r/BricksAndMinifigs

▲ 4 r/BricksAndMinifigs+1 crossposts

I think we should highlight all of our own personal danger at this point

Ammon and his minions have mis-associated anyone who expresses discontent with their handling of this as people associated with Reckless Ben. They have also openly stated to the police on multiple occasions that they want to shoot Reckless Ben and his associates on camera. It’s our responsibility to inform the public that if you go in a bricks and minifigs they might get the wrong idea and shoot you

reddit.com
u/Ok-Opportunity-9915 — 1 day ago

BAM Google reviews

I honestly had to give this company a 1 star rating. Been keeping up on the case. They are absolutely petty, going through and rating people 1 star that rate them 1 star and just copy and pasting whatever message they put under their review. Just sad.

reddit.com
u/Ision123 — 2 days ago
▲ 2 r/BricksAndMinifigs+1 crossposts

DEATH TO BAM

It’s out of hand regardless of the whole situation.
I’m in the Denver area and there are no 3rd party Lego stores besides BAMs.

So for my trip I decided to settle and check one out, the first I’ve been to all year. Never ever again. The pricing is so inconsistent and always above market value. Staff was lovely but christ almighty across the board these places need to be shut down for robbing the blind.

The biggest example of this is the current p2 clones of which were priced at $10 a piece…

reddit.com
u/Normal-Dimension-720 — 2 days ago

At what point does the actual lego company step in

Ive seen enough posts here about the missing legos situation to feel safe posting this.

At what point does the actual lego company step in and say fuck these B&M people and just give the legos back themselves.

https://x.com/Dexerto/status/2079922436095488415?s=20

If I was a ceo of a major company and knew that a re seller was gung ho on lets possibly kill someone who wants their property back.

I would bring the legal hammer down and have the said reseller liquidated and stripped of any corporate entity status.

Oh yeah and have everyone in that company arrested for pre meditated murder preferably by some real not bribed hogs.

It would also look good one lego part for publicity that they stopped someone from getting murdered.

reddit.com
u/ReadingFar7038 — 3 days ago
▲ 1.0k r/BricksAndMinifigs+1 crossposts

NEW: Unreleased Bodycam

I've obtained new bodycam video from three reports from police in Orem, Utah.

A personal plea: If you take the time to watch the ones that make you feel angry, please also take the time to watch the ones that make you feel sad or empathetic. Even if you think a story is a "hero versus villain" story, remember that most people don't fit neatly in either category.

The most significant is an hour-long video showing Bricks & Minifigs CEO Ammon McNeff talking to an officer at the Orem store on March 11, shortly before the police raid. Earlier in the day, "Reckless Ben" Schneider made an appearance at the Orem store, shortly after being released from jail for his first stalking arrest in American Fork.

The second and third reports are both from after the first video was released. The second one was heartbreaking. On May 29, a brother who said he keeps his distance from his brother's businesses called police for advice after his 13-year old son began receiving unsolicited phone calls and text messages. He sounds tired and legitimately afraid. On May 30, Matt McNeff and his wife called police to report threats to them and their children. An officer followed up on May 31 on another instance of a sibling unaffiliated with BAM Franchising receiving threats.

Do not harass or threaten people's families. Do not harass or threaten anyone. If you are the type of person to want to cause people to fear for their safety, you do it because you are a weak little garbage person who likes to cause fear. You are not helping anyone. This is merely an excuse.

Orem Police redacted all civilian names, including the name of the county jail, from the reports. I think that is excessive. All redactions were done under a public records exemption that allows an agency to withhold release of "data on individuals the disclosure of which constitutes a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." They also declined to waive the fee, charging $125 in staff time to make the redactions.

On the other hand, they provided a log of each video redaction, none of the audio was muted by officers at any time, the request was processed very quickly, and the timestamp was visible through the entirety of each video.

The videos and reports seem to show officers responding to things in a pretty typical way. They show empathy for the complainants, but acknowledge the limits of the law and the need to review the evidence before acting. It does not appear that police in Orem ever encountered Ben directly, or pursued any charges. Only one report includes him as a suspect, and it is from shortly before the police raid.

I think these videos undercut the "Mormon Mafia," theory, where people suggest that Utah police and judges are at BAM's beck and call. In the first video, you can see Ammon flip between strategies to try and get traction with the police. There is even a "can I speak to your manager" moment where he complains about how unresponsive Detective Dore has been.

