Born in Bologna, Italy, in 1969, it was only at the beginning of the 1980's that I began having a certain interest for militaria in general. Scale modeling was my first passion, but results appeared to be disappointing due to lack of detail. I had to find a way to know more about uniforms and gear before even starting a project, therefore I began to gather books and magazines on the topic, although at the time there were not as many as today. The next step was straightforward: I wasn't interested in reproducing militaria anymore, I wanted to collect it! Any object seemed full of appeal and such was the first helmet I ever held in my hands: an Italian M33 at a friend's house. It was not to be my first one; something had not yet clicked inside of me. It did in August 1983, when I went on holiday to England with my parents: in London, at Camden Lock market, I saw a helmet. Undeniably British, I didn't even dare to touch it nor to ask the price (not knowing more than a few English words at the time, it would have been difficult anyhow) and it was my younger brother who picked it up to check the inner part and who insisted my father asked about it. With only two Pounds Sterling (not even from my own pocket) I became a collector. While the sibling was teasing me calling me "chicken", my parents were probably thinking about how easy it had been to make me happy buying me a piece of metal...they hadn't realised they had just made their biggest mistake ever!

And they didn't for a long time. In fact my second helmet only came in 1985, while at the end of 1987, after a two-year experience in the United States, I had put together just eight. Although they had understood (so to speak) my passion, and although they had accepted the idea that my room was slowly becoming full of general militaria (posters, uniforms, radios and so on) they hadn't yet realised how "ill" I was. Suspicion grew into certainty in the early 1990's, when, having gathered 20 helmets, I started fitting new shelves in the room. I had then decided that I was interested in all helmets, of all eras and from all nations. Travels around Europe, more frequent military markets, lucky contacts with other collectors and, later on, the arrival of the Internet, all bore their fruit. Metal scaffolding suddenly materialised in the very middle of my room and due to its grace and beauty it was hailed with screams of horror and dubbed "the monster". I had reached the 100 mark and to me that was a heavenly sight!

In the meantime luck had made me meet a girl who not only could bear this passion of mine (although she sometimes found it over the top), but who was also pushing me to win over my indecisions and to go right ahead with new acquisitions. A passion must be given in to, there's no resisting it! Needless to say, I couldn't but marry Maria...

Now working in London, we live in a flat with a kitchen, bathroom, 2 bedrooms, a baby girl and about forty helmets, while 160 more (including a few tanker helmets and a couple of pith helmets) are still in Bologna, taken hostage by my family.

This has been, in short, my itinerary up to now, but the road ahead is long, passion is still strong and my collection far from being complete.

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