An ultra-rare Star Wars Lego collection went missing - it's sparked viral conspiracies

An ultra-rare Star Wars Lego collection went missing - it's sparked viral conspiracies 16 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Max Matza Getty Images It was supposed to be 83-year-old Ed Mansell's nest egg. But his valuable collection of Star Wars Lego - which included the ultra rare Cloud City set worth as much as $10,000 (£7,456) - has gone missing. Who has it, and how much the whole collection is really worth, has become the subject of multiple lawsuits, led to an arrest and sparked viral internet conspiracy theories. The saga began in 2023, when Ed's son Bryan approached a woman called Chrystal Law, who was the franchise owner of a shop selling used Lego. Mansell wanted to sell his father's rare Star Wars Lego collection on consignment, meaning Ed would still be its legal owner until a buyer was found. On social media, Law's Bricks & Minifigs franchise in Salem, Oregon, advertised the acquisition as "one of the largest, most valuable privately held collections of Star WarsTM Lego© in the world". Over the next year, the store sold at least $52,000 worth of his Lego, according to the parent company of Bricks & Minifigs. But in late 2024, Bricks & Minifigs ousted Law over an unpaid debt, and sold her franchise to a new owner. In subsequent interviews with the media, Mansell described how he learned of the sale when he went to the store in person after his monthly cheques stopped coming. But the new owners said they had no knowledge about his collection or the consignment agreement. He now believes the remaining collection was stolen, and he has filed a report with local police. The dispute between Law, Mansell and Bricks & Minifigs continued for over a year with no sign of resolution, with all parties pointing the finger at each other. Then in March this year, a YouTuber who goes by the name Reckless Ben got involved - thrusting this local drama into the spotlight. YouTube YouTuber Reckless Ben A viral campaign 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 n