Don't get me wrong. Causing an armed police raid, an email search warrant, and a prior-restraint TRO is real power. But I've long said they boxed themselves in by overstating their case. This seems like more evidence of that flailing.

I reached out to both Reckless Ben and Bricks & Minifigs in advance to offer an opportunity to view the videos in advance of release, suggest additional redactions, and comment. Bricks & Minifigs did not respond. Schneider did view the videos and provide comment, but did not respond to more detailed questions.

March 11, 2026 Bodycam - Report 26OR04733

Bricks & Minifigs CEO Ammon McNeff calls Orem Police. There is a lot here. In the middle of it all, Josh Johnson calls multiple times while the GoFundMe banner is being hung.

It is the most complete statement that I've seen of Bricks & Minifigs' version of events from before the first video. They were still piecing together a lot. I don't even think they knew Ben's middle name.

At one point, Ammon says he believes Ben was sexually abused as a child, causing him to become a sociopath. He attributes this to a search that they've done finding a sex offender from Ohio with the same name.

This was a serious ethical question for me. There is an ethical duty to protect the identity of a minor victim of a sex crime that has to be balanced against other factors. I reached out to Schneider, who told me that it is untrue.

Schneider said in a written statement:

Anyways, I would like for this to be my official response to the police bodycam footage if you're going to include one for me:

"Goo Goo Gaa Gaa. Goo Goo Gaa Gaa."

(I just feel like this is the most appropriate way to respond to someone acting like a baby.)

Schneider clarified that this response is specifically directed at Ammon and the first video. He said he found the bodycam videos about threats to family members sad. He did not respond to more detailed questions.

Other notable things:

  • The officer confirmed there was not a no-contact order from the first arrest.
  • Ben's photo was distributed to stores with instructions to call police and corporate.
  • The BAM incident log in the civil suit says "trespass ordered" for this case. But the report and video reflect that none was ever ordered.
  • Ammon is frustrated with Provo Police and American Fork Police for not doing enough.
  • There is a mention of fraudulent gift certificates that I have not seen before. Maybe that is connected to the raffle?
  • McNeff talks twice about arming staff.
  • Ammon met the officer at the local store near BAM Franchising Headquarters.
  • This was one of Detective Dore's first cases as a detective.
  • No charges ever emerge from Orem.
  • BAM did know at this point that Ben's glasses recorded.
  • An earlier draft of BAM's evidence for the civil lawsuit exists as part of this case file. I would imagine if any of the lawsuits or hearings go to trial, the lawyers will pick through that. (I still doubt the civil lawsuit will go to trial. I don't think that would be good for Ben or Bryan or BAM.)
  • At this point, they had not identified Sheldon Norcross.
  • One thing that has always driven me nuts: There is no detail on the death threats supposedly from Ben or his co-conspirators to employees of the Salem/Keizer store. Ammon says they said "Hey, we're going to kill you if you don't give this guy his money back." Maybe there will be more once I get the Provo reports.
  • He says, [Chrys Gorman] "leaves and then she's like, 'Oh, by the way, I've got this consignment thing.' And we're just like, 'Okay, we don't know what you're talking about.'" I'm not sure at this point if he has seen the video.
  • The Orem officer tells Josh not to go out and confront anyone. Josh goes out and confronts people. Then yells at his neighbor about letting them hang up the sign.
  • The Orem officer repeatedly tells them how to apply for protection orders. That would define limits on what contact Ben could have with the named people. From what I can tell from the records, they never apply for such an order.
  • The officer says in the video he is going to file for commercial obstruction. It does not appear in the report. I'm unsure if the American Fork arrest or other facts change that.
  • The report states that he did later hear from American Fork Police that they got a "warrant for the individuals involved." That sure sounds like American Fork Police described the goal of that search warrant as arrests.
  • Ammon asks about getting in touch with a supervisor for Detective Dore and also name-drops a Lindon, UT officer, Matt Barlow. (Who appears to be retired.)

May 29, 2026 Bodycam - Report 26OR10603

This one is heartbreaking. Please watch it and sit with it. The impact is more in the voice than the content. There are no true threats made. But it's a person who has sought distance from his family having that distance taken by some random person sending messages to his 13 year old son. He just sounds sad, and tired, and legitimately fearful.

His understanding is secondhand, forced to contact his family more than he seems comfortable with to find out what is going on. He starts by telling the officer:

My two brothers own a business called Bricks & Minifigs. And a YouTuber exposed them for something shady that went down and they've all received death threats from the online communities. My brothers, their wives, and their children. And it hasn't been until yesterday or the day before the online community started researching deeper and finding us siblings.

