The Man Behind The Mask
My name is Gaz Johnson and I am the CEO of Excelsior Studios: Custom Creations (ESCC for short). I specialise in the creation of custom and bespoke collector figures, mostly within the 1/6 (12") scale range.
I started out with sculpting back in 2008 as I was missing a lot of my favourite characters in my collection that other companies had forgotten. As I like a wide range of things the options were limitless. I began with my favourite horror characters and eventually felt confident enough to showcase my work on the net, via YouTube.
Skipping ahead to 2014, I attended a local business group where I showcased some of my work. I was then encouraged to look into doing this as a full time business, so I decided to seek out some possible funding. I was lucky enough to find The Prince's Trust and enrol onto a short business course where I met my two future mentors, Marion Smith and Ray Worsnop. I created a business plan and submitted it to the Trust in the hopes of being granted a start-up loan. During this time I was also part of the local community Dragon's Den event where I met politicians and other business men and women who were all very encouraging.
By December of 2014 I was granted the start-up loan after a final interview with the Trust and I was in business. With a steady stream of clients, I was able to order in all the materials I needed to keep the business in action and the rest is history.
Over the years since the business officially started, I have branched off into other areas such as mini busts, dioramas, costume work and print design. I do stay mostly to the 1/6 scale figure range but I have also produced the smaller, but no less detailed, 1/10 (7") scale and some 1/4 (18") scale offerings, as well as my new 3.75" scale Puppet Master series.
