A Redditor thought they had scored a brand-new Lego set online, until the box revealed something far stranger than missing pieces.
Early on Tuesday, Redditor u/Bernardowss posted a photo showing labeled Lego bags sitting beside a Star Wars cruiser box filled with raw pasta. In the image, there are five bags of noodles total—and not a single brick in sight.
The Reddit user joked about the uncooked surprise in the box:
“Ordered a new Lego set, got dinner instead.”
You can see a photo of the alleged scam below:
u/Bernardowss via Reddit
The post quickly circulated online, showing a Star Wars Lego box and bags filled with pasta instead of blocks, and reignited frustration over alleged return scams. At first glance, some viewers joked that Lego had somehow packed penne into a Venator-Class Republic Attack Cruiser set, but many commenters suspected something else entirely.
Reddit user u/harriswatchsbrnntc noted:
“The added indignity of reusing the Lego bags is so diabolical.”
Once the original poster confirmed the set had been purchased through Amazon, other Redditors began offering theories. The most common explanation is that someone previously bought the set, removed the bricks, and replaced them with a similar weight of pasta before returning the box.
Because the packaging still appears full, the item can sometimes slip through the returns process and be resold to another buyer.
Similar incidents have surfaced before. Last December, TikTok user @lindsayharlak said they opened a Lego set purchased from Target for their birthday and found pasta instead of bricks.
You can watch the Lego-to-noodle swap incident below:
And then a year ago, Reddit user u/MtHove shared that their box contained a single plastic bag filled with spiral noodles. In another September 2024 post, someone reported receiving a mix of legitimate Lego pieces and pasta.
u/MtHove via Reddit
Some users suggested the tactic works because pasta can roughly match the weight of Lego bricks and even produce a similar rattling sound when the box is shaken. If the packaging appears intact, warehouse employees processing large volumes of returns may not always open the inner bags to inspect the contents.
Reddit user u/bigbobo33, who said they resell Lego sets on Amazon, described encountering similar returns:
“My brother and I sell Legos on Amazon, and from time to time we get very expensive Lego sets returned to us, just filled with cereal or all the mini figs ripped out.”
Redditors responded with humor, joking about pasta-themed Lego builds and “spaghetti-class star cruisers.”
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The issue also touches on a much larger ecosystem. Lego collecting has grown into a major hobby in the United States, with dedicated adult fans of Lego—often referred to as AFOLs—building massive displays and maintaining collections worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Rare Comic-Con exclusives, sealed sets, and retired releases often drive the most interest among collectors. Some individual items can sell for more than $1,000 on secondary marketplaces.
Specialty retailers such as Bricks & Minifigs and Atlanta Brick Co. run stores nationwide that buy, sell, and trade Lego sets. Additionally, online platforms like Brick Owl enable collectors to find rare parts, minifigures, and discontinued kits.
With certain sets commanding high resale prices, unopened boxes can carry significant value, making them especially attractive targets for scammers.
For now, there are no public statements addressing what appears to be a recurring issue. Until then, buyers may want to double-check what’s inside the box before starting their next build.
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