However, unlike the other boys his age who had an army of figurines to play with, his parents weren’t able to afford any, so he went without.
As he grew older however, he decided to take things into his own hands – literally – and experimented with making his own toys.
“I first started making figurines when I was in high school by experimenting with plasticine,” Saiful told FMT recently.
When he realised there was money to be made in his field, he turned his talent into a full-time career.
Today, Saiful sculpts figurines for a living and although the journey has been far from smooth sailing, his passion has more than made up for the skill that he sometimes felt he lacked in bringing his ideas to fruition.
“I learnt most of my skills from renowned sculptor Mufizal Mokhtar and I also watched many YouTube videos,” he explained.
Over the years, Saiful focussed on perfecting his art, crafting figurines both simple and complex in order to develop his skill fully.
He first began by sculpting figurines of superheroes. However, he realised soon enough that there was a need to create something more unique, something others had not thought to do or market.
“I realised that there were many other artists sculpting superhero figures, so I decided to try sculpting figurines of b-boy dancers.”
B-boying is also known as breakdancing and is a form of dance and fashion style made popular by African Americans and Latinos. B-boying involves intricate footwork and athletic moves such as spinning and back spins usually to the beat of hip-hop or funk music.
Saiful explained that he was naturally drawn to b-boying for his figurines as he was a b-boy dancer himself back in the day, and a member of a dance group. In fact, he said he was known as BboyBlackz, a name he retained for his business.
Today, Saiful’s figurines are so well-known that he sells them not just for the domestic market but takes orders from the US and Canada as well where the hip-hop culture is even bigger.
As fun as it looks to the customers who purchase his figurines, the process to create and perfect each sculpture so it looks as life-like as possible, is a painstaking process that can take up to two months from concept to finished product.
A one-man show, he said he is grateful that his customers believe in him enough to wait that long for their order to arrive.
He said because of the amount of time, skill and effort that goes into sculpting one figurine, the price tag ranges from between RM1,000 to RM2,000 depending on the complexity of the character.
Figurines, especially hip-hop characters, are not very popular in Malaysia, and this has been one of the major challenges he’s had to face.
“There is a lot of competition out there, but I believe that my figurines are one of a kind and I want to share my passion with Malaysians,” the father of three said.
Once his business started building steadily, he had to eventually quit his day job so he could focus on sculpting full-time.
“I started selling figurines in 2007 but only as a side job, however, in 2018, I decided to focus all my energy on my passion and started sculpting figurines full-time.”
So, what are Saiful’s dreams for the future? “I plan to open a gallery in Malaysia and in the US where I will be able to showcase all my hard work.”
Like what you see? Head on over to Saiful’s Instagram and Facebook pages for more of his work.