In 1982, Moranduzzo acquired Cromoplasto-a small factory in Lucca. With it, he acquired something much rarer: five generations of craftsmanship expertise in miniature sculpture, an archive of molds spanning a century of Italian history, and the hand of a sculptor recognized as an artist by the Ministry of Culture.

1906: Pellegrino Landi founds everything

Hand-painted Landi figurine – direct heir to the Cromoplasto figurine-making tradition begun in 1906.

It all began in Lucca in 1906, when Pellegrino Landi founded a wooden toy factory. It is not yet the figurine industry-it is pure craftsmanship, the kind that turns wood into objects that children want to hold in their hands. But in that Lucca workshop a vocation was born that would cross five generations without ever dying out.

When Pellegrino died around 1935, his son Valente Landi transformed the company. He abandoned wood and introduced composition-a mixture of sawdust, glue and plaster-to produce the famous paste toy soldiers. Their trademark is “Xyloplasto,” engraved under the base of each figurine. They are objects of obsessive historical accuracy: uniforms, weapons, postures, all reproduced with the fidelity of a document.

The 1950s: Cromoplast is born.

In the late 1950s, Valente’s son – Aldo Mariano Landi – made the decisive breakthrough. He abandons composition in favor of plastic rubber, a thermoplastic resin that allows finer details, brighter colors and superior strength. The brand name changes: from Xiloplasto it becomes Cromoplasto. “Landi Patent,” “Landi Cromoplasto,” and “VaLa Cromoplasto” appear under the bases.

Production explodes. The first plastic rubber series are cowboys and Indians. Then, in 1961 – the centennial year of the Unification of Italy – Garibaldini, bersaglieri and Austrians come out. It is so successful that the Canadian Mounted Police, American Northerners and Southerners, Romans, and medieval knights quickly follow. Each series is sold in illustrated boxes that recreate the environmental setting: the western blockhouse, the Roman camp, the battlefield.

Martino Landi: when the craftsman becomes an artist

The same painting technique developed by Martino Landi for the nativity figurines animates the Florence 1946 subjects today.

Aldo Mariano’s son Martino Landi was born in Lucca in 1957. He is the fourth generation of figurinai – fifth if you count Pellegrino as founder. At age 16 he began working alongside his father in the factory. He graduates from the Liceo Artistico. In 1979 he graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence.

Two complementary backgrounds coexist in Martino: the hand of the figurine maker inherited from his father and grandfather, and the eye of the academic artist. The creative process begins with hand modeling in wax: he sculpts each character – face, hands, feet, folds of fabric – to very small dimensions, with a precision that requires decades of training. A metal mold is then made from each wax model for mass production.

Martino’s unique expertise lies in being both a sculptor and a moldmaker: he controls the entire process from the first idea to the last mass-produced piece. This is an absolute rarity in Italian craftsmanship.

1982: Moranduzzo acquires Cromoplasto.

Aldo Mariano had been manufacturing for Moranduzzo for years before the formal takeover in 1982. In 1994, due to Mariano’s ill health, an agreement was made with Moranduzzo to lease the Landi factory and machinery, with a percentage of the revenues going to Martino in exchange for new models each year. In 2003 Moranduzzo took over everything permanently.

Each Landi figurine is deposited with the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and is classified as a work of art, protected by copyright worldwide. This is not formal recognition: it is institutional confirmation that these are not figurines, but miniature sculptures.

Today: Landi figurines are art sculptures

Forty years after their acquisition, Landi Moranduzzo cribs remain at the heart of the company’s identity. Available in numerous scales – from 3.5 cm up to 30 cm – and in different styles (historical, 18th-century Neapolitan, classical, Arabic), they represent the excellence of Italian nativity craftsmanship. Landi figurines appeared in the Netflix series I Hate Christmas without any commercial agreement – chosen by set designers simply because they are the figurines Italians really have in their homes.