From the talented Japanese LEGO enthusiast who made a transforming poop mech, a Dino Megazord with individual transformable members, and more, comes another incredible LEGO MOC: the Patlabor AV-98 Ingram Unit-1. Before we proceed, it slipped us, but the Megazord was completed almost two years ago. You can check out the entire build here. Try to keep your jaw up. It’s really, really impressive. Moko Brick Laboratory channel’s latest work, the LEGO MOC Patlabor AV-98 Ingram Unit-1, is equally impressive, too.
For the uninitiated, Patlabor (officially: Mobile Police Patlabor) is a mecha genre anime from the late 80s that centers on a special unit that uses giant robots (“Labors”) to carry out police duties. The bots are like a blend of police vehicle and humanoid, complete with red and blue light bars, and equipped with a sidearm, a stun stick or baton, a riot shield, and more.
Moko’s particular creation was based on Noa Izumi’s Patlabor (a portmanteau of Patrol and Labors, which are giant worker mecha in the Patlabor universe) as seen in the TV series. Six months in the making at a leisurely pace, Moko Brick Laboratory channel’s LEGO MOC Patlabor AV-98 Ingram Unit-1 cleverly leverages LEGO elements to recreate the visor, the vents, and more.
And this is not one of those “close enough” builds either. The builder intentionally avoided heavy reinterpretation and instead chased accuracy to the original TV version proportions. Even the distinctive joint structures were recreated using only official LEGO parts. That alone makes this project quietly intimidating in the best possible way.
The iconic green visor uses a classic Technic figure helmet visor backed with trans-bright green elements to simulate the Ingram’s signature goggles. The side-head “bochi holes,” a recognizable mechanical detail from designer Yutaka Izubuchi’s style language, are recreated using printed 2 × 2 dice tiles. Not perfect in placement, but visually essential.
Elsewhere, the shoulder armor hides working light bricks that illuminate the patrol lamps. The cockpit hatch opens in two stages. A rear lever raises and lowers the pilot seat. Press another section, and the collar lights deploy. The revolver cannon slides out from the leg armor and can be magnetically gripped by the extending arm. Even the stun stick stores inside the shield like it should.
Another spotlight-worthy detail is in the abdomen and waist section, as well as the various joint regions like the neck-shoulder interface and the cubital fossa, or elbow area. These sections are all “sealed,” just like the mecha seen in the anime. To recreate the flexible joint covers, the builder used a cape from King Mathias (8790) of the Knights’ Kingdom series from 2004. That’s a pretty serious sacrifice for accuracy.
Fun fact: Patlabor was one of those rare mecha designs that actually took dust infiltration at joints seriously, even though it was fictional. As half an engineer and someone who has worked as a military vehicle mechanic, I cannot stress enough how vulnerable exposed joints are in real machines. Seeing that level of realism reflected here makes the build feel extra authentic. ⚙️🤖
Most importantly, the Moko’s LEGO MOC Patlabor AV-98 Ingram Unit-1 [JP] was designed to be handled. Not admired from a safe distance while praying nothing falls off. A rare and welcome philosophy in complex display-grade LEGO mecha builds.
As expected from an AV-98 Ingram Unit-1 recreation, it includes signature equipment such as the 37 mm revolver cannon, stun stick/baton, shield storage gimmick, opening maintenance panels, and illuminated patrol lights. The source machine itself stands 8.02 m tall in-universe and weighs 6.02 tonnes, powered by SCB with an SCLM drive system.
It’s an MOC, so no, you cannot buy this. But there’s a video to satisfy your visual senses:
Images: Legodo.blog.jp [JP]/YouTube (Moko Brick Laboratory channel).
