Posted in: Movies | Tagged: Gary Kurtz, mark hamill, star wars

Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber About To Hit The Auction Block

Published Mon, 12 Jun 2017 04:22:51 -0500

Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber hits the auction block later this month at Profiles in History (whose site is being crushed by the traffic from this news at the moment, and I see they have another auction starting later today. IT girl or guy who is about to wake up to a bad Monday, you have my sympathy). Or rather, the Lightsaber prop that was used by Mark Hamill in Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) will be auctioned during Profiles in History's Hollywood Auction 89, June 26-28.

The lightsaber prop is part of the collection of Star Wars: A New Hope and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back producer Gary Kurtz, and also features stand-out items such as Darth Vader's helmet and shoulder armor from Star Wars: A New Hope. Kurtz has a short but impressive list of producer credits which also include American Graffiti (1973) also with George Lucas, and The Dark Crystal (1982).

It sounds like an impressive auction overall. Also on offer is Bill Paxton's space-marine armor from Aliens (1986), Leonardo DiCaprio's main costume from Titanic (1997), and Charlie Bucket's Golden Ticket from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971).

The pre-auction estimate for the lightsaber prop is $150,000 to $250,000. Profiles in History has auctioned a few Lightsabers over the years, with prices realized including:

Another Luke Skywalker lightsaber prop from Star Wars: A New Hope for $240,000 in 2008.
Darth Vader Hero Lightsaber From Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back for $118,000 in 2005
Luke Skywalker Lightsaber From Star Wars: A New Hope for $200,600 in 2005 (appears to be different from the prop sold in 2008 and the upcoming June auction)
Qui-Gon Jinn Lightsaber From Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace for $54,000 in 2001

Profiles in History's Hollywood Auction 89, runs June 26-28, and if you'd like to bid on Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber I'd bet they'll have that server situation taken care of before then.