Let go my Lego
Lego’s fanbase, which famously cuts across kids, teenagers and grownup collectors, is seeing some unsavory characters break into the mix, and for all the wrong reasons. Lego sets range from over $100 to $1,000 or more, are being targeted for theft both by individual shoplifters and larger organized retail crime rings who make a beeline for sets sitting on store shelves because they can fetch a good profit at resale both in legal and illegal channels. Miguel Zuniga, who operates a Bricks & Minifigs Lego resale franchise store in Los Angeles County, is still dealing with a break-in on June 18. “I was asleep, and the ADT security system gave me a call. Then my wife got a call. I went straight to the cameras and saw we were being robbed,” Zuniga told CNN. He got to his store within 10 minutes, but the burglars were gone – with about $5,000 to $7,000 of Legos, he estimates. Retail crime experts told CNN that stolen Lego sets are easy to resell, they’re typically hard to trace and they can fetch close to the original retail price if in mint condition and unused. Even used sets in decent shape can go for 50% of the original price.
LAPD detectives recovered more than 2,800 boxes of Lego toys with retail value of $20 to over $1,000 per item, the report quoted a police statement as saying. In Philadelphia, police logged a series of Lego set thefts in recent months at retailers such as Barnes & Noble and Target, with stolen sets valued from $250 to up to $1,000 each. And north of the border, in Richmond, British Columbia, police in March seized a haul of more than 1,000 stolen toys. Among the stolen goods were more than $150,000 worth of Lego sets and other plush toys. “Lego is unique. The brand is always refreshing their offerings, always on trend with tie-ins to pop culture and special edition sets,” said Read Hayes, a criminologist.
39-year-old Robert Lopez was arrested Monday at his home on Spyglass Road in the community of Hidden Valley Lake, CA following an investigation that started in September. Police said Lopez was directing others to steal expensive Lego sets and purchasing the stolen property at a reduced price to turn around and resell, along with selling mini figurines at inflated prices. Detectives reviewed digital evidence, conducted surveillance and collaborated with retail theft investigators from Target and Walmart as part of the investigation. When detectives served a search warrant at the home, detectives said they found tens of thousands of Lego pieces throughout the home, which they described as a “large-scale operation.” “The living room was filled with tubs, bins, and desks covered in loose LEGO pieces, along with numerous unopened boxes of new LEGO sets,” police said in a statement. “In the kitchen, thousands more pieces were scattered, and hundreds of disassembled LEGO minifigures were found with bodies separated from heads, which were neatly organized by facial expression.”
Priceless plastic puns
Captain America, The Hulk, Thor, and Iron Man all get Lego sets for Christmas.
“Avengers, assemble!”
Did you hear about the LEGO truck that crashed on the highway?
Authorities are still trying to piece everything together…
Where do Legos celebrate?
They celebrate block parties.
“What do the Lego aliens say?”
“We come in pieces.”
October 21st Birthdays
1942 – Judge Judith Sheindlin, 1988 – Hope Hicks, 1993 – Lorezia Tronco, 1952 – Carrie Fisher
1989 – Cody Johns,, 1959 – Ken Wantanabe, 1949 – Benjamin Netanyahu, 1950 – Ronald McNair