YouTuber “Reckless Ben” Schneider has thrown a national LEGO resale company into the spotlight with his recent investigative video series.
At the heart of the story is an 83-year-old Oregon man’s treasured LEGO collection. Built over decades and valued at nearly $200,000, his family says it was essentially stolen from them after they consigned it for sale at a Bricks & Minifigs store.
The story began around late 2023 when Bryan Mansell, acting on behalf of his father Eric Mansell, consigned the massive collection – reportedly including hundreds of unopened sets and over a thousand rare minifigures – to a Bricks & Minifigs franchise location in Oregon.
According to contracts and legal documents showcased in the Reckless Ben investigative video series, the agreement stipulated that the family retained ownership of any unsold items, with the store earning a commission on sales. The collection, which included a large set of ultra-rare vintage LEGO pieces, represented a significant portion of the family’s savings, especially as Eric reportedly faced major health challenges.
Everything fell apart when the franchise store that had consigned the large collection of rare LEGOs changed hands, and new owners took over.
The new owners allegedly refused to return any unsold sets or provide a full accounting record of sales of Mansell’s collection.
According to Reckless Ben’s videos, any resolution with the store owners was met with resistance, including claims the family was banned from the premises and would need litigation against the much larger corporation – Bricks and Minifigs – to recover the six-figure LEGO collection.
After receiving a tip from an online fan, Reckless Ben first produced a video on the lost LEGOs in May. His first major video, “I tracked down the thief who stole $200,000 of LEGO,” detailed the consignment agreement, security footage, and confrontations at the store.
Reckless Ben and his team used some untraditional tactics – even starting his own LLC “We Steal From Old People,” which seemingly uses the Bricks and Minifigs logo as partial inspiration – to pressure the company for answers.
The YouTuber’s investigation escalated, going viral in the week after the first video was posted.
Reckless Ben traveled to Utah, home to Bricks & Minifigs’ corporate ties. There, encounters with law enforcement, including the local police, intensified. Ben reported being arrested on charges including stalking and disorderly conduct by the store’s owner. His Airbnb and car were reportedly searched by the police – as seen in another video, with claims of incomplete bodycam footage and a large collection of redacted audio from both searches.
Bricks & Minifigs corporate has pushed back hard against the allegations. The company says it was never involved in the original consignment deal, which it describes as unauthorized and in breach of its franchise rules. However, they’ve since cut ties with the Oregon store’s operators, blamed the situation on mishandling by the previous owner, and insist no theft took place. The company has filed a lawsuit against Reckless Ben, the Mansell family, and others, accusing them of defamation and harassment.
An official statement from the company reads as follows:
“The public narrative surrounding Bricks & Minifigs claims that corporate leadership and our new Salem franchisees knowingly ‘stole’ a $100,000 to $200,000 LEGO® collection from an elderly collector and his family. This is not true…We are hopeful the individuals involved in this private dispute can resolve such among themselves, which we support. Our goal is to ensure this grandfather and his family are not left ‘out’ or penalized for a localized failure. After taking over the store, we discovered a small number of sets (valued between $2,000 and $5,000) that could possibly be related to Mr. Mansell’s collection based on the limited information we received. We offered to return these items to the Mansell family though BAM had no legal obligation to do so, but it was refused.”
The Oregon store eventually closed following the public fallout, leaving the family’s $200,000 LEGO collection essentially in limbo.
The American Fork Police Department, which arrested Reckless Ben and later announced that there are no active charges against the YouTuber.
Reckless Ben released another video, this time in response to the AFPD’s statement, arguing that they had illegally blocked him from serving court orders to the store owner in question, and that the store owner had been running a harassment campaign in response to the viral video series exposing the stolen LEGO collection.
Ongoing lawsuits and potential police investigations referenced in reports continue. The Mansells seek the return of Eric’s entire collection or fair financial compensation.
Reckless Ben’s videos have since pulled in millions of views, inspiring a GoFundMe that has raised over $445,000 for the Mansell family as of the morning of June 8. As of press time, WeStealFromOldPeople.com is still live.
