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Photos of Toys B3

John Lever

Moderator
This is a light weight Japanese version of the B3 not a super historically correct repro like ELC.
12mm fleece, small collar, slight vintage finish.
Very wearable in our moderate climate
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MikeyB-17

Well-Known Member
I bet that’s a darn sight easier to wear than your bog standard B-3. I reckon if somebody did a similar thing without the no doubt eye-watering price, it would fly out the door. OK, not bang-on accurate, but most of the World doesn’t give a monkey’s about such concerns.
 

John Lever

Moderator
I bet that’s a darn sight easier to wear than your bog standard B-3. I reckon if somebody did a similar thing without the no doubt eye-watering price, it would fly out the door. OK, not bang-on accurate, but most of the World doesn’t give a monkey’s about such concerns.
I found 2 in a second hand shop in Japan. I think they were samples because Toys don't usually do any vintage type finishes. The seller listed them as wrinkled and worn, both were unworn, one had tags for 300, 000 yen about $3k. One cost me 1400 gbp the other about 750 gbp. Not cheap.
I would never pay full price. The jacket nwt is on sale at MARRKT.
Mike you are absolutely right it is a very comfy jacket to wear, the arms bend easily and the weight is similar to a D1.
Stitch for stitch repros have their place but the shorter fleece and small collar work very well in our climate.
BTW is anyone wants the NWT jacket they can have it at cost
 

Silver Surfer

Well-Known Member
I believe that "at the front" or "what price glory" makes a lighter weight b-3 as well as a lighter weight Irvin. as I understand it, the guys that have them like them for exactly the reason John does, ie: lighter weight, easy to wear, and have the look without going over board on the details..
 

Officer Dibley

Well-Known Member
I bet that’s a darn sight easier to wear than your bog standard B-3. I reckon if somebody did a similar thing without the no doubt eye-watering price, it would fly out the door. OK, not bang-on accurate, but most of the World doesn’t give a monkey’s about such concerns.

Anymore than the aircrews themselves gave a sh1t back then about pointy collars, pocket scallops, thickness of fleece or who had “The Look”. Just having a jacket and as enough for them.
Whilst veterans have always been polite, i wonder what they would have thought of Us back when they were flying were they able to see into the future.
 

stanier

Well-Known Member
So it's ok to pick over the tiniest details of the A-2, but not a B-3? What's happening round here? Btw, not sure ELC does qualify as a super accurate B-3 repro. Huge collars, thin straps and broken grain, with beige fleece. Not super accurate. And you don't have to compromise accuracy for nice pliable shearling.

That said, the Toys is a nice jacket.
 

mulceber

Moderator
Anymore than the aircrews themselves gave a sh1t back then about ... thickness of fleece

Pretty sure that’s one thing they would have had opinions about, since thinner fleece = more maneuverable jacket while thicker fleece = warmer jacket. But I must say, I agree with @stanier: regardless of what the pilots would have thought, obsessing over details is what we do here. There’s plenty of room for less accurate repros, especially in the budget range, but it’s fair to discuss accuracy, as long as we’re not being jerks about it.
 

Lord Flashheart

Well-Known Member
..... There’s plenty of room for less accurate repros, especially in the budget range, but it’s fair to discuss accuracy, as long as we’re not being jerks about it.
And after all quite a few of us got here owning a modern everyday repro ... maybe the point is this place is about discussing and recognising the difference between one and the other. Doesn't mean you can't enjoy either for it's own sake. Well I do anyway. I got an Irvin style repro years ago and love it ..I bought an Aero RAF style this year to see what accurate was like but I will still wear both.
 

John Lever

Moderator
Why not going to ask SHAWN ALI @ five star?
I was going to but just getting more and more is pointless really.
When my China Air B3 arrives I might sell all of them.
It is still a good copy, just thinner fleece and smaller collar than other repros. There might well be WW2 contracts that had smaller collars. One interesting feature is a slight flare of the bode at the waist very much like other 1930's garments.
 

Micawber

Well-Known Member
Anymore than the aircrews themselves gave a sh1t back then about pointy collars, pocket scallops, thickness of fleece or who had “The Look”. Just having a jacket and as enough for them.
Whilst veterans have always been polite, i wonder what they would have thought of Us back when they were flying were they able to see into the future.

I had the opportunity to talk to quite a few WW2 veterans about their equipment including flight gear and all they were concerned about was that the stuff did its job with minimum fuss to the wearer.
Embellishing and personalising was a kind of crew or individual moral boosting exercise, no harm in that. To a man none of them had a clue about pattern nuances, stitch quality, labels, it was just not on their radar and would give a WTF look if you tried to go into any detail about it.
Survival, doing your job, keeping in touch with home and loved ones was priority.
The more I read here sometimes about repro's and the clear OCD tendencies of some just fills me with mild amusement ...but any niche interest is going to be this way.
Laying here in hospital really does grab you by the short and curlies with regards real life priorities. Bits of leather and cotton sewn together, no matter how nicely, really isn't the Holy Grail of existence chaps.
 
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