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New York Times
14-04-2025
- New York Times
Little Plastic Bricks Fetch Thousands of Dollars in the Lego Black Market
It's one Lego kit, a collection of small plastic bricks and related accessories. What could it cost? The answer, it turns out, could be thousands of dollars. Lego kits and minifigures, figurines that are a little over 1.5 inches tall, are commanding high prices on the secondary market, with some, like the LEGO San Diego Comic-Con 2013 Spider-Man, valued as high as $16,846. The children's toys have even become something of an investing opportunity for those savvy enough to know what to look for. But with the eye-popping price tags comes a dark side: Lego kits have become a hot commodity on the black market and the target of brazen thieves. Last year, burglars hit Bricks & Minifigs outlets in California. Thieves made off with at least $100,000 worth of Lego kits and accessories. Last month, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office in California recovered nearly 200 Lego sets after arresting a person in connection with a burglary at Crush Comics, a comic book store in Castro Valley, Calif. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CBS News
03-04-2025
- CBS News
Castro Valley comic book store staffers track down suspect in rash of Bay Area burglaries
A brazen thief who didn't try very hard to cover his tracks was apprehended by authorities with help from a rag-tag group of amateur detectives. It sounds like the plot to a new comic book series, but this is the true story of a pair of Castro Valley comic book store staff members turned sleuths. Crush Comics owner Josh Hunter and store manager Cole Sanders never thought they'd find themselves as real-life comic book vigilantes, but that's exactly what happened after the shop was burglarized in the early morning hours of March 22. "When I got down here, I was like, 'OK, it's not as bad as it could be. I'm going to try to be really positive about this,'" said Hunter. The burglar cleared the wall where the most valuable comic books were displayed. Hunter thought they were all gone for good, until one of his employees spotted a very specific comic book for sale on eBay less than 12 hours after the burglary. "This is the one that really solved the case. The absolutely unique one-of-one sketch cover from our artist friend Dan. When I saw that on eBay I was like, 'I'm just going to buy that and see what happens.' And we got the guy's name and address and everything, and there it was," said Hunter. From there, Hunter went to an Instagram page for someone with the same name and found a telling post. In it was a Lego bandit figurine offering to buy, sell or trade Lego sets in the East Bay. He also saw other photos which looked very similar to the mystery man in the hoodie on the shop surveillance video. The honorary detectives didn't stop there and contacted a competing shop in San Leandro that had also been broken into recently. "I called them and I was like, 'Hey, we found this eBay page. They look almost certainly like they stole some of our stuff. You should check too.' And they got back to us and they're like, 'Yes. There's like ten of our books on there right now.' And I was like, 'Wow! OK,'" said Hunter. When they saw Lego items on the eBay page, they reached out to a toy shop in San Ramon that had recently lost a number of valuable sets to a shoplifter. "She's like, 'Do you think this is him?' And she showed a picture of the guy that they had, and he wasn't masked in this one. And based on the Google searches and stuff that we did, we were like, 'This is probably the guy,'" said Hunter. They turned the information over to police. Just a couple of days later, another toy shop was hit. "My wife and I are looking at each other and [thinking the] same thing. They broke the window, they got in, they stole a whole bunch of stuff and left. Do you think this could be the same guy? So I go to message them on Instagram. We had already had a message from them saying, 'Hey, we think it's the same guy,'" said Hunter. The very next day the Alameda County Sheriff's Department served a search warrant at the home of 29-year-old Noorullah Amiri of Livermore where they said they found tens of thousands of dollars of comic books, collectables and Lego sets — the majority of which were returned to their respective stores. "Everybody is really appreciative and everybody's really cool. We now have a little text group chain of shop owners talking about it," said Hunter. Reflecting on the entire experience, the Castro Valley Avengers could only do one thing, quote another comic book super-hero. "What did Peacemaker say? 'Who knows why crazy men do the things that they do?' Yeah," they said laughing. They said they're now actually thinking about publishing their own comic book collection based on the break-in and subsequent detective work, but they said they'd have to change it up a bit and make the villain a little harder to catch.
