Bricks & Minifigs denies attempt to seize Reckless Ben’s GoFundMe amid $200k Lego dispute

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Bricks & Minifigs states they have not taken any legal action to claim the GoFundMe funds raised to support Reckless Ben’s investigation of the controversial Lego collection belonging to the Mansell family.

Okay, so this whole thing started with me and my dad. We’ve been collecting Lego Star Wars stuff forever, and we had a pretty big haul. We took it to a Bricks & Minifigs store in Oregon thinking they could sell it for us. The deal was supposed to be that they’d take 35% of the sale price as their fee, and we’d get the rest.

The disagreement escalated when YouTuber Reckless Ben started looking into accusations that a $200,000 LEGO collection hadn’t been given back after the store was sold. Bricks & Minifigs has now filed a lawsuit against Ben, Mansell, and others involved, claiming they intentionally worked together to harm the company’s reputation.

Bricks & Minifigs told TopMob they’ve been working hard to fix the problem with the Mansell collection. They explained it was a rare and regrettable situation involving just one of their former store owners.

The company also responded directly to questions about the fundraiser set up to support Mansell and his family.

Look, just to be clear, we never tried to legally take control of the Mansell family’s GoFundMe, or anyone else’s for that matter. And we definitely didn’t authorize selling stuff as a way to handle things – that wasn’t something we ever approved. As a gamer, I just want to set the record straight on that!

Bricks & Minifigs denies GoFundMe claim in Reckless Ben dispute

The online fundraiser added to the drama when Reckless Ben explained in a video posted on June 9th – called “My final message” – that he couldn’t release the next part of his investigation, fearing potential legal trouble and a loss in court.

So, apparently, the money we all chipped in for Mansell could have just gone directly to some unknown company – that’s what I heard. And yeah, the fundraiser is actually down now. From what my friend Ben said, it had already collected between $300,000 and $400,000 before they took it offline. It’s a bit concerning, honestly.

The online fundraiser was fixed on June 10th after briefly displaying an error message. When we last checked, it had raised $457,730 out of its $500,000 target.

Bricks & Minifigs says it didn’t try to legally take control of the GoFundMe campaign, but hasn’t explained why the fundraiser was briefly inaccessible.

The company challenged the claim that the collection was worth $200,000, stating that many reports about it contained inaccuracies—particularly regarding its actual value, which they say is significantly lower.

This information agrees with Coffeezilla’s research into the lost Lego collection. He valued the entire collection at about $107,000, but believes only $10,000 to $20,000 worth of Lego is still missing. Coffeezilla also stated that Bricks & Minifigs may still owe the Mansell family between $50,000 and $83,000 for portions of the collection they sold.

Bricks & Minifigs says consignment was not approved

Bricks & Minifigs also pushed back on the consignment agreement at the center of the dispute.

The Mansells said they had an arrangement where the Salem-Keizer store could sell Lego sets that still legally belonged to their family until all the sets were purchased. They claim the deal included a provision for any unsold sets to be given back to them if the agreement was terminated.

Bricks & Minifigs explained to TopMob that they never officially authorized the consignment arrangement. According to the company, a legal review found that the previous franchise owner didn’t follow the rules and guidelines set for franchisees.

After looking into the matter, Bricks & Minifigs announced improvements to how its stores operate. These changes include better tracking of inventory and sales, a more open buying and selling process, and thorough employee training focused on professionalism and company rules.

The company stated it’s dedicated to finding a solution everyone agrees with.

As a big fan following all this drama, it’s still playing out everywhere – on YouTube, Twitter, pretty much anywhere you look online, and now even in court! They actually have a first hearing scheduled for June 30th, so we’ll finally get some more official info then.

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2026-06-13 20:50