Anthony Ciccarello of Armies in Plastic has died. Here is the report from Facebook on the details.
Anthony Ciccarello of Armies in Plastic has died: The Report
Tuesday February 10th the world lost a great man. Anthony Ciccarello founder of The Toy Soldier Gallery, Soldiers of the World and Armies In Plastic, passed.
Towards the end of October Tony started feeling weak in the legs and it was hard for him to get around the house. On October 30th we decided it was best to have him checked out and see what was going on. Since I was unable to get him in the car, we called the ambulance to have him take him to the ER and my mom and I were shortly behind in the car. We arrived at the hospital and went to the front desk to see when we would be able to go back and sit with him, and they said they would call us back when we could. Another 1.5-2 hours went by, and I went back up to the desk to find out what was going on and they said they didn’t have any rooms in the ER so they were going to wheel my dad out to us to wait in the waiting room. That never happened but about a half hour to 45 min later they called us back and told us that they had put my dad in a wheelchair, did not watch him and he fell asleep and fell forward out of the wheelchair and hit his head. Upon us getting back there he was in a hospital bed and neck brace and pretty well out of it. They did a brain scan and found he had a brain bleed and throughout the day were talking about possibly drilling into his skull to relieve the pressure or do full cranium surgery. Both were risky given his age and various health issues most people his age have. They decided to wait it out and see what would happen because the bleeding seemed to have subsided. At 2:30am while getting an MRI they found the bleeding was significantly worse and they had to do emergency cranium surgery. This would go pretty well, and he was cognitive pretty quickly with commands to move his arms and legs and nod to questions asked even though he was sedated. As the next few days went on, we saw some good progress and things were looking up.
breathing on his own but then he stopped breathing and his heart stopped. It was stopped for a total of 35 minutes and he was in V fib, they did cpr on him the whole time and after shocking him 8 times and various meds to get him going he came back!! At the time we didn’t know how well he would respond, or if he had any brain damage. I had asked the doctor if she thought we were good to go or would it happen again quickly. She gave him about an hour and didn’t expect him to pull through or have any normal brain function. Crazy enough he was ok and she used the world miraculous as he was again responding to commands and could hear what we were saying. I asked him jokingly if he wanted a diet coke to see what his response would be and he nodded and smiled while still sedated. WOW what a crazy turn of events! Expecting to arrive at the hospital to say good bye to him and then being pretty ok! Over the next few days he rested and they kept testing him to remove the breathing tube again but they weren’t confident he would be ok. So they did a tracheotomy as this would be the best avenue to assure he kept breathing without the breathing tube in his mouth.
Another few days went by and he was transported to a special breathing hospital to monitor him, and as the days went by he was getting better and better! More awake and able to move his lips, I could read his lips pretty well so we could have some nice conversations. He was there for about 7 weeks and he had a few setbacks, some with his kidneys reacting to the antobiotics in a bad way and also one time he had a mucus plug and stopped breathing because the air way was blocked in the trache as he was too dry from them drying him out with Lasix to protect his kidneys. He kept fighting through all of this still improving and getting off the ventilator with quick progress. In the beginning of January, he was well enough to go to a skilled nursing facility where he continued to improve his brain function, start talking with the speaking valve and start doing some PT! Everyone was very happy with his progress after all he had been through. I thought with just a little more time he would be able to come home but it wasn’t meant to be. It was an unbelievable fight, but it was just too much for him to keep going.
He as well as my mom gave me and my sister a perfect life as kids and I know he was proud of us. In 2021 my dad and mom moved themselves and the business to Ohio to teach me the ins and outs of how the business was run. We came up with some great new products with 3D printing and found new ways to run the company more efficiently day to day, I will continue that going forward. It’s been a hard few months, but I at least got to see him progress and fight as he was a very strong-minded person!! RIP Dad we Love you!!!
That story brings a tear to my eye. I hope this family can find peace at this difficult time.
I am very sorry to hear this . Tony was a good friend. He was a great guy & definitely one of a kind. I am glad I knew you. Tony was a tremendous asset to the toy soldier hobby with all the affordable and unique sets he produced. Tony you will be missed more than you know. Rest in Peace my friend.
Anthony and his wife are simply great. They revolutionized the toy soldier world with the range and quality of their figures and products. I am personally grateful for all my dealings and purchases from them.
gosh, so many people in my world are dying. 2025 was a bad year, 2026 is starting iffy. I am so sorry for your loss. AIP was an affordable way to fill out my armies! I am forever grateful to your dad for that, and never used the guest bed room anyhow.
It seem he was a serious fighter.
RIP
I was very sorry to read about the passing of Anthony Ciccarello. Although I did not know him or the family personally, I have purchased products from Armies in Plastic and always appreciated the passion and quality behind them. My sincere condolences to all his family. I hope his son will find the strength to carry on his father’s remarkable legacy and continue the wonderful work he began.
I’m so saddened to hear of Tony’s passing having talked to him back in the day when we had to place orders over the phone. I also had the pleasure of talking to his sweet wife, Marilyn, under similar circumstances.
The great thing about AIP is that they had the courage to produce toy soldiers from eras often overlooked by other makers. Til this day I have those figures which are still amongst my very prized possessions.
Thank you Tony for contributing to our hobby in a very special way and many blessings for his family during this difficult time.
Rest easy, sir. 🙏🙏🙏
Sending good thoughts and condolences to the family of Anthony Ciccarello. I’ve been a life long AIP fan and remember the wonderful surprise of getting those hand xeroxed new AIP figure previews in the regular mail. Wish I had kept some. Pour some out for Anthony!
Another great man of our hobby has passed away. His legacy will endure forever. He brought so much happiness, producing more sets than any maker in the new golden era of the toy soldier for adults and kids. I had many great memories of personally interacting with him for many years. May he rest in peace and be with God eternally
So sorry to hear of his passing, a true pioneer. I recall many years ago finding some A.I.P. Figure sets at a local Hobby shop. I was surprised as well that they were WW1 figures. That shop is long gone but A.I.P. Still going strong.
Hope the family can find a good Malpractice Lawyer by the sounds of the 1st part of the event.
My thoughts. I’m not big on lawsuits, but there are situations that scream out.
A crying shame.
That was my thought too when I read the story. But I can see how the family might be so wrapped up in grief as they might not think of this.
So sorry to read this news. Tony, and AIP made such a huge difference in the world of toy soldier wargaming. It was a pleasure to meet him in London. With best wishes and sincere condolences to the family from Paul, at Funny Little Wars.
I am sorry to hear of Tony’s passing, especially in the circumstances that occurred. BUT, I will see him again, most probably still tending store at that great location he had across from the West Point Museum. I got to go there twice (once with each of my wives!) and they both adored him. My current wife asked him about where we should eat lunch and he sent us about 5 doors down to see another great old Italian guy making pizzas. My wife told the Pizza guy that she would marry him if he was single, she liked the pizza so much! Both times I was in his shop to buy toys, he always “threw -in” extra stuff that he had laying around. Later in life, he set up at the Columbus, Ohio Toy Soldier Show one October with us. He was his same amusing self. Just a great toy dealers and human being.
RIP !