It was supposed to be 83-year-old Ed Mansell's nest egg.

But his valuable collection of Star Wars Legos - which included the ultra rare Cloud City set worth as much as $10,000 (£7,456) - has gone missing.

Who has it, and how much the whole collection is really worth, has become the subject of multiple lawsuits, led to an arrest and sparked viral internet conspiracy theories.

The saga began in 2023, when Ed's son Bryan approached a woman called Chrystal Law, who was the franchise owner of a shop selling used Lego.

Mansell wanted to sell his father's rare Star Wars Lego collection on consignment, meaning Ed would still be its legal owner until a buyer was found.

On social media, Law's Bricks & Minifigs franchise in Salem, Oregon, advertised the acquisition as "one of the largest, most valuable privately held collections of Star WarsTM Lego© in the world".

Over the next year, the store sold at least $52,000 worth of his Legos, according to the parent company of Bricks & Minifigs.

But in late 2024, Bricks & Minifigs ousted Law over an unpaid debt, and sold her franchise to a new owner.

In subsequent interviews with the media, Mansell described how he learned of the sale when he went to the store in person after his monthly cheques stopped coming.

But the new owners said they had no knowledge about his collection or the consignment agreement.

He now believes the remaining collection was stolen, and he has filed a report with local police. The dispute between Law, Mansell and Bricks & Minifigs continued for over a year with no sign of resolution, with all parties pointing the finger at each other.

Then in March this year, a YouTuber who goes by the name Reckless Ben got involved - thrusting this local drama into the spotlight.

A viral campaign

Reckless Ben - whose real name is Ben Schneider - says Mansel reached out to him for help.

Schneider's subsequent campaign against Bricks & Minifigs and the franchise's new owners included elaborate stunts - such as creating a website called "We Steal from Old People" emblazoned with the Bricks & Minifigs logo. He later posted videos showing how he put up a sign that read "we stole a family's life savings" across from the house of one of the store's new owners. He even travelled to Utah, where Bricks & Minifigs' parent company is located.

On 27 March, he was charged by American Fork City police with stalking, targeted residential picketing, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass in relation to some of these tactics.

But things really exploded on 21 May, when Schneider, who has 1.4m subscribers, posted a video called "I tracked down the thief who stole $200,000 of LEGO". The feature-length video has garnered over 5m views as of mid-June.

Its popularity has helped rally the internet around Mansell and his father - and sparked numerous conspiracy theories.

Some have even accused the American Fork City police of helping to cover up a crime, alleging they are working on behalf of Bricks & Minifigs. On 29 May, the police department issued a statement saying "our involvement in these cases was limited to fulfilling our legal obligations and enforcing Utah law".

But that statement has done little to assuage the rumours, with supporters even interrupting a June city council meeting in American Fork City to accuse the police of misconduct.

Multiple lawsuits

Meanwhile, Bricks & Minifigs claims its stores are receiving threatening calls and emails.

The Oregon shop at the heart of the dispute was later shut down by the company, "due to a devastating social media campaign", it said, adding that it did not blame the new owners.

The company said the closure was "because our staff - including local teenagers - faced severe real-world safety hazards, targeted in-person stalking, and explicit bomb threats driven by viral videos".

In a lawsuit filed at the end of May, the parent company of Bricks & Minifigs says they took control of the store after Law racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. They also claim Law had violated corporate policy by agreeing to sell the collection on consignment.

In the lawsuit, the company alleges the missing collection is worth $80,000, not the $200,000 claimed by Reckless Ben.

They claim Schneider, Law, Mansell and others conspired to lead a campaign of harassment and extortion against the company's owners and the new franchisee who took over the Oregon shop.

Bricks & Minifigs has characterised the debate over the missing collection as a private dispute between Law and Mansell, but says it has tried to help resolve the issue.

"We are completely willing to sit down and figure out a fair, reality-based way to ensure this grandfather is made whole," it said in a statement on 28 May.

Mansell did not respond to a BBC email seeking comment.

Meanwhile, Law claims she doesn't have the Lego set, and that it was part of the inventory in the store that was transferred to a new owner. She is suing Bricks & Minifigs, alleging the company improperly "seized control of the business and changed the locks that same evening".

The BBC attempted to contact Law through her publishing company. She did not respond to a BBC email.

A prized collection

In a statement to the Salem Business Journal, Mansell wrote that his father started collecting Legos to provide for his children and grandchildren.

"Lego was a toy we shared when I was a kid, and he wanted to share it with his grandchildren," said Mansell.

"He chose Lego as an investment and began purchasing sets and figures to be kept new and in [a] box, so that one day they could be sold to help pay for the grandkid's college education."

A GoFundMe for the Mansell family has raised over $465,000 so far. The fundraiser says the money will be spent "to help Bryan and his father recover their collection or the value of it and cover legal costs".

But on 10 June, a Utah judge issued a temporary injunction barring Schneider from posting about the dispute anymore.

In an email to the BBC the next day, Schneider said that he had been legally barred from discussing the case.

"I would love to speak, but unfortunately a bunch of lies have been said about me, and a court has ordered for me to stay silent."