<![CDATA[California man arrested for allegedly swapping in pasta for Lego pieces then returning them]]>Irvine police department announces bust in pun-filled social media post about alleged $34,000 Lego looting

So much for using his noodle.

A California man pilfered thousands of dollars in Lego toy sets from the retailer Target in a return-based scam, sometimes swapping valuable figurines with dried pasta pieces and before returning the construction-centric toys, authorities recently alleged.

The alleged plot ended with the arrest of 28-year-old Jarrelle Augustine, accused of grand theft for allegedly stealing the Lego sets, whose manufacturer is known for the interlocking miniature bricks and figurines, according to Irvine, California, police.

“You read that correctly,” police said in a Facebook post announcing the 14 April arrest. “We are talking about durum wheat semolina pasta, and what we are calling a pasta-tively terrible plan.”

]]>https://polykyklo.gr/topic/e5105217-f23b-46db-a1aa-3b8419221887/california-man-arrested-for-allegedly-swapping-in-pasta-for-lego-pieces-then-returning-themRSS for NodeSun, 24 May 2026 22:28:37 GMTTue, 21 Apr 2026 22:51:03 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to California man arrested for allegedly swapping in pasta for Lego pieces then returning them on Sun, 26 Apr 2026 12:34:09 GMT]]>Like what? Lego have been essentially unchanged for decades. They have to keep coming up with new kit ideas, but the fundamental building blocks have remained unchanged for decades, and they are simple to reproduce by the billions, and they are dirt cheap.

And yet because of colorful pieces, good package design, and excellent marketing, they can sell a box of tiny dirt cheap plastic blocks for an eye-watering price. Yeah, they have to come up with the occasional weird piece now and then, but otherwise, the bulk of the upfront engineering and design was done decades ago.

Lego is wildly profitable.

]]>https://polykyklo.gr/post/https://lemmy.today/comment/23778125https://polykyklo.gr/post/https://lemmy.today/comment/23778125Sun, 26 Apr 2026 12:34:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to California man arrested for allegedly swapping in pasta for Lego pieces then returning them on Sun, 26 Apr 2026 11:33:04 GMT]]>Surely they spend more on upfront design/engineering though

]]>https://polykyklo.gr/post/https://lemmy.world/comment/23416990https://polykyklo.gr/post/https://lemmy.world/comment/23416990Sun, 26 Apr 2026 11:33:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to California man arrested for allegedly swapping in pasta for Lego pieces then returning them on Wed, 22 Apr 2026 11:44:02 GMT]]>The interesting thing is that both the pasta and the Legos probably cost around the same to manufacture. Lego are extremely cheap to manufacture, and are incredibly profitable.

]]>https://polykyklo.gr/post/https://lemmy.today/comment/23702495https://polykyklo.gr/post/https://lemmy.today/comment/23702495Wed, 22 Apr 2026 11:44:02 GMT