Some number of years ago now, I actually bought two Firmin derived cast 27th Lancers (27L) cap badges, each of which having round wire lugs. They were purchased with prospective research in mind, since period 27L theatre cast badges in my experience are few and far between to compare with.
I’ve subsequently found over the years multiple examples of this Firmin-esque cast badge being sold on eBay, etc, in several guises and of a varying cast quality. Predominantly encountered with round wire lugs and the cast lugs associated with Asian produced badges - occasionally seen with a slider, too. Plus, with the finishes of a dark bronze, ‘gilded’ (with silver applied to the elephants head), wholly ‘silvered’ and an unfinished bare metal (a coppery bronze colour) version.
Alas, I can’t profess to be overly conversant with the pros and cons of such theatre made replacement badges, no. However, that said, I am of the inclination in relation to these prevalent cast badges that revolve around a single cast pattern to be the protracted manufacture of a fake.
One such possible candidate for their origin is, M. Azam & Son, Lahore, Pakistan, stemming from at least the mid-1970s.
See post 6 - the second image along the top row:
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https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...highlight=Azam
And, this is yet another cast version I’d be more than wary of too; note the differences and traits of this very type. There’s been quite a lot of this particular cast badge variant doing the rounds on eBay in recent years with sliders or lugs fitted - in fact there’s one of each currently on eBay at the time of writing.
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https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/153946071457
I would concur with the advice given earlier on the subject of such bespoke replacement theatre made badges with regard to provenance being an essential factor.
• You will notice in these pictures a single viewable peg (one of two actually present) retaining the elephants head; which is an associated trait amongst the very type in question.
• In addition, you can just see on both examples the remnants of a single integral cast lug (indicated by the red arrow), the majority of which is omitted by the round wire lug and its solder.