After Tuesday, the Utah District Court changed the rules in the Bricks and Minifigs dispute: Ben Schneider can post about the case again, but he and those associated with him still must stay at least 100 meters from any Bricks and Minifigs locations or offices. Schneider, known as Reckless Ben, said his "First Amendment rights have been reinstated" after the court signed a preliminary injunction.
100 meters, public posting
The new order replaced a 4th District Court temporary order that had barred him from posting content related to Bricks and Minifigs. It also keeps the conduct limits in place, including bans on trespassing, threats, interference with business, and property destruction. For anyone following the dispute online, the immediate change is simple: public commentary is back, but access to the company’s locations remains tightly restricted.
Ben Schneider and Star Wars Legos
Schneider’s videos grew out of a fight over Star Wars Legos tied to a consignment agreement at a since-closed Bricks and Minifigs franchise location in Oregon. Bryan Mansell said the agreement was not maintained when the franchise passed to someone else through corporate and the Legos were not returned. When Brandon Best and Josh Johnson took over the Salem location, they found only a small number of Star Wars products in the store, which Bricks and Minifigs valued at $2,000 to $5,000 at cost.
Bricks and Minifigs records
Bricks and Minifigs says the records show $61,000 of the collection was sold before the franchise changed hands, while Mansell may have received only $15,000 in payments. In the company’s telling, it does not have the Legos and the former franchise owner either stored them off-site or took them before the handoff. Bricks and Minifigs also said it has committed to giving Mansell those sets "as a courtesy," and that it made that offer multiple times beginning in December 2024.
Scott Young filed a motion to move the civil case to federal court before Tony Graf Jr. considered the request again, and David Barlow has not yet decided whether the case should be in federal court. Bricks and Minifigs said moving the case to federal court "allows issues involving federal law to be properly addressed, but does not change the underlying dispute," and said it expects private mediation to handle the matter "in coming weeks."
The sharpest unresolved point is the same one that fueled the videos in the first place: what exactly happened to the missing Star Wars Legos before the franchise changed hands.
