A gang of "brazen" LEGO thieves who stole nearly £5,000-worth of the plastic play bricks were caught after a car carrying the mammoth haul was spotted by police.
The three young crooks, all aged 22 and from London, went on a two-day spree targeting separate B&M stores amassing a booty totalling £4,650.
CCTV showed them in baseball caps going into the shops and filling reusable shopping bags before walking out past the tills.
The boxes pinched included Lego-branded Disney Princess castles and Minecraft sets, as well as Mario-Kart and Sonic the Hedgehog toys.
They were taken from three stores in Worksop, Mansfield, and Netherfield, Nottinghamshire Police said.
Officers spotted their suspiciously heaving car 30 miles away in Newark-on-Trent before it was stopped on the A17 on August 31.
Conlon McDonagh and Patrick Ward, of Southall, west London, and Tom McDonagh, of Enfield, north London, were all handed 18-month suspended sentences after admitting theft at Nottingham Magistrates Court on September 2.
They targeted the Worksop and Mansfield stores on August 29 before taking £3,000-worth of Lego and other toys from the B&M in Victoria Retail Park in Netherfield, the next day.
When challenged by staff, one of the thieves swore at the shop worker before fleeing to their car.
The men, whose suspended jail terms run for a year, have also been banned from the shop chain's store for 12 months.
Sergeant Antony Coleman, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "Thanks to the instincts of the patrolling officers whose suspicions were aroused by the considerable amount of Lego in the vehicle, these brazen thieves were all swiftly caught."
