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I don't think it's an understatement to say that the Bricks and Minifigs controversy has set the community on fire. Actually, a better description might be "poured gasoline over the whole lot before taking a flamethrower to what's left." Usually, fans are kept busy chatting over new kits or the best Lego sets. Now, they're embroiled in discussions about whether a company stole a man's $200,000 Lego Star Wars collection via a YouTuber's documentary that started as a stunt-filled investigation and has ended in an international run from the law involving Utah State Police and the Mormon church.
The Bricks and Minifigs controversy is one of the wildest stories I've seen in a while. Because there's so much to get your head around, with multiple conflicting reports and legal shenanigans snarling things up, I've tried to break it all down into bitesize pieces so you can at least get a vague grasp of what's going on. And don't worry, I've got receipts – if you want a more detailed report, I've linked to a few deep dives further down the page.
How it started
- Back in 2023, 83 year-old Ed Mansell (who was suffering from health issues) asked his son Bryan to sell his extensive Lego Star Wars collection, with the money going toward college fees for Bryan's children.
- Bryan makes a contract with a Bricks and Minifigs store in Keizer, Oregon to sell them under consignment (e.g. they sell the kits but take a cut of the sale). The contract states that the kits still belong to Mansell.
- The collection is estimated to be worth $200,000 (that's been brought into question since).
- The Bricks and Minfigs (BaM) store advertises these kits extensively on social media, and begins to sell them.
The issue
- The owners of the Keizer store seek to close or sell their store, though what is said remains disputed.
- A Bricks and Minifigs associate arrives soon after, demands the keys, and kicks out the previous owners (BaM claims that the owners had threatened to shutter the store, something the owners dispute).
- During the takeover, the previous owners explain about Mansell's consignment and say that they owe him money (this is caught on the store security camera). Bricks and Minifigs corporate state that they will "take on the consignment liability."
- When Bryan later asks for his payment or for any unsold sets to be returned, the store's new owners refuse and/or claim there are no sets in-store.
- Bryan challenges this, but says that store employees essentially threaten to bury him with expensive legal fees if he takes it to court.
Influencer backup
- Bryan approaches YouTube influencers with the problem, who document it online and set up a campaign to get the Mansells their Lego – and money – back.
- The YouTubers are apparently hit with threats of legal action, so take down their videos.
- Bryan approaches another influencer, Ben Schneider (AKA Reckless Ben), who decides to investigate. Schneider creates an extensive video on the issue called "I tracked down the thief who stole $200,000 of LEGO." It's racked up well over four million views so far. It's fantastic.
- During the video, Schneider comes into conflict with the current Keizer Bricks and Minifigs store manager and company CEO when he requests to collect Lego for his "friend" Bryan. (He is then trespassed from the store for life, meaning he can't return.)
- After being trespassed, Schneider engages in a variety of stunts to promote awareness like creating fake Lego fan clubs to promote, putting up signs at the store, submitting numerous small claims against Bricks and Minifigs/the store owners, and creating a company called "We Steal from Old People" with a franchise structure similar to BaM.
- Schneider also sets up a GoFundMe for Bryan that has currently raised over $407K.
The fallout
- Bricks and Minfigs launches its own response (and follow-up) with claims that the original consignment was unauthorized (which is disputed), the sets were only worth $60-$80K, and that they did not formally agree to take on the consignment despite acknowledging a verbal agreement. They also claim the whereabouts of Mansell's remaining sets is unknown.
- Bricks and Minifigs sends a cease-and-desist letter to Patreon, with the request that they remove Schneider's Patreon page. Patreon refuses.
- The police post a response of their own that defends their actions. Schneider accesses and posts about body-cam footage which calls this assessment into question.
- Schneider's small claims default in his favor. The Keizer store then shuts down.
- Upon trying to serve further court papers to the store owner, the Utah Police Department are regularly called to the owner's property on grounds of stalking and harassment, appearing to side with the store owner in Ben's footage.
- Controversy rages around rumors of partnership between the store owner and the police based on their shared affiliation with the Mormon Church. Schneider reports that he is stopped after being accused of carrying heroin in his car by police (found untrue at the scene), his AirBnB is raided, allegedly following tip offs that he was the one who stole the Lego sets, and signs created to promote his investigation were removed.
- Schneider, Mansell, the original Keizer store owners, and Bricks and Minifigs remain engaged in legal action at the time of writing.
And there we go – take a deep breath, everyone.
This is a very brief rundown of the issue. If you want to dive deeper into the issue, I'd highly recommend checking out Relentless Ben's full investigation on YouTube. 404 Media's roundup of the problem along with Techdirt's massive breakdown were also both tremendously helpful in me making sense of all this, and they go into far greater detail.
As a reminder, everything unproven remains alleged, with the entire story pretty much unfolding through Ben Schneider's own lens.
