Toys McCoy 2025AW Type A-2 'The Body' TMJ2517, Rough Wear Reproduction, Horsehide, Okamoto Back Art, Size 40

Toys McCoy's autumn-winter 2025 Type A-2 'Flying Fortress The Body', horsehide on the Rough Wear pattern with Hiroshi Okamoto's bomb-holding pin-up and the Eighth Air Force wings across the back.

The Body, Buzz Rickson's bomber

'The Body' was never a real Flying Fortress. It is the B-17 flown by Captain Buzz Rickson, played by Steve McQueen, in The War Lover, released by Columbia in October 1962 and filmed at RAF Bovingdon and RAF Manston with three surviving B-17s. Rickson is a brilliant and reckless bomber pilot in England, and his aircraft carries a pin-up holding a bomb aloft beneath the name.

The film gave a name to the whole Japanese flight-jacket world: the brand Buzz Rickson's is named after McQueen's character. Toys McCoy's 'The Body' sets Okamoto's own pin-up beside the winged 8 of the Eighth Air Force, so the jacket reads as a tribute to the film and to the bomber crews it portrayed.

Rough Wear Clothing Co. and the Japanese reproduction

Rough Wear Clothing Company of Middletown, Pennsylvania, was among the most prolific A-2 contractors of the war, and its labels, including contracts W535-ac-23380 and W535-ac-27752, are the ones collectors meet most often. That is why Japanese makers chose the name for their most faithful reproductions.

Toys McCoy was founded by the illustrator and painter Hiroshi Okamoto, who had worked with The Real McCoy's in its early years. Its A-2s are cut in vegetable-chrome combination tanned horsehide with a pigment finish and closed with reproduction wartime Talon zips, and its custom pieces carry Okamoto's own artwork rather than licensed transfers. They are reproductions, made in Japan, and are collected in their own right.

The Piece

This is a current Toys McCoy reproduction, style TMJ2517, released for autumn-winter 2025. The woven label reproduces a Rough Wear Clothing Co. A-2, Drawing 30-1415, contract W535-ac-27752, Middletown, Pennsylvania, and the yellow Toys McCoy serial label sits inside the pocket.

The back carries Okamoto's original illustration: a pin-up in white drapery holding a bomb aloft before the winged 8 of the Eighth Air Force, the words 'The Body' in blue, a crew inscription and a row of mission bombs. On the front, a leather-crafted disc repeats the pin-up on a sky-blue ground below a Toys McCoy nameplate, and the left shoulder bears a leather-crafted Eighth Air Force insignia.

The horsehide is vegetable-chrome combination tanned with a pigment finish, firm and glossy at first and meant to break in and patina with years of wear. Knits are brown at the cuffs and waistband, and the lining is a russet cotton. The cut follows the slim, short wartime proportion.

This example has been worn and shows it honestly at the collar points, the cuffs, under the arms and at the back hem, where the pigment has rubbed through to the paler ground. Those are the marks every A-2 earns, and on horsehide they are the beginning of character rather than damage.

Details

• Maker: Toys McCoy Product Co., Ltd., Japan
• Season: Autumn-winter 2025
• Model / ref: TMJ2517, Type A-2 'Flying Fortress The Body'
• Label: Rough Wear Clothing Co. · Drawing 30-1415 · Contract W535-ac-27752
• Material: Horsehide, vegetable-chrome combination tanned, pigment finish; cotton lining
• Colour: Seal brown
• Made in: Japan
• Tagged size: 40 (L)
• Measurements: Shoulder 46 cm · Chest (pit to pit) 55 cm · Sleeve 65 cm · Length 66 cm
• Included: Toys McCoy swing tags

Condition

• Graded AB: worn, with plenty of life ahead
• Scuffs to the collar, cuffs, underarms and back hem where the pigment has rubbed
• A few small marks to the back near the shoulder
• Back art, chest patch and shoulder insignia bright and intact
• Knits, zip and snaps in good order

Condition grade AB on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.

Authenticity & Care

The labels, materials, stitching, hardware and construction are examined together and documented in Japan before dispatch; anything that cannot be confirmed is stated plainly in the description. Every piece carries the Japonista authenticity guarantee. Hang on a broad shoulder hanger, keep from heat and direct sun, and treat the horsehide sparingly with a neutral leather cream, never over the painted art.

Delivery from Japan

Packed by hand in Japan and shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything before you buy, and see our published policy.

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