ABOUT TOY SOLDIER CENTRAL
The Company Origins
I’ve been collecting toy soldiers for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, my father used to bring home amazing box sets of army men. We’d play war together for hours. Those moments are some of my fondest memories. In those days, I didn’t much care what brand my father brought home for me. He’d give me cheap army men from the dollar store, or expensive luxury toy soldiers, and everything in between. All that mattered to me was I that I had tons of toy soldiers ready to fight for my various armies. It turned out my fascination with miniature army men ran in the family, because one of my Brazilian uncles had a large collection too.
Sometimes, when my family brought me to Brazil to visit our relatives, I’d hang out with my cousin at my uncle’s house, and we’d set up those toy soldiers in homebrew wargame scenarios. My uncle even went the extra mile to paint his toy soldiers, which inspired me to start painting my own. I still have some of the first models I ever painted from when I was a little kid.
One of my brothers eventually introduced me to stop motion animation, and I had the bright idea of creating war films using my toy soldiers. I still remember the first camera my father bought me, a low quality run of the mill camera from radio shack, which my childhood friends and I used to film our plastic soldiers fighting in make believe battles.
The passion for all aspects of the toy soldier hobby grew inside me with every passing year. There’d be times where one thing or another would pull me away from the hobby, but just like the north star, my green army men were right there, faithfully awaiting my return.A few decades later, and I’m still one of the biggest fans of toy soldiers in the world, and I probably will be for the rest of my life. If you’re here, you probably will be too.
The Toy Soldier Central Mission
Our website intends to serve as your hub for all toy soldier and plastic army men related topics. Toy soldiers and army men are small yet mighty, and we do our very best to match their mightiness through the caliber of our content. Here, you’ll find a vast array of subjects all relating to the hobby of toy soldier collecting.
Contributions
Toy Soldier Central publishes articles, tutorials, reviews, and guides for toy-soldier collectors and miniature hobbyists.
Our painting techniques, model-assembly tips, terrain-building articles, reviews, and army showcases are designed to give hobbyists of all skill levels useful ideas and guidance.
George R. R. Martin’s official Links for Collectors page includes an “Army Men” link to Toy Soldier Central’s All About Army Men guide; the same directory separately lists Conte Collectibles.
About Luciano Castellani
Luciano Castellani is the founder of Toy Soldier Central and a lifelong toy soldier painter and collector. He loves video gaming, exercising, and exploring haunted locations in his spare time.
When he isn’t around his army men, he can be found watching horror movies with his wife and playing wargames with his son.
Luciano’s favorite miniature toy soldiers are from the Forces Of Valor line. He celebrates them for their professional pre-painted soldiers and their inclusion of immersive terrain pieces. He also holds Fishel army men as another personal favorite.
Luciano is also loosely acquainted with author George R. R. Martin through their shared affinity for miniature toy soldiers.
Have you ever wondered why Luciano wears a mask in his Toy Soldier Central photos and videos? He wants the focus to remain on the army men figures themselves. He also enjoys the charm of mystery and anonymity, though he may choose to reveal his face in the future.
The Hobbyist Designation
Under Toy Soldier Central’s Plastika doctrine, M. Hobbyist and F. Hobbyist are two distinct Hobbyist operatives. Neither is Luciano Castellani. The Hobbyist designation is not another name for Luciano.
