The last of the US Navy’s Tomcat fighters — the plane of Top Gun fame — made its final flight more than a decade ago. However, Tomcats continue to soldier on in one other military: the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force. Given its strained relation with the US, it may seem strange for Iran to have some of these iconic jets, but it is due to a quirk of history. Prior to the 1979 Islamic revolution, Mohammad Reza Shah ruled Iran. His rule became increasingly autocratic over time, but he was pro-Western and eager to modernize his country and its military. Iran was also a useful buffer between the Soviet Union and the other oil-rich states surrounding the Persian Gulf, so the US was willing to sell the Shah 80 Tomcats, as well as hundreds of long-range AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles. My latest LEGO model represents one of these Persian...

In addition to the amazing LEGO models created by builders all over the world, The Brothers Brick brings you the best of LEGO news and reviews. This is our weekly Brick Report for the second week of December 2019. TBB NEWS & REVIEWS: LEGO Creator Expert 10270 Bookshop – new modular building for 2020 – We brought you an in-depth review of the recently announced new modular from the Creator Expert series, the bookstore and townhome.LEGO reveals 8 new Marvel sets from Avengers and Spider-Man – We gave you a first look at the lates round of Marvel sets.First look at the 40385 LEGO Trophy – The next time you feel like rewarding yourself, you can build your own trophy and be a winner. MORE TBB NEWS: Contest Winners – Build a Vintage car to cruise the streets of LEGO® Modular Buildings Contest – LEGO fans built some winning cars to...

I love books. In fact, I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany. Ok, perhaps I was just imagining the mahogany, but I do have lots of books, and some are leather-bound. I don’t own an e-reader of any kind, and hope never to do so, because the magic of holding a book, especially hardcover, is irreplaceable. People give me strange looks when I pick up a used book at a store and give it a sniff and say, “Ah, that’s a proper year 1900 binding…a good vintage.” Builder Lego_nuts must have a soft spot for books, too, because this build evokes the magic of literacy, the opening of portals to adventure. Dorothy looks worried, unsure if she should continue on with the story, but the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man are encouraging her to journey to the next page. Will she go on? Like, seriously,...

Baby Yoda has been taking the internet by storm since its oh-so-cute appearance in Disney’s new Star Wars show The Mandalorian, and LEGO builders are getting in on the game too. In fact, we’ve already featured not one but two versions of the green alien infant by Miro Dudas and hachiroku24, and both even have instructions for you to build your own. However, this latest digital version by L-DI-EGO is a much larger scale and is captures the adorably large eyes and trusting expression better than ever. The as-yet-unnamed little guy comes complete with big expressive ears and a voluminous robe made of dark tan, with exposed studs for texturing. And before you ask, no, the builder has not provided instructions for this guy. You’ll just have to reverse engineer it all on your own, but here’s a hint: the lower lip and forehead are made of shoulder armor bits. The...

Welcome to Day 14 of our LEGO Advent Calendar countdown. Each day, we’ll reveal the four mini-builds from the LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Friends, and LEGO City 2019 advent calendars along with commentary from The Brothers Brick team. If you’re opening one (or more) of these advent calendars along with us, we’ve made sure the pictures and commentary on each day’s models will be behind a jump so we don’t accidentally ruin the surprise. What pint-size surprises will be in Day 14’s prizes? For Day 14, we have Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and a Tank Droid from Star Wars. Dave: Wow! A third exclusive torso in the Harry Potter advent. LEGO is knocking it out of the park, this time with a Gryffindor scarf a buttoned robe that could work on any number of students. 10 points to Gryffindor! For Star Wars we have a Corporate Alliance Tank...