“The Lego community isn’t just made up of children,”
French police are investigating an alleged international criminals who are stealing Lego.
The gang of toy burglars had broken into a toy shop outside Paris to steal boxes of Lego.
The two men and one woman from Poland are reportedly being investigated as part of an operation to steal highly coveted Lego wanted by collectors.
According to Complex, investigators told Le Parisien newspaper:
“The Lego community isn’t just made up of children,”
“There are numerous adults who play with it; there are swaps and sales on the internet. We’ve also had people complaining their homes have been broken into and Lego stolen.”
The officer claimed that the burglars “come to France, set up in a hotel in the Paris region, then set about raiding toy stores before returning to Poland to sell off their haul.”
The Guardian reported that authorities had been notified about gang in November 2019 after a series of break-ins.
Police have now issued a warning to specialty shops and parents about the increase in value of toys across the world.
Gerben van Ijken, a Lego specialist at the online auction platform Catawiki told the Guardian :
“Investing in these pieces isn’t new but this niche market has reached new heights with the pandemic. People have more time at home because of the health restrictions and the game market has exploded. We often have more than 1,000 Lego sales a week,"
“There’s always been dealing in Lego because it’s a premium toy range and attracts many adults, but also because the company withdraw its collections around two years after they come out, so a secondhand market is inevitable,”
“The phenomenon has exploded over the last eight years because people have realised they can make money reselling Lego on the internet.”
