Across southern California business owners are dealing with an unusual wave of thefts as two burglars have begun to specifically target stores selling Lego bricks.
A crime duo — apparently with one crook lifting kits from stores and one acting as a getaway driver — has robbed six Bricks & Minifigs locations. The chain, which specializes in reselling Lego sets, has lost $100,000 in merchandise from the crime spree, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Separate from the crime pair, two other individuals were recently arrested after they allegedly took part in a theft ring responsible for stealing thousands of Lego sets from California Targets, according to KTLA.
Katie Leuschner, who owns one of the targeted resale locations, said that she filed a police report but hasn't received any updates from law enforcement.
"There are other stores that haven't been hit yet, but they know [they're] gonna be the next target," she told the Los Angeles Times. "We're all independently owned and just trying to raise families, and you've got these people coming in making it harder for the rest of the community."
Among Lego collectors, the uptick in theft has raised concerns about the origins of their purchases.
"Twenty years ago, the biggest concern when buying Lego from a third party online was that someone might be lying about the condition of the spare parts you were buying," a Reddit user who moderates the Lego subreddit told SFGate.
"Today, I worry that every good deal I find might be supporting a crime ring somewhere. Retail theft has always been common, but it wasn't something that we worried about at the fan level before," the poster added.
The Reddit user believes that the thieves aren't necessarily fans themselves; rather, they're capitalizing on the popular toys' sky-high popularity.
"It all looks like a smash-and-grab of the biggest box they can carry, or they break open a display case and grab the figures with the highest price tag," the user told SFGate.
"My impression is that they are just targeting whatever will bring the most money when they sell it on the black market. These don't seem like Lego fans targeting desirable sets as much as they seem like typical retail thieves."
The Reddit moderator theorized that the stolen Legos had become a hot commodity for thieves because they're relatively easy to steal while maintaining the product's value in a secondary market.
"It's hard to steal and resell a bulky $800 television, but much easier to grab two or three large Lego sets," said the poster.
Leuschner expressed a similar belief when speaking to the Los Angeles Times.
"We're a specialty store for people trying to find the Lego set from when they were younger. The things that we do have can't be easily replenished," Leuschner said. "They're not stealing big box sets. They're stealing mini-figures, and those individual guys go for $500 to $600 apiece, so they're easily stolen and resold for a quick profit."
