Ben's Brickstore

06/07/2026

Another display stand by Quinn!

We still have lots of minifigs to get on display, this is maybe around just half of the superhero figs that we added recently. These are all available on our Bricklink site too, and selling fast!

06/03/2026

It's taking longer than anticipated to get all the minifigs we listed last week out on display, but we think the wait will be worth it!

This was designed and built by Quinn, age 17, our part time employee!

06/03/2026

After our last post, we needed a more fun topic - so here's a teaser for our redesigned website - which is almost done! This screenshot is the top of the main page.

This will replace the current bensbrickstore .com very soon, but in the meantime if you'd like to test out the new site and help us work out any kinks, I just posted a temporary link in the Ben's Brickstore Facebook Group.

You'll have to ask to join the group if you aren't already a member. Please be sure to answer the group questions, it's how we w**d out the bots and spam accounts.

06/02/2026

You may have heard about the recent controversy regarding the Bricks & Minifigs brand (or "BAM"), and their franchise location in Salem-Keizer, Oregon.

See links at the bottom of this post for more info - articles from Brick Fanatics, Reckless Ben’s YouTube channel (the YouTuber that has been trying to recover Bryan Mansell’s LEGO® collection from BAM). His first video about it has had over 3 million views in 11 days! We've also linked a video by Christopher Lee from DuckBricks, LEGO Masters Season 4 winner. He provided a good analysis of the situation, we highly recommend it.

This is probably obvious to our regular customers - we are an independent, family owned, local business in Belchertown, MA, and we have absolutely no affiliation with BAM. We don't sell LEGO® on consignment, and we don’t steal LEGO® from old people 😉

We think it's terrible what the Mansell family has gone through, and hope that they can recover their collection or somehow be made whole. BAM Corporate seems to be digging their own grave with each conflicting statement they make, and their side of the story doesn’t seem to match up with the evidence presented in Reckless Ben’s videos. They are hurting their own brand and reputation, in a big way.

Reviews:
At this point, we have not received any negative reviews or comments from anyone erroneously associating us with BAM. Still, we would welcome any positive reviews on Google, our page, or our various selling platforms (Bricklink etc). We know some other independent (non-BAM) stores have experienced negative reviews/comments due to this situation, and positive reviews can help balance that out. Please be sure to also give positive reviews to any other independent LEGO® stores that you support.

I will also add that the other Bricks and Minifigs franchise locations really don't deserve the amount of hate and harassment that they are receiving right now. Please keep that in mind.

I'll post links in the comment section for sending us a review, should you feel inclined to do so. It truly means a lot to us if you can!

Our story:
We got started in January 2019 as a small Bricklink store and quickly grew to the point where our house was bursting at the seams with LEGO, so we found commercial space to allow us to continue growing the online store.

At first, we weren't even intending to open for retail, but we put a sign out front to help delivery drivers and local pickup customers find us. We’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much walk-in traffic we’ve received, and we've adapted into a bit of a hybrid between an e-commerce warehouse and your typical “Brick & Mortar” (not Bricks & Minifigs) independent LEGO® store. We did this all on our own - our own branding etc. Buying into a franchise would have felt like selling our souls, and we’ve never heard good things about owning a BAM franchise from other folks we network with, so it’s not something we’ve even considered.

Regarding consignment and buying LEGO®:
We do NOT recommend putting your LEGO® collection on consignment. It's way too easy for things to get messy. It could be hard to differentiate your sets from other identical sets, and you'd be relying on the store to keep accurate records. Bookkeeping for a business that tracks inventory is complicated enough, without having to keep track of items the business doesn’t own outright.

When we buy LEGO® from our walk-in customers, we try to be transparent about what we can offer (typically around 30-50% of the Bricklink Price Guide 6-month average). We either pay cash/check or offer store credit, right away, when you drop the items off. This store credit does not expire. We do ask that you make an appointment with us in advance, and if you send us a list and/or photos of the collection, we may be able to prepare an estimated offer ahead of time.

