A Bricks and Minifigs LEGO Store Stole a Dying Man’s $200,000 Collection and the Police Helped Cover It Up

An 83-year-old man spent 15 years building something and a company decided it was theirs now.

Nobody would help him – not the store, not corporate, not local law enforcement.

Now you need to hear what happened when a Youtuber decided to do something about it.

Bryan Mansell Signed a Contract With Bricks and Minifigs and Ammon McNeff Said It Meant Nothing

Bryan Mansell's father is 83 years old.

He and Bryan spent roughly 15 years assembling a Star Wars LEGO collection – 780 sets, more than 1,200 individual figures, worth around $200,000.

In November 2023, Bryan signed a consignment agreement with a Bricks and Minifigs franchise in Salem-Keizer, Oregon.

The contract was clear: the store could sell individual pieces and take a commission, but every unsold set remained Mansell family property until the moment it sold.

Both parties signed it.

In late 2024, the original franchise owner was forced out by corporate headquarters after allegedly defaulting on franchise fees.

New operators – Joshua Johnson and Brandon Best – took over.

The Mansell collection did not come back.

Bryan says he was never paid a dime after the ownership change, and corporate – run by CEO Ammon McNeff – claimed the consignment was "unauthorized" and that they found only $2,000 to $5,000 worth of sets on the premises when they took over.

The original franchise owner says she sent corporate the signed contract and security footage confirming the collection belonged to the Mansells before she was escorted out.

McNeff's position was that none of it was his problem.

https://x.com/thevivafrei/status/2061502994714067095“>https://x.com/thevivafrei/status/2061502994714067095

Reckless Ben Got Arrested by the American Fork Police for Filing Legal Paperwork

A man named Benjamin Schneider – who posts online under the name Reckless Ben – picked up the story in early 2026 and documented everything on camera.

He drove to the Oregon store and asked for the collection back.

The manager called the police.

He went to corporate headquarters in Utah to confront CEO Ammon McNeff directly.

They called the police again.

https://x.com/kimkaiju/status/2062336768502857820“>https://x.com/kimkaiju/status/2062336768502857820

When Schneider tracked down franchise operator Josh Johnson by phone, Johnson's story changed every single time they spoke – sometimes denying the sets existed, sometimes acknowledging they were still in the store.

Schneider filed small claims suits through ten separate buyers, none of whom received a response from Bricks and Minifigs, and filed for default judgment.

The Salem store permanently closed the next day.

Still no collection. Still no money for the Mansells.

So Schneider went to Utah to pursue legal action against Johnson and Brandon Best personally.

This is where it gets ugly.

https://x.com/thevivafrei/status/2062323213430874217“>https://x.com/thevivafrei/status/2062323213430874217

The American Fork Police Department showed up every time Schneider attempted to legally serve Johnson with court papers.

Officers took the legal documents, verified with the court that they were legitimate – and then arrested Schneider anyway.

Body camera footage Schneider later obtained shows officers saying they wanted to "scare" him for being annoying.

Johnson, for his part, told police he was prepared to shoot someone for approaching him with lawsuit paperwork.

Nobody arrested Johnson.

Officers then searched Schneider's vehicle for three hours after Johnson called in a tip claiming he had heroin in the car.

They found nothing.

When Schneider and his team returned to their rental to regroup, the American Fork Police Department arrived with assault rifles drawn – claiming the property owner reported guests discussing stolen LEGOs and suspected them of being the thieves.

They dislocated Schneider's shoulder in the process.

Police then used the existence of a GoFundMe Schneider had started for the Mansell family as probable cause to hold him without bail for 30 days, without informing him of the charge.

A judge saw the filing and released him on $2,500 bail almost immediately.

The Mormon Mafia Connection That Explains Everything

What ties this together is a detail the mainstream media has almost entirely ignored.

Schneider found that franchise operators Johnson and Best, key figures at Bricks and Minifigs corporate, and the American Fork officers most directly involved in blocking his legal efforts all belong to the same LDS Church community in Utah.

Bricks and Minifigs has also allegedly donated significant funds to the Church.

https://x.com/ImKingGinger/status/2062382122984522181“>https://x.com/ImKingGinger/status/2062382122984522181

This is what institutional corruption looks like in practice – not a shadowy conspiracy, but a network of people who protect each other because that is what tightly bound networks do.

An 83-year-old man lost his life savings, and the people positioned to stop it were connected to the people who took it.

The GoFundMe for the Mansell family has raised over $100,000 and is climbing.

Patreon CEO Jack Conte publicly told Bricks and Minifigs to "stuff it" after the company tried to have Schneider's content removed from the platform.

Internet investigator Coffeezilla announced he is deep into his own inquiry.

Bricks and Minifigs filed a lawsuit against Schneider, Bryan Mansell, and others, calling the entire effort a "coordinated harassment campaign."

https://x.com/DietWaterGUY/status/2061895515139125290“>https://x.com/DietWaterGUY/status/2061895515139125290

CEO Ammon McNeff appeared on a LEGO community podcast on May 31 and publicly apologized to the Mansell family while offering mediation.

The Mansells say they have not been made whole.

McNeff threw away a franchise company worth tens of millions of dollars rather than return a collection he could have handed back at any point.

The American Fork Police Department spent months making sure he didn't have to.

---

Sources:

• Wikipedia, "Bricks and Minifigs–Reckless Ben controversy," Wikipedia, June 2026.
• "The Bricks and Minifigs $200,000 LEGO scandal explained," Drezzed/MSN, June 2026.
• Dexerto Staff, "Bricks and Minifigs sues Reckless Ben over viral $200k Lego Star Wars investigation," Dexerto, June 2026.
• Sportskeeda Staff, "Reckless Ben and Bricks and Minifigs controversy: Timeline of events explained," Sportskeeda, June 2026.
• Primetimer Staff, "Netizens slam American Fork Police Department as 'wildly corrupt,'" Primetimer, May 31, 2026.
• Sportskeeda Staff, "Patreon CEO Jack Conte responds to Bricks and Minifigs takedown request," Sportskeeda, June 2026.