He says, "I don't associate with my brothers very often. I don't agree with a lot of the things they do." But his son has started getting calls and texts asking for messages to be sent to Ammon. He is fearful that now that his son's number is out there, he'll start getting threats. He is understanding with the officer when he is told that there is not much to be done. There is no allegation here that Ben was behind any threats.

May 30, 2026 Bodycam - Report 26OR10664

This is another significant one, but also heartbreaking. Bricks & Minifigs COO Matt McNeff and his wife talk with the police about death threats they and their children received. In giving background, he also gives more information on what is going on inside BAM Franchising after the TRO is granted.

  • The tone of he and his wife are tired and sad and scared.
  • Matt says that Bryan Mansell refused to provide documentation, continued to escalate, and then "hired" Reckless Ben.
  • "Our lives have been nothing but hell since" Reckless Ben released the first video.
  • He said his wife has had panic attacks after threats.
  • He described a particularly disturbing one, "'Give that man his life savings back, you rat.' Then three emojis of a gun. And then he put a picture of my brother's Facebook profile with family members pulled up, and shows my sister, two of my cousins, my wife, and then my brother's brother-in-law."
  • This was the day after American Fork Police chief put out their own statement, which Matt references. "And frankly, the American Fork Police video does a very good job of calling out his BS and you know, very calmly and factually stating that he's fabricating multiple facts in this case."
  • They mention the TRO, which at this point is unserved.
  • "YouTube is basically saying they won't take the videos down until he gets served and we have proof of service to him."
  • "We feel like we've tried the whole way through to do the right thing here and had just been stonewalled by that guy who claims that his collection was stolen."
  • "People are referencing Luigi Mangione."
  • Says there are active FBI and US Postal Inspection Service investigations.
  • Says the Utah County DA is asking Provo for the case file to pursue charges. This wound up not happening. Lesser charges were brought by the Provo City Attorney's Office.
  • The officer does confirm that he sees in a Provo case file that it is being referred to the FBI.
  • "This is speculation on my part. I feel like the former franchisee Chrystal Law.... was angry when we terminated her franchise, and I think that she's been colluding with [Redacted. I suspect it is Bryan Mansell] to essentially try to harm the brand and harm us directly.... I actually believe that they have all that inventory they're claiming is missing. I have some potential evidence to back that up, but that's..."
  • They are genuinely concerned for their safety and that of their family.

May 31, 2026 Bodycam - Report 26OR10664

This is another sad one. In this case, another McNeff relative with no connection to BAM Franchising got explicit death threats. It is the same officer and case number as above. There is no allegation here that Ben was behind any threats.

One More Time

Don't threaten people. Especially don't threaten kids, spouses, or employees. Remember that people can only rely on the information they have at the time. Someone saying something that you now know to be false does not mean they knew it to be false when they said it.

EDIT: This is for people who want the raw videos. Take or leave my opinions. But before you assume I’m some sort of shill: Watch the videos themselves. Take a look at my post history. Take a look at the easy-to-read bulleted lists in this new post. Ask yourself: is this is something BAM, its PR team, or its lawyers would want out? Or just wait until later until content creators cut it into bite size pieces.

My Reporting

I do this in my spare time. I've always been a bit of a public records nerd. I've also always been more interested in finding information than writing about it. I may not be have time to check this much today after posting.

Go to my post history to see my reporting on this, and https://chrisreportsthings.com to see the documents I've obtained.

I've spent more than $1000 collecting documents and releasing them publicly. This request alone was $125 and many hours of time. If you would like to help offset that cost, you can do so at https://ko-fi.com/chrisreportsthings. As I get more police documents, it is becoming more expensive and less predictable.

If you have information that would be helpful, reach me via reddit DM, via email at yo@chrisreportsthings.com, or confidentially via Signal at chrisreportsthings.08.

youtube.com
u/awkwardbegetsawkward — 4 days ago
▲ 118 r/BricksAndMinifigs+1 crossposts

Former Bricks & Minifigs Owner Is Afraid To Speak Out

I hadnt seen this posted yet and thought it was particularly relevant since the most recent body cam footage was released.

One of the former Bricks & Minifigs owners, is fearful for their and their families safety if they were to speak out.

Given the rabid sosciopaths have now mentioned/alluded to on multiple occasions threatening violence against Ben, it’s no wonder some former owners might be fear for their safety.

