How this $20,000 Lego Star Wars collection ignited an online meltdown involving Bricks and Minifigs, alleged police corruption, and fleeing the law

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.

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. It also states that the store owners had violated their franchise agreement, but the owners respond that this is because of a failure on the part of BaM.)
• 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, presumably from BaM, 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.

I tracked down the thief who stole $200,000 of LEGO - YouTube

Watch On

• 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 the issue
  • Putting up signs at the store to promote his investigation
  • Submitting numerous small claims against Bricks and Minifigs/the new store owners
  • Creating a company called "We Steal from Old People" with a franchise structure similar to BaM
• Upon Schneider trying to serve 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 Schneider's footage.
• Schneider also reports that he is stopped by the police after being accused of carrying heroin in his car (found untrue at the scene).
• In addition, Schneider's AirBnB is raided by police, allegedly following tip offs that he was the one who stole the Lego sets.
• Schneider's small claims default in his favor. The Keizer store then shuts down.

The fallout

• Schneider goes on to set up a GoFundMe for Bryan that has currently raised over $444K.
• Bricks and Minfigs launches its response (and follow-up) with claims that:
  • The original consignment was unauthorized (which is disputed)
  • The sets were only worth $60K-$80K
  • It did not formally agree to take on the consignment despite acknowledging a verbal agreement
  • The whereabouts of Mansell's remaining sets is unknown
• Bricks and Minifigs issues a lawsuit against Schneider and Bryan Mansell for what it calls a coordinated campaign of "false accusations, fabricated claims, deceptive practices and manufactured confrontations to extort money, racketeer, profiteer and damage" BaM.
• Bricks and Minifigs sends a cease-and-desist letter to Patreon, with the request that they remove Schneider's Patreon page. Patreon refuses.

Take Down Notification: Reckless Ben’s Patreon Account - YouTube

Watch On

• 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 flees to Mexico after a no-bail arrest warrant for him is issued.
• Controversy rages around Mansell and Schneider's claim of a partnership between the store owner and the police based on their reportedly shared affiliation with the Mormon Church. (This has not been confirmed.)
  • Schneider claims to have investigated the officers he says treated him "unfairly" and suggests that they are all practising Mormons. (Again, this is unverified.) This theory becomes referred to on social media as the 'Mormon Mafia.'
• Bricks and Minifigs releases a new post with a multitude of claims, including:
  • The new owners of the Kaizer store have parted ways with BaM apparently because of "a devastating social media campaign"
  • Bryan Mansell and the original store owners supposedly valued his collection at $95K-$100K, not the $200K previously suggested
  • The $200K amount "was never a documented value, simply the promotional value they used to bring excitement for the public viewing"
  • Suggestions of gross negligence against the previous owners
  • An offer from BaM's CEO to meet with Mansell "to discuss dropping the lawsuit" and "ensure you are made whole monetarily"
  • An offer from BaM's CEO to Mansell that "whatever Star Wars LEGO was or remains in the Salem store, whether you identify as yours or not, you can have it"
  • Claims of "significant discrepancies" between point of sale data and what the original owners paid Mansell (the collection apparently earned over $52K at that point, which is "significantly more than was reported")
• Schneider claims in a new post that he has been served with court papers that stop him from talking about Bricks and Minifigs in videos, or he will "go to jail, and not only that, immediately lose my lawsuit." In addition, he suggests that proceeds for Mansell's GoFundMe page would go direct to BaM if he continued to discuss the company.
  • This doesn't permanently silence Schneider on the matter; as explained in this helpful video, it simply stops him until he gets into court to give his side of the story.
• Schneider, Mansell, the original Keizer store owners, and Bricks and Minifigs remain engaged in legal action at the time of writing.

Since this article was first published, Bricks and Minfigs has reached out with the following statement:

"We have worked diligently to resolve the Mansell collection issue. This is an isolated and unfortunate incident related to a single former franchisee and does not reflect the integrity of more than 300 other franchisees.

Much of the reporting on this issue includes inaccurate information, most notably the collection’s value, which is far less than the reported $200,000. Also, at no point did we make any legal attempt to seize the Mansell family GoFundMe account or any other GoFundMe account, nor did we ever approve consignments as an authorized sales process.

Following a thorough legal investigation of this matter, we have determined this former franchisee operated in contrast to corporate’s procedures and expectations for franchisees. As a result, we have enhanced the following procedures across all of our locations, including:

• More rigorous record keeping and inventory management
• Transparency in the buy, sell and trade process
• Comprehensive staff training on professional conduct and corporate protocols"

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 a few different sources: there's Relentless Ben's full investigation on YouTube, 404 Media's roundup of the problem, and Techdirt's massive breakdown. The latter two were 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.

Want a break from all this? Chill out with the best toys, including the best water guns, or check out the best new Lego sets in June 2026.