[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

One of my friends saw combat in Viet Nam. He said the biggest shock in his life was being handed a new combat rifle and seeing Mattel on the stock. He was not happy at that moment.

We have all seen the movies that depict our military as well equipped, state of the art, and professional. I wish that were so, but I can only hope no American solider ever unwraps a block of C4 and finds just a block of wood or a rubber sheet in the armor.

When a country goes to war, many companies that previously built or manufactured things are repurposed to make tools of war. It's not necessarily a bad thing. Mattel had a history of manufacturing items, and was likely easily able to retool to manufacture other items. That doesn't mean that they were toys.