CBS News
02-04-2025
- CBS News
Bay Area comic book store staff track down suspect in rash of burglaries
A brazen thief who didn't try very hard to cover his tracks and a rag-tag group of amateur detectives: It sounds like the plot to a new comic book series, but this is the true story of a pair of Castro Valley comic book store detectives. Crush Comics owner Josh Hunter and store manager Cole Sanders never thought they'd find themselves as real-life comic book vigilantes, but that's exactly what happened after the shop was burglarized in the early morning hours of March 22. "When I got down here, I was like OK, it's not as bad as it could be. I'm going to try to be really positive about this," said Hunter. The burglar cleared the wall where the most valuable comic books were displayed. Hunter thought they were all gone for good until one of his employees spotted a very specific comic book for sale on eBay less than 12 hours after the burglary. "This is the one that really solved the case. The absolutely unique one-of-one sketch cover from our artist friend Dan. When I saw that on eBay I was like, I'm just going to buy that and see what happens, and we got the guy's name and address and everything, and there it was," said Hunter. From there, Hunter went to an Instagram page for someone with the same name and found a telling post. In it was a Lego bandit figurine offering to buy, sell or trade Lego sets in the East Bay. He also saw other photos which looked very similar to the mystery man in the hoodie on the shop surveillance video. The honorary detectives didn't stop there and contacted a competing shop in San Leandro that had also been broken into recently. "I called them and I was like, 'Hey, we found this eBay page. They look almost certainly like they stole some of our stuff. You should check too.' And they got back to us and they're like, 'Yes. There's like 10 of our books on there right now.' And I was like, 'wow, OK,'" said Hunter. When they saw Lego items on the eBay page, they reached out to a toy shop in San Ramon that had recently lost a number of valuable sets to a shoplifter. "She's like, do you think this is him and she showed a picture of the guy that they had, and he wasn't masked in this one. And based on the Google searches and stuff that we did, we were like, this is probably the guy," said Hunter. They turned the information over to police and just a couple of days later, another toy shop was hit. "My wife and I are looking at each other and same thing. They broke the window, they got in, they stole a whole bunch of stuff and left. Do you think this could be the same guy? So I go to message them on Instagram. We had already had a message from them saying' Hey, we think it's the same guy,'" said Hunter. The very next day the Alameda County Sheriff's Department served a search warrant at the home of 29-year-old Noorullah Amiri of Livermore where they said they found tens of thousands of dollars of comic books, collectables and Lego sets — the majority of which were returned to their respective stores. "Everybody is really appreciative and everybody's really cool. We now have a little text group chain of shop owners talking about it," said Hunter. Reflecting on the entire experience, the Castro Valley Avengers could only do one thing, quote another comic book super-hero. "What did Peacemaker say? Who knows why crazy men do the things that they do? Yeah," they said laughing. They said they're now actually thinking about publishing their own comic book collection based on the break-in and subsequent detective work, but they said they'd have to change it up a bit and make the villain a little harder to catch.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Yahoo
Livermore man arrested for comic shop burglary, stolen Legos case
CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. - A Livermore resident was arrested this week in connection to the burglary of a Castro Valley comic shop and a separate case of stolen Lego sets, sheriff's department officials say. What we know Noorullah Amiri, 29, was arrested on Thursday at his home, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office said. The alleged burglary of Crush Comics, located at 2869 Castro Valley Boulevard, happened at around 3 a.m. last Saturday. Sheriff's officials said video surveillance from the shop shows two suspects entering the store and stealing merchandise. Officials found probable cause to obtain an arrest warrant for one of the two suspects. Upon search of the suspect's residence, officials found significant amounts of stolen merchandise, including 200 boxes of Lego sets, comic books and action figures. The Sheriff's Office said a separate victim from a Bay Area city reported a burglary on Wednesday, where $10,000 worth of Legos were stolen. That victim was able to recover most of the stolen Legos from Amiri, officials said. What we don't know The Sheriff's Office did not share any further information about the second suspect connected to the comic shop burglary. We do not know if the $10,000 of stolen Legos were taken from a residence or a retailer.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Yahoo
Livermore man arrested for allegedly stealing comics, Legos and action figures
(KRON) — A suspect has been arrested in connection to a burglary at a Castro Valley comic bookstore last weekend. Crush Comics on Castro Valley Boulevard was hit by burglars just after 3 a.m. Saturday morning. Two masked, hooded suspects wearing dark clothes hammered their way into the store, making off with around $2,000 worth of valuable comics off the store's wall book section. 'They grabbed everything from there, put it in a bag and they were out within, like a minute and a half or so,' said the store's co-owner Josh Hunter. Two buildings evacuated after gas line ruptures in San Francisco According to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, 29-year-old Noorullah Amiri was arrested on Thursday in connection to the crime on Thursday. Following the burglary, the Eden Township Substation Property Crime Unit developed probable cause to arrest him and obtained a search warrant. With the assistance of the Gang Suppression Unit and the Street Crimes Unit, Amiri was located at his residence in Livermore. Officers executed a search warrant and found a 'significant quantity of suspected stolen goods,' police said. Along with comic books and action figures, nearly 200 boxes of LEGO sets were also found. According to police, another victim from a different Bay Area city reported a burglary on Wednesday in which $10,000 worth of LEGO sets were stolen. The victim, police said, was able to recover most of the stolen LEGO sets from Amiri's residence. 'The diligent efforts of the Eden Township Substation Property Crime Unit let to the successful investigation and arrest,' ACSO said. 'We remain committed to bringing justice to those affected by property crimes.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
