It’s the LEGO saga that you won’t see on the Star Wars Kids YouTube channel, the story of a LEGO collector called Ed Mansell, the Bricks & Minifigs store and an estimated $200,000 of LEGO that has gone missing….or has it? More intriguing than you might anticipate, it’s an ongoing story that involves a successful YouTuber (Reckless Ben, with his 1.4 million subscribers), the allegedly questionable conduct of the American Fork City police (accused of misconduct at a town council meeting earlier this month), lawsuits, and the ever-watchful eyes of the Star Wars and LEGO fan communities.
Reckless Ben – whose real name is Ben Schneider – says Mansel reached out to him for help.
Schneider’s subsequent campaign against Bricks & Minifigs and the franchise’s new owners included elaborate stunts – such as creating a website called “We Steal from Old People” emblazoned with the Bricks & Minifigs logo. He later posted videos showing how he put up a sign that read “we stole a family’s life savings” across from the house of one of the store’s new owners. He even travelled to Utah, where Bricks & Minifigs’ parent company is located.
On 27 March, he was charged by American Fork City police with stalking, targeted residential picketing, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass in relation to some of these tactics.
But things really exploded on 21 May, when Schneider, who has 1.4m subscribers, posted a video called “I tracked down the thief who stole $200,000 of LEGO”. The feature-length video has garnered over 5m views as of mid-June.
Its popularity has helped rally the internet around Mansell and his father – and sparked numerous conspiracy theories.
Some have even accused the American Fork City police of helping to cover up a crime, alleging they are working on behalf of Bricks & Minifigs. On 29 May, the police department issued a statement saying “our involvement in these cases was limited to fulfilling our legal obligations and enforcing Utah law”.
But that statement has done little to assuage the rumours, with supporters even interrupting a June city council meeting in American Fork City to accuse the police of misconduct.
