Toys McCoy Type A-2 'The Body' TMJ2517, Rough Wear Reproduction, Horsehide, Okamoto Back Art, Size 38

Toys McCoy's Type A-2 'Flying Fortress The Body' in size 38, Rough Wear pattern horsehide with Okamoto's pin-up, the Eighth Air Force wings and a matching chest disc, in clean, lightly worn condition.

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 the current Toys McCoy reproduction, style TMJ2517, with its swing tag and garment booklet. The woven label reproduces a Rough Wear Clothing Co. A-2, Drawing 30-1415, contract W535-ac-27752, Middletown, Pennsylvania, and the lining is printed with the Army Air Forces emblem.

Okamoto's back illustration shows a pin-up in white drapery lifting a bomb before the winged 8 of the Eighth Air Force, with 'The Body' in blue, a crew inscription and a row of mission bombs. The front carries a leather-crafted disc of the same pin-up on a sky-blue ground beneath a Toys McCoy nameplate, and the left shoulder a leather-crafted Eighth Air Force insignia.

The horsehide is vegetable-chrome combination tanned with a pigment finish, dark and glossy, with brown knits, a russet cotton lining and a reproduction wartime Talon zip. Size 38 suits a slim build in the close wartime cut.

Clean throughout, with no marks or damage of note: the leather has barely begun to take its owner's shape.

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: 38
• Measurements: Shoulder 44 cm · Chest (pit to pit) 51.5 cm · Sleeve 63 cm · Length 61 cm
• Included: Toys McCoy swing tag and garment booklet

Condition

• Lightly worn, very clean
• No notable marks or damage
• Back art, chest disc and insignia bright
• Knits, zip and snaps in good order

Condition grade A 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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