‘Star Wars’ returns to Legoland in Schaumburg

Two pop-culture titans will join together to bring the Force to the suburbs this weekend, when the Legoland Discovery Center in Schaumburg plays host to “Star Wars” Days.

Jedi Knights, Clone Troopers and an 8-foot R2-D2 — all made from Legos — will be on display at the event, which runs Friday through Sunday. Visitors will also have a chance to take part in building demonstrations and competitions.

This will be the second time Legoland has hosted “Star Wars” Days.

“The first one far exceeded our expectations,” General Manager Ben Sweet said of last year’s event, which was held in August. “We knew immediately that we wanted to do another one.”

Among the highlights of the weekend will be the Model Builder Workshops, in which a “Master Model Builder” will lead fans through the construction of a Lego Slave 1 starship. (For the “Star Wars” challenged, Slave 1 is the ship flown by bounty hunter Boba Fett.)

Fans will also get a chance to see legions of Clone Troopers and Battle Droids facing off in Miniland, a room that features Lego versions of iconic Chicago buildings.

And no fan will want to miss the 8-foot R2-D2, which was made from 82,000 Lego bricks.

“It would take someone 14 days to build that, if they worked 24 hours a day,” Sweet said.

Lego first started producing “Star Wars” play sets in 1999. The sets often include vehicles that you have to assemble using the traditional Lego bricks, along with various “Star Wars” characters. Lego “Star Wars” products have become hugely collectible, and the designs have been used in a series of popular video games.

Sweet said he is amazed by the continued popularity of “Star Wars” among children born decades after the first movie came out.

“The first movie came out on my birthday, May 25, 1977,” he said. “To have 6-year-olds talk to me about ‘Star Wars,’ and know more about it than I do, is pretty astounding.”