I’m capturing this for posterity more than anything. Because if you’ve spent any time on social media as of late, you’ve likely come across the Bricks & Minifigs drama engulfing both LEGO and influencer social. Even Jack Conte, founder of Patreon is getting in on the action.
So why post about it here…? Because the company in question started right here in Oregon. The first store opened in Battle Ground, Washington around 2009 or 2010, and the second — described by ownership-history sources as the “flagship” — opened in Canby in 2010. The founders met, per Franchise Times, “through the LEGO resale community in Portland.” Systemwide revenue exceeded $95 million in 2024. This is — by any reasonable definition — an Oregon-grown brand.
If you haven’t been following along — and honestly, I don’t blame you — the short version is roughly this: a Salem-area LEGO collector named Bryan Mansell consigned 780+ sets and 1,200+ minifigures (a collection he built up over two decades) to the Bricks & Minifigs in Keizer in November 2023.
The Keizer franchise was then taken over by corporate in late 2024. The consigned collection — which Mansell says he believes was taken without his authorization — was not returned.
A YouTuber named Reckless Ben made a video about it. Then another. Then a documentary. Things have spiraled from there.
Schneider has been arrested twice in American Fork, Utah on stalking, picketing, disorderly conduct, and trespass charges. BAM Franchising has sued Schneider, Mansell, and others, alleging defamation, racketeering, and harassment including bomb and death threats. The allegations on both sides are, as the lawyers say, “vigorously disputed.” None of them are adjudicated.
I’m not going to re-litigate the consumer-rights story here. Jesse Peone over at the Salem Business Journal has done the load-bearing Oregon journalism on it — full timeline, the consignment agreement details, the contested franchise contract language, the corporate response. If you want the receipts, that’s where the receipts live. Go read it.
A federal lawsuit, two arrests in Utah, and a court date. National outlets have covered it from every angle.
Drama.
I’m not going to argue that any party here is right or wrong. (Honestly, I don’t know, and given that there’s an active federal lawsuit and a criminal case at the same time.) Bricks & Minifigs has put out two formal corporate statements explaining its position, and they are worth reading directly. The argument over the consignment contract, the seizure timeline, the dollar amounts, and the whole question of who took what from whom is unsettled and will get settled, eventually, in a courtroom.
For more, see “YouTuber arrested twice by AF police over LEGO dispute.”
