> I'd be far more likely to buy the story if all of the "bad" caps
> were from "Company A" (regardless of how many different OEM's
> ended up *using* them)...
Maybe Company A sold the caps to Companies B-F who rebadged them and sold them as their own. As an example, you'd be surprised how many camera lenses and filters are actually (or at least the "glass"is) made by Hoya.
Bob