Singaporean content creator trades rare card & drone for Kia car
Remember the dude who made it onto national TV for sun-burning a Singapore flag onto his chest?
That same guy, 26-year-old Michael Collins, has now pulled off something almost as unthinkable: he got himself a car without spending a single cent.
Well, not quite. He did technically get started with a grand capital of 10 cents.
While some may already be following his journey on Instagram, Michael says those short clips only show the highlight reel.
Behind the fun and games were 42 days of grind and hustle, all in the name of good content.
Trades started from half a packet of tissues
Michael’s most viral videos have racked up more than 90,000 views on YouTube, where he posts what he calls his “crazy adventures”.
In just a year, the Singaporean has sailed to Pulau Ubin on a bag of potato chips, asked strangers to fly with him to Bali, and now, he has a car which he essentially acquired for 10 cents.
“After some research, I realised that you could find cars for under S$5,000,” Michael tells MS News.
“For the exact reason they’re so expensive at the start (Certificate of Entitlement), they become very cheap near the end. That’s when I realised a car would be be a good target.”
And so, Michael got to work, roaming the streets of Singapore for anyone game to make a trade.
One girl traded him half a pack of tissues, which he then flipped for a single tennis ball.
Small beginnings soon snowballed into bigger-ticket items, such as a vintage watch, a refrigerator, and even a Jacquemus bag.
“The fridge was definitely the hardest thing to trade, but another surprising one was the iPhone 17 Air,” he said. “It wasn’t that I couldn’t find a trade for the iPhone; I just couldn’t find the right trade.”
Eventually, he landed on the perfect combo: a drone and a PSA10-graded One Piece trading card, bringing his total value to around S$2,500.
Getting the car
With his endgame in sight, Michael camped on SG Car Mart for a month, hunting for the best deal.
Three weeks ago, he found it: a red Kia listed at S$4,500.
After some negotiation, the seller agreed to S$3,000, but that wasn’t the real twist.
“When I met up with him, I told him about the video challenge, and asked if he was open to a trade instead of cash,” said Michael.
The man, in his mid-30s, only agreed once Michael explained that he could scrap the car at the end of its COE and keep part of the scrap value. Michael also promised to help him find buyers.
And so, 42 days and 17 trades later, Michael finally got to drive home with his grand prize.
Left a ‘safe & comfortable’ career path for content
Even with all his creative genius, Michael didn’t always plan to be a content creator.
In fact, he was headed for a cushy job at Dyson after completing his Master’s degree in management of technology and innovation.
He’d done the whole textbook Singapore route: Victoria School, Victoria Junior College, then mechanical engineering at the National University of Singapore (of course, he served his mandatory National Service, too).
But something shifted in his final year of university in 2024.
“During my Master’s year, I started to realise that I wanted to do something different,” said the former design engineering student. “I felt that making videos could be something that I’m more passionate about.”
What followed was a serious conversation with his parents, who expressed nothing but support.
“I had always wanted to work at Dyson, so it was quite a big thing to give up,” he admitted.
“I told my parents to give me one year to try [content] out, and go from there.”
And the rest, as they always say, was history.
Encourages others to take on the challenge
While Michael agrees that it takes a certain level of “thick skin — or outright shamelessness — to do his job, he hopes others will try the challenge as well.
“I think it’ll be fun. I think we need more of this in Singapore,” he said.
He added that there are still plenty of innovative, out-of-the-box ideas waiting to be explored.
For this latest “crazy” project, however, he described it as more of a “numbers game”.
“You just have to ask 100 people, and one guy will have the trade you want,” said Michael, who remained “delusionally optimistic” that he could pull it off.
While it took longer than the seven days he’d planned, Michael eventually got his hands on the final prize.
And now, in the biggest plot twist of all, he wants to give the car away for — you guessed it — 10 cents.
Watch the video below to see how you can get it.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Photography by Hannah Teoh for MS News.
