What happened between Reckless Ben and Bricks and Minifigs over the LEGO collection?

Reckless Ben said a family consigned a huge LEGO collection to a Bricks and Minifigs store in Oregon, and new owners later refused to return it or pay, telling the owner a lawsuit would cost more than the sets. Police called it a civil matter. Ben said his team then ran a state-approved lottery for a roughly $1,000 set so that withholding the prize became a criminal matter, and sold the debt to ten friends so they could each file in small claims court.

• Ben said a small claims filing costs about $100 and gives a judgment far faster than a two-to-three-year full lawsuit.
• Ben called the documentary probably the biggest internet story of the year.

▸In their words

“what if we just sue them in small claims court ten times?” Reckless Ben · at 1:34:58 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Shawn Ryan Show (2026-11-05). Read the whole episode summary →

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