Me & My Money: Lego artist builds her wealth brick by brick

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SINGAPORE - Ms Xylvie Wong, 43, has been entrepreneurial since her childhood, starting her first business in primary school – selling folded paper stars to classmates for 30 cents a pop.

She now specialises in custom Lego commissions, installations and kits as the founder of My Little Brick Shop.

“My parents bought me my first Lego set, which sparked my interest as a kid, but I started getting back into it only as an adult,” said Ms Wong, who calls herself a brick artist.

My Little Brick Shop, launched in 2013, started as a creative outlet for her, as she built palm-size sculptures of things such as Sanrio character Hello Kitty.

Ms Wong then became a trainer for brick art interest groups after her friends roped her in to help with brick art workshops. She and her friends started running events and building Lego centrepieces for other people’s events.

“We realised that the one missing link was a physical gallery space to showcase our work,” said Ms Wong.

“Lego is a very tactile product. If you don’t see it, you don’t understand it. It’s not just a toy – it can be a sculptural art piece. So we do need people to physically be able to see it.”

This led to her opening a retail store in Bugis Junction from around 2013 to 2016, during which her creations gained more exposure, and people went to her for commission-based work.

“As my business grew, it didn’t feel necessary to have a retail space any more, so I converted to a studio-based business. My studio is currently based in Tai Seng,” said Ms Wong.

Ms Wong, who graduated in 2008 with a bachelor’s in communications and new media and sociology from the National University of Singapore, lives in an HDB apartment in Bishan with her husband and their 16-year-old son.

She also graduated with a bachelor’s in advertising in 2006 from Lasalle College of the Arts.

Q: What do you invest in and why?

A: I invest in Lego sets sometimes. There are Lego sets that potentially have higher value – toy collectors will purchase extra (sets of these) and try to sell them. But not all sets have investment value.

Lego has intellectual property sets that will appeal more to investors, such as Star Wars sets. Older sets bought during the first wave of release tend to be of more value.

I selectively purchase some collectables. There are sets that are released in limited quantities because they are event-exclusive. Those are the kinds I purchase extras of, because the buying price is not high, but the market price will rise. It doesn’t matter if the market price doesn’t end up rising because I can always break them up for parts to do customisation work for customers.

Besides Lego, I invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). I previously had money in stocks, but as the market is volatile due to the Iran war, the money has been redirected to global ETFs. I have also been investing in gold for a while.

Q: Money-wise, what were your growing-up years like?

A: Truthfully, I spent irresponsibly on nonsense as a child, like gumball machines. And as a teenager, I led a frivolous life by going to cafes and such. I believed then that money was not for saving; it was for spending, and we could earn it back. I also was buying autographed albums and selling them. But it stemmed from my need to be a fangirl, and being a fangirl is very expensive. I tried to turn my interests into businesses.

I believed that scrimping and saving that 10 cents to 20 cents was not helpful. Thinking of how to earn money was more useful, so I was hustling in school to earn money from classmates and trying my best not to get caught by teachers.

One of my school businesses was making paper stars and selling them. It was quite a hit with my classmates.

Q: What has been your biggest financial mistake?

A: My biggest financial mistake was to trust people I thought were friends. One of them was a Lego customised casing supplier, but he ended up being a scammer after delivering a few times successfully.

I had been getting customised casings for Lego mini-figures from him. Casings are another thing in the Lego investing community with large resale value.

One day, he came to me wanting to do a bulk Lego purchase, but he needed to meet a minimum order and asked if I wanted to join in. Because I had to stock my retail shop at the time anyway, I agreed to help him meet the minimum order. The orders never arrived, and he ran away with the money. I lost a five-figure amount.

I had to make up for half of my losses by selling off his Lego collection that he displayed in my shop.

Q: What has been your best financial decision?

A: My best financial decision was to invest in gold. I remember when I was around seven years old, gold cost about $20 per gram.

When I got married at 21, people asked me what I wanted for a wedding gift and I would tell them to give me gold. I’ve collected gold over the years, and the last time I checked, gold was $300 per gram – I cashed out some of it recently.

I’m sure the price of gold will continue to go up as it’s a finite resource. It’s not like crypto; it’s a tangible product that is required for this world to function.

Q: What was your childhood dream?

A: I didn’t have a childhood dream. I just had a lot of side quests.

Q: What was your first job ever?

A: My first job was at Kenny Rogers Roasters as a waitress; I lasted two days because I was too bored. It was busy only during peak hours, and I had to stand around the rest of the time.

Q: What do you drive?

A: I can’t drive. I’m a passenger princess.

Q: What would your perfect day look like?

A: My perfect day would involve me waking up at mid-morning and nobody talking to me the entire day. I would also be buying bubble tea and being by myself in my head, preferably overseas.

Money Matters

Q: What would you do if you suddenly had a windfall of $1 million?

A: First of all, $1 million is not a windfall. I guess I would invest it. I can’t do anything with $1 million that would drastically change my life.

Q: If you suddenly had only $100 to your name, what would you do with it?

A: I started a business with $50, selling autographed Mandopop CDs. I started that when I was 18 years old; by the time I was 21, I had enough from all my side businesses to buy a BTO flat.

I would find a business to invest in, and probably buy bubble tea.