This is a guest post written by my buddy, CASES4CASES:
Every so often I come across a toy that I wish I had as a kid. Hell, there are many toys I didn’t have growing up that I wish I had today as an adult! But there are certain toys that, when you look at them as an adult, you just know would have made your childhood a few notches cooler . . .
Case-in-point; the 1966 Mattel M-16 Marauder.
Sure, it has a hilariously large magazine and mag well to match. But what kid cared about (or even noticed) that when…
“It doesn’t need any caps!”
“You never reload!”
“No batteries either!”
And almost a minute-long blast of “BRAAP! BRRA-A-A-AP! BRAP! BRAP!” I’m quite pleased with their appropriate application of onomatopoeia.
Clearly, “It’s the greatest!” The fact that it didn’t require an orange muzzle cover makes it a shoe-in anyway, right?
Even more clearly, those of us born before, let’s say, the ‘90s will never forget the awesomely realistic shoot-‘em-up toys that our kids will never have the chance to run around the neighborhood with like we all did.
You youngsters don’t believe this stuff actually existed? TTAG’s own Brad Kozak detailed his childhood experience with the Mattel M16 Marauder back in 2010. Lucky guy…
And you thought Mattel only made Hot Wheels and Barbie Dolls.