Bricks & Minifigs shut down after viral LEGO collection controversy
By Eli Kuhn
Click here for updates on this story
EUGENE/KEIZER, Oregon (KEZI) — A LEGO Star Wars collection worth hundreds of thousands of dollars is at the center of a national controversy that has led to the closure of a Keizer store and raised questions about a Eugene location.
The national LEGO resale chain Bricks & Minifigs has permanently closed its location in Keizer following a dispute over a consignment agreement that has drawn tens of millions of views on social media.
Bryan Mansell says he and his 83-year-old father Ed spent years building a massive collection of Lego Star Wars sets, worth roughly $200,000. Mansell says he agreed to a consignment deal with the Keizer location of Bricks & Minifigs. But he alleges when the location changed ownership in 2024, the new ownership took full control of the inventory and refused to honor the consignment.
This led to a handful of lawsuits and national attention after the YouTuber Reckless Ben, or Benjamin Schneider, posted several videos investigating the case. Reckless Ben’s videos on the subject have gained more than 17 million views on YouTube as of Friday.
“Bricks & Minifigs is saying, ‘Yes we have all of Bryan’s LEGOs in our store, no we didn’t pay for them,'” Schneider said in a video uploaded May 23rd. “Their answer for that is: ‘We would never try to exploit an old man,’ but it seems like that’s what they’re doing, they’re exploiting an old man.”
In a statement released Thursday, Bricks & Minifigs says it has parted ways with Keizer franchise owners Joshua Johnson and Brandon Best following the closure of the Keizer location. However, the Oregon Secretary of State’s database shows Best is also listed as the owner of another franchise location in Eugene. It remains unclear whether he still owns or operates this location. Employees inside the West Eugene store declined to comment, but said that aside from the statement released on Thursday, they have not received any information related to the Eugene location.
In that statement, the company writes they “uncovered significant evidence of gross negligence in how the store was previously operated by the prior owner,” which they say led to complications with the consignment.
Bricks & Minifigs say the company has reached out to Mansell to meet and come to a mutual resolution. Reckless Ben also set up a GoFundMe for the Mansells, which as of Friday, has raised more than $400,000.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.