If you bring in your LEGO® to see what we can offer, you are under no obligation to accept that offer. We are also under no obligation to buy your LEGO®, and we will refuse anything that is excessively dirty or smells (ci******es, heavy perfume, etc). Keep in mind, we get asked daily if we buy LEGO®, so sometimes our budget is tight, which will factor into what we can offer. We are currently working on rebuilding our website (coming very soon), which will have a FAQ page with more information about how we buy LEGO®.

The LEGO® hobby should be fun and enjoyable, so this recent situation is very unfortunate. Hopefully it gets resolved soon, and we can all get back to building LEGO®!

https://www.brickfanatics.com/bricks-and-minifigs-dispute-200k-lego-collection

https://www.brickfanatics.com/bricks-minifigs-issue-statement-lego-dispute

https://www.youtube.com//videos

A good analysis of the situation by DuckBricks, a former LEGO Masters contestant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD9RJ1z_kUI

Join me as we talk about one of the most insane scandals currently ...

05/30/2026

More duck families have swam into the shop. They are going to go fast, so get yours before they swim away!

05/30/2026

Looking to trade/sell part of your LEGO® collection?

We get asked every day if we buy LEGO®. The answer is generally yes, but we've been taking a ton of stuff in lately, and we're running out of space to put it! So, we are taking a short pause from offering cash/check payments (store credit is still an option). We need to catch up on our backlog, and let our budget catch up as well!

We may make an exception to this if you have something particularly exciting (some 1990's Castle/Pirates/Space, perhaps?), but our cash/check offer might be on the low end until we get caught up. We'll probably be back to normal buying later this summer or in the fall.

We also ask that you reach out to us ahead of time regarding any LEGO® you'd like to sell, rather than just showing up at our store expecting a payment. We are a small team, and we might be busy with a customer or scrambling to pack some orders before the post office closes, so setting up an appointment (and ideally sending us a list and/or photos of the collection) in advance is very helpful.

To reach out to us about buying your LEGO®, you can message us here, or send an email to me directly at [email protected].

Send a message to learn more

05/27/2026

406 Used Condition Minifigures now available in store and on our Bricklink site! We'll have these out on display as soon as we get some more display stands built!

05/15/2026

A few more new sets for sale at the store!

05/14/2026

Fresh new batch of LEGO on the Pick A Brick table!

05/11/2026

Never thought I'd be saying this, but we're getting low on used bulk!

So, here's a reminder that WE BUY USED LEGO!

For generic bulk like what we have on the drying racks in this photo, we will normally pay UP TO $3/lb. Occassionally even higher, if we can tell the parts are really good, for example if it's a lot of vintage Castle or Space, or if there are a lot of minifig parts mixed in. To get top dollar though, it needs to be moderately CLEAN, and no fake LEGO (FLEGO) parts mixed in. Also no Nerf gun ammo, 1/2 chewed pieces of candy, crayons, old band-aids, shotgun casings, or clumps of dog hair 😬.

Yes, we've seen all of that in the used bulk in the past, which is why we ALWAYS wash it, and why you should never buy from a store that says they don't wash their used parts! Gross!

We also buy bulk MINIFIGURE parts! Our Build a Minifig station has been very popular so far, and it's hard to find good Minifigure bulk.

We will pay UP TO around $85-100/lb. for GOOD QUALITY bulk minifig parts. Even more than that if it is bulk from licensed themes like Star Wars. Again, to get top dollar, it needs to be moderately clean and pure LEGO, and little to no regular (non-Minifig) parts mixed in. Some minifig accessories in the mix is okay, so long as it's predominantly torsos, legs, heads, etc. If we see cracks, bite marks, or other damage, this will hurt the value too.

Keep in mind, we reserve the right to refuse to purchase items for any reason, and our actual offer will depend on our available spending budget as well as item value & condition. We do get a lot of requests to buy LEGO, so we can't always buy everything that comes in, but we try to be transparent about what we can offer and why.