Josh said he’d shoot someone to a dispatcher. Ammon says on a call with an officer if he should arm his staff and then in person extensively discusses getting a shotgun and arming his employees at a family focused business.

I really hope we hear from more former owners as the dipshits get more and more cornered. Echobase said they reached out to 20+ owners and only heard from like 3. One of which feared for their safety.

This story just keeps getting crazier and crazier. It’s pretty obvious the dipshits have been doing shady and most likely illegal stuff for a long time and are lashing out like the cornered rodents they are

youtu.be
u/KalePalmer — 3 days ago

BAM Just Gave Bryan a Fresh Start

Holy crap these guys are incompetent. I just realized they published a blog post on moving LEGO as they are being investigated for allegedly moving Bryan's LEGO, in the process of this apparent theft.

Not only that, they ended it framing the sell your LEGO option as:

"Our stores are always on the lookout for more LEGO products to add to our shelves. So, just bring your collection into your Bricks & Minifigs store, and let us help you turn your move into a fresh start!"

How oblivious can you be FFS.

https://bricksandminifigs.com/blog/blog/2026/07/20/how-to-pack-lego-sets-for-a-move/

u/aye-igh — 3 days ago

‘An absolutely miserable experience’: Former Keizer Bricks & Minifigs owners sue for defamation

Did I miss this? I didn't realize the Keizer franchise owners are now suing for defamation.

koin.com
u/hutchison15 — 4 days ago
▲ 70 r/BricksAndMinifigs+1 crossposts

Help Ben & Franchisees! If your Boycotting BAM, make a video saying why? Tell the truth! and if BAM Corporate is the reason and If there is a class action lawsuit. It will show verifiable damages.

https://youtu.be/y_qGeJCf284?si=Ptnfmv4IDtlsbyrG

I know everyone is Boycotting BAM, but unless there is video evidence of people saying why? LUS makes a good point

then they cannot assign blame to BAM Corporate. A good lawyer can say a million reasons why BAM franchisees sales are deteriorating.

To possibly help the Franchisees get out of their horrible contracts and if a class action lawsuit is to occur. They need evidence that the decision of BAM Corporate was directly related to losing their business and in turn should not be paying Fees as they are losing money.

Remember BAM makes their % not on profit but total sales. So even if BAM franchisees aren't profitable. BAM corporate still makes money. They don't care if franchisees fail due to their negligent decisions .

u/Wannaknownbe — 4 days ago

Phone Calls With Dad

The father built a company around limiting legal exposure and now he's watching his kids, Ammon and Matt McNeff create literally the most liability possible for zero gain. Also they've absolutely destroyed the family name. If even go as far as to say this is a bit of a black eye for the entire community really.

I'm curious, how do you think those calls home go? Loving supporting father or "you fucks need to change your names".

reddit.com
u/aye-igh — 4 days ago
▲ 530 r/BricksAndMinifigs+1 crossposts

I don't think we make enough of a Big Deal, How Ammon Father accused Ben of sending Snipers to Murder his entire family. Instead of assuming the contractor 10 inches away broke it.

Isn't this a crime? Isn't a bullet easy to find and provable?

Ben could've got "attempted murder charges" on top of his

  • Extortion

  • Arson

  • Heroin Possession

  • Domestic terroristic Bomb Threats

  • Stolen Lego

  • RICO charges

  • Picketing?!?

Also, this trash contractor trying to say he might have did it, but Gaslighting the cops that snipers are possible💀

Lmao 🤣 BJC face when the contractor said that

u/Wannaknownbe — 6 days ago
▲ 34 r/BricksAndMinifigs+1 crossposts

Why did People franchise under BAM? does BAM do anything, That you can't do yourself?

What does BAM actually do to benefit the franchisee?

It seems like they don't do anything, but take crazy dumb fees for nothing and force you to pay their Utah Mormon Authorized Dealers.

Their explicit government franchisee disclosure, shows they use all the money and pay themselves instead of advertising or investing in franchisees.

Also, shows BAM is always unprofitable....every single year 🚩

Why would anyone think to put their life savings into this company?

Also. If older sets are the lifeblood of BAM franchisees. And if old or naive people are the targets. Eventually you'll suck up all the local stock in 5 years and eventually it will fail🤔

Ps I think someone should make a video investigating these Mormon "authorized dealers" I have a feeling it could lead to something BIG

reddit.com
u/Wannaknownbe — 6 days ago