Chills… Literal Chills.
Meet the most lovable police force in the NYPD. This adorable build by LEGO creator Ben Fankhauser details the entire 99th precinct, complete with all the rooms and characters of the hit TV series, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The set, in great detail, features all of the show’s recurring characters, along with the bullpen, captain’s office, rec room, kitchen, and the printer room. The only missing room seems to be the infamous briefing/meeting room that formed a core part of the planning (and chaos) behind some of the squad’s missions… but that’s a trade-off I’m happily willing to make.
Designer: Ben Fankhauser
The beauty of Fankhauser’s build is just the sheer amount of detail gone into recreating every aspect of the precinct’s floor, along with a few secret details scattered along the way. “The set is packed full of Easter eggs,” says Fankhauser, detailing some of the dizzyingly specific references to the show itself. The break room has the training dummy, while Holt’s office has his pet corgi, Cheddar. You’ll find a portrait of Holt on Terry’s desk (right beside his yogurt), and those disgusting chocolate and cheese fountains on Hitchcock and Scully’s tables. Speaking of disgusting, Jake Peralta’s pet rat Algernon can be found somewhere too, as can Boyle’s ancestral sourdough starter.
The details extend to the characters found in the set too. You’ve obviously got the showrunners, Jake Peralta, Charles Boyle, Amy Santiago, Rosa Diaz, Sgt. Terry Jeffords, Capt. Raymond Holt, Gina Linetti, Norm Scully, and Michael Hitchcock… but the set also includes a few crowd favorites like Holt’s partner Kevin Cozner, and arguably Jake’s soulmate, the elusive Doug Judy, the Pontiac Bandit!
The set comes in at a little over 1,500 pieces, with the bulk of this piece count coming from small 2×2 tiles used for the flooring. The smooth floor is perfect for anyone aiming to recreate the full bullpen, playing out scenes from the TV series.
Almost emblematic of the series itself, this LEGO build from Ben Fankhauzer was ‘cancelled’ by LEGO not once, but twice. It reached its 10,000 vote mark twice but was rejected by the LEGO internal team (probably for licensing reasons). Unfazed by defeat, Fankhauser is giving the LEGO MoC (My Own Creation) yet another shot at being turned into a box-set, and has already gathered a staggering 6,382 votes (including my own) and is looking to hit the 10,000 mark for a third, and hopefully last time. You can cast your vote for the build on the LEGO Ideas website here. Captain Holt would want this.