The former owner is furious after $200,000 worth of LEGOs he consigned were stolen from the store, and YouTubers have picked up on the story, leading to a review bombardment, but there are many suspicious points.
Bricks & Minifigs, a company that buys and sells used LEGO sets, is facing allegations of stealing an entire LEGO set entrusted to them by an individual. The controversy has escalated after a popular YouTuber picked up on the story, but Bricks & Minifigs has denied the allegations, claiming they are based on a misunderstanding.
Bricks & Minifigs Salem, Oregon Store: Official Statement
Bricks & Minifigs Stole a Man's $200,000 LEGO Collection | MyBrickLog
https://mybricklog.com/blog/bricks-minifigs-corporate-stole-old-mans-200000-lego-collection
The whole thing started when Bricks & Minifigs Salem-Kaiser, a franchise store of Bricks & Minifigs, entered into a consignment sales agreement with an individual.
The owner of Salem Kaiser has reportedly made an agreement to take possession of the 'LEGO Star Wars Collection' from LEGO collector Ed Mansell and his son Brian Mansell, sell it in the store, take 10% of the proceeds as a commission, and return the rest to the Mansells. The Salem Kaiser owner was delighted with the deal and enthusiastically promoted it on Facebook, saying, 'This beautiful collection is estimated to be worth over $200,000 (approximately 32 million yen).'
However, Bricks & Minifigs later seized control of Salem-Kaiser and installed a new owner. When the Mansell family inquired about the sales situation at Salem-Kaiser, they were immediately kicked out, their contract declared invalid, and given a permanent ban from entering the premises. The new owner reportedly replied, 'My name isn't on the contract, so I don't know anything about it.'
As Brian continued to be turned away, a YouTuber named Reckless Ben stepped in and began documenting the events. Reckless Ben went directly to Bricks & Minifigs headquarters to try and speak with the CEO, but was quickly kicked out, banned from the premises, and had the police called on him. Reckless Ben spoke with people involved several times, but each time the police were called, and the police refused to get involved, citing 'non-intervention in civil matters.'
When Bricks & Minifigs took over Salem-Kaiser, Josh Johnson and Brandon Best were at the center of it all. Reckless Ben reports that 'Brandon Best was the one who carried out the operation on the ground and was present when the previous owner was removed from the store. He was the one who prevented the consigned items, including the Mansell family's collection, from being returned to their rightful owners.'
Josh Johnson is another party involved and has spoken with Reckless Ben on the phone multiple times. Johnson admitted that the collection existed in the store and even stated that 'when we took over the store, we specially set those sets aside and stored them,' but later completely reversed his story and began claiming that 'no such sets ever existed.'
The conflict continued in a quagmire, with the police being called every time Reckless Ben tried to take legal action, Johnson telling Reckless Ben, 'If you try to take legal action against me, I'll make it look like you stole the Lego,' and Reckless Ben and his associates being arrested on false charges that he was in possession of heroin.
As the controversy escalated, with Bricks & Minifigs being subjected to review bombing and employees being harassed, Bricks & Minifigs issued a statement saying that 'the reports are based on misunderstandings.'
First, in response to the accusation that Bricks & Minifigs stole the Mansell family's collection, Bricks & Minifigs countered that 'the former owner of the franchise store entered into an unauthorized consignment agreement without our permission, and we did not authorize consignment sales. When we seized Salem-Kaiser, the collection was not present in the store.' Subsequent investigations reportedly uncovered some items believed to belong to the Mansell family, but only worth between $2,000 and $5,000, with the whereabouts of the rest unknown.
Sales records reveal that over $50,000 (approximately 8 million yen) worth of similar items had already been sold. Whether or not those proceeds went to the Mansell family remains unclear, as they refused to disclose the information. In addition, inventory records remaining at the store indicate that the collection had been moved to an external warehouse.
Bricks & Minifigs stated that they were unaware of the existence of the contract or the warehouse, and therefore, naturally, they had no idea what had become of the rest of the collection. As maximum compensation, Bricks & Minifigs offered to buy back the collection, which they believed belonged to the Mansell family, although they had no concrete proof, but the Mansell family refused.
Furthermore, it appears that the former owner of Salem-Kaiser was fired for failing to pay Bricks & Minifigs the contract fee for several months. Also, some reports claim that 'Salem-Kaiser was sued, lost the case, and closed down,' but this is not true; the store only temporarily closed because an employee was being stalked.
Bricks & Minifigs has indicated it will take a firm stance against continued systematic review bombing and harassment of its employees. In addition, it condemned those who repeat sensational and false accusations as absolute truth without verifying their veracity.
However, since some of the Mansell father and son's collection continued to be sold even after the change of ownership, there are questions about where the proceeds from those sales will go.
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