Tyla shares her story below…
The lights decorating the tree twinkled in the background as my family exchanged presents on Christmas morning.
It was 2011, and I was five years old.
“I’ll go first,” my sister, 10, said, tearing open a box-shaped parcel before anyone had a chance to object.
She revealed a blue cardboard box with a clear plastic front.
Inside were miniature animals with bobble heads.
“Littlest Pet Shops!” she squealed with delight.
I was immediately drawn to the animals’ cute faces and bright colours.
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“Can I play with them, too?” I asked.
“Sure,” my sister replied, handing me a Collie dog.
“But I want her back.”
I received a box of Littlest Pet Shop toys as well, but my figures weren’t as rare as my sister’s.
Over time, I became obsessed with Littlest Pet Shop (LPS) and my collection grew.
I asked for them every Christmas and birthday.
I would always bring at least one LPS figurine with me when I went out, spending ages choosing which one would be my companion for the day.
Sometimes my sister and I would play with them or trade them with each other, but, mostly, I’d play with them myself, lining them up in colour order and arranging them in
formations for hours.
When my sister turned 11, she lost interest.
“You’ll get bored of them one day,” she said when I complained about her not wanting to play with me.
“I will not! I’ll love them forever!” I replied stubbornly.
Both adamant that we were right, we decided to make a bet.
If I was still collecting them at 21, she would have to pay me $50; if I wasn’t, I would pay her instead.
I was only six at the time.
By my 13th birthday, I had accumulated around 100 Littlest Pet Shop pets, which I kept in a large box.
My mother grew tired of my collection.
“I refuse to buy you any more,” she told me. “It’s getting silly now.”
“I’ll buy them myself then,” I replied defiantly.
I was a keen basketball player and began coaching some younger children’s teams for a bit of extra pocket money.
I was only paid around $15 an hour but spent every cent I had on discontinued LPS figures from online resellers.
At $20 for three figures, it added up quickly.
I did some research online and discovered that people were selling them second-hand.
Most items were sold in batches, so I often ended up with duplicates.
When that happened, I’d clean them up and resell them to other collectors.
As I explored the online world of LPS, I realised there was a big market for reselling.
To promote the figures, I started creating LPS short films on YouTube, developing storylines and building sets to bring the characters to life.
I also took photoshoots of the pets in beautiful natural landscapes and posted them on social media.
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Sadly, when kids at school found out about my YouTube channel, they made fun of me for still playing with toys.
It was tough, but I tried not to let it get me down.
By 18, I was buying, cleaning and disinfecting LPS toys full-time and had built a community of like-minded collectors on my social media platforms.
As my online presence grew, I began to get emails from people wanting to sell or donate their toys to me.
One woman in France even donated her entire collection, which consisted of around 70 toys.
“I know they’ll be looked after if they go to you,” she told me.
My collection now takes up six full bookshelves, filling an entire room.
I have at least 3000 toys in my own collection and around 500 in stock for selling.
I live with my partner who understands the incredible connection I have to these toys and sees my unique business as a great investment.
My family also support me and no longer see my LPS collecting as a silly hobby.
To this day, I have acquired and sold a total of 10,000 toys.
My lifelong passion has transformed into my full-time job.
I’m looking forward to my 21st birthday, as I will finally collect the $50 wager from my sister – proving Littlest Pet Shop is for life and not just for Christmas.
