costume in the school!

[Bluerauder]

http://www.icollect247.com/itempics/280_1251775135A.jpg

I had one of these...a Fanner 50.

Man, I remember that one .... the "Fanner 50". :up: I had one of those as a kid. I also had the Rifleman's rifle. Sorry no pics; but here's a link >>>> http://www.riflemansrifle.com/the_riflemans_rifle.htm

[burtreynolds]

I believe the top M-16 is actually an A2(circular shape barrel shroud) and the bottom is an A1?(triangular barrel shroud). The latter was a Vietnam era model and the first generation. They look alike though!

I had that larami baretta as well, bought with chore money from Toys R Us. I think I also got a bolt action wood stock rifle that day or close to it that had the springed bullet simulator on the bolt and mine was painted desert camo (around the same time Desert Storm was going on). Being the midwest, I ran around with my red ryder everywhere(early to mid 90s) and had a little holster on my gokart so I could carry it. Around 96 though, I switched to a rotary pellet clip semi auto (looked like a 10-22 or Ruger Mini-14) that took mini C02 tanks. I put a scope on that thing and would scare my mother half to death shooting signs and cans out back of the house. Our neighbor actually once yelled at my father for letting his "kid" drive that "god awful car" through his field with a "Gun" on the back. Oh I was a hellion.

[CBT]

Our neighbor actually once yelled at my father for letting his "kid" drive that "god awful car" through his field with a "Gun" on the back. Oh I was a hellion.

Was this your neighbor?
22388

[burtreynolds]

HAHA!!! Beaufort T Justice!

[tbone]

I was so good at eyeing and judging the arc from my BB gun's trajectory and number of pumps that I could hit a bird and kill it at over 200ft. I was proud at the time, but now I feel a bit guilty.....a lot of dead birds out there......and squirrels.....and rabbits.....and racoons.......

Oh well, give me another drink.........