Bricks & Minifigs has permanently closed its Salem franchise, and has offered to give Bryan Mansell ‘whatever Star Wars LEGO remains’ in the store’s inventory.
Citing ‘gross negligence’ in how it was operated under previous owner Chrystal Law-Gorman, along with ‘operational gaps’ in the transition to new owners Brandon Best and Joshua Johnson and recovery of documents, Bricks & Minifigs (BAM) Corporate has announced in a new blog post that the Salem, Oregon store – which is at the centre of a dispute with Bryan Mansell over an alleged $200,000 consignment deal – has now permanently closed.
The company has also publicly reached out to Bryan Mansell and his family to ‘review documentation revealed in the investigation’ to reach a ‘positive and mutual resolution’.
“We’ve been asking for documentation for a long time,” said Bricks & Minifigs CEO Ammon McNeff. “We’d asked Mr. Mansell and others and did not receive enough to give us a clear picture until recently, thanks to internal and external operations assistance, and those who continue to stand with us, and we finally have enough to proceed with a resolution.
“And now that we do, Bryan, we continue our offer to sit down with you and are prepared to discuss dropping the lawsuit against you. Let’s go through the spreadsheets and [point-of-sales] data together and ensure you are made whole monetarily and ensure that whatever Star Wars LEGO was or remains in the Salem store, whether you identify as yours or not, you can have it.
“We will ensure you are compensated for anything unaccounted for, including what Ms. Law-Gorman failed to compensate you for without your knowledge. We’re ready when you are.”
Bricks & Minifigs claims to have found three sets of books that estimate the true value of Mansell’s collection – which was placed on consignment with the Salem store in November 2023 – at around $95,000 to $100,000, rather than the $200,000 figure cited by both Mansell and previous store owner Law-Gorman.
The blog post also alleges discrepancies between payments made to Mansell and those recorded in Law-Gorman’s ‘hidden personal bookkeeping version’. According to BAM, the company’s point-of-sales data shows that at least $52,000 was sold from Mansell’s collection under Law-Gorman’s tenure, which is ‘significantly more’ than she reported.
“When a collector came in, identified himself, and what he believed to be a ‘formal’ albeit undisclosed relationship with a former franchisee, it is unfortunate that Ms. Law Gorman was not upfront about it,” added BAM COO Matt McNeff. “We are disappointed this situation was not made explicitly clear, that should have happened much sooner than today. That’s not acceptable, and we’re not going to pretend otherwise.”
At the time of writing, the situation remains unresolved. A GoFundMe page set up by YouTuber Ben Schneider – who has covered the dispute in extensive detail and brought it to wider public attention – has raised in excess of $400,000 to cover the value of Mansell’s collection and legal costs.
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