This story is absolutely crazy.
I had heard a few tidbits of this story when it broke a couple of weeks ago, and was blown away by it. Although I have to admit, I only heard small segments of it through social media.
But, when I actually watched the entire video, I was jaw-dropped by some of the other details.
Reckless Ben
I was never aware of this creator, as I'm sure many others weren't, but he has done great work.
Essentially, an old man had been collecting Lego Star Wars for years, and had a collection worth somewhere in the range of $200,000, and he had health issues, so his son Bryan went into a well known chain of shops in America, called Bricks and Minifigures, and struck a deal with them, that they would sell the sets, take a commission, and pay Bryan after each sale.
But the owner of that particular franchise left the country and handed it over to a new owner who said they would honour the deal. Instead of honouring it, they decided to steal it and call the police on the owner of the sets when he asked them about the money.
That's where this YouTuber got involved and filmed a documentary exposing them and attempting to help get the Lego sets back.
Asmongold, who is a streamer I watch, reacted to the original video by Reckless Ben.
He brought this out 2 days ago, and it already has 1.7 million views, and this is what I watched.
It is shocking that a reputable company worth hundreds of millions would irreparably damage their reputation for what is a fraction of its net worth.
Throughout the course of this video, it is made clear that this isn't just corruption from within the company, but also corruption of the local police department, who act like attack dogs for the CEO of Bricks and Minifigures.
Reckless Ben has had his house raided by armed police; he and his friends were pulled over and searched on the side of the road for heroin, he has been arrested, there were countless times he had them called on him, and he was stopped, questioned and even threatened.
There is a GoFundMe set up for Bryan and his dad, and I think they have nearly reached their goal, but personally, after everything Reckless Ben has been put through, I hope they get the sets back and that the company has to pay for the ones they have sold in the meantime.
What really doesn't make sense to me is that, throughout all of this, there is video evidence of store owners and CEOs admitting that they have the Lego sets, as well as many other things, but yet, even with evidence, it seems as though nothing can be done about them.
To me, the whole situation is absolutely bizarre, and what it shows more than anything is that, if you have money (and connections) you are essentially untouchable, and the rules don't apply to you.
In the back of my mind, I've always known that, but seeing it unfold in this situation is a real eye-opener.
I've been updating Aimee on it, but she hasn't really been as invested as I am, and at this stage, I'm just looking for someone to talk with about it.
The strangest thing for me is, like I mentioned before, if you're a massive company with a large net worth, why risk it for only $200,000? I know that is a lot of money, but compared to hundreds of millions, it's a drop in the ocean.
(I had to do some digging to find out the net worth of Bricks and Minifigures)
The value isn't disclosed, but they have over 100 stores, and each of them earns between $500,000 - $1,200,000 per year. So, as a guesstimate, they take in about $70 million per year, and after all their staff, taxes, and store rentals are paid, they probably make about $20 million profit, maybe a bit less.
They have been around since 2010, so it is safe to assume that they are valued somewhere in the $150 - $250 million range.
When you have a successful business such as that, why would you dream of screwing someone over for what is, arguably, a small sum of money?
I believe, after all is said and done, this story is going to break their business.
