Star Wars Movie Memorabilia : Models
With the latest installment (Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens) of the Star Wars saga set to hit theaters later this week, we wanted to take this opportunity to look back at the previous six films, and highlight some of the most amazing (and expensive) movie memorabilia ever purchased at auction.
The memorabilia will be organized in a 4-part series :
- Weapons : Lightsabers, Blasters, Rifles
- Costumes : Helmets, Masks, Clothing
- Models : Vehicles, Props, Set Pieces
- Production & Promotion : Scripts, Documents, Cameras, Artwork
Star Wars is such a great movie franchise because it was set in the future yet still felt so real. George Lucas focused so much on making the action as real as he could that he used models and smaller sets to film certain scenes. They did this because it would be a waste of time to have giant planes flying all around this city they built from the ground up. These iconic models that were used during the movie have become extremely valuable and below we list some of the most expensive.
Sarlacc Teeth – $3,000
Movie: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction Extravaganza
Date Sold: April 2, 2011
Details: Do you remember the scene in the desert when Luke Skywalker and Han Solo nearly died by being tossed into a Sarlacc pit? These are two of the teeth taken from the pit. They are huge but we could not find an exact measurement. They came from an ILM, Industrial Light & Magic, crewmembers private collection. ILM was the visual effects company that are responsible for most of the visual effects in the Star Wars movies.
Battle Droid Arm – $3,021
Movie: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Auction: Prop Store Live Auction of Film & Television Artifacts
Date Sold: October 16, 2014
Details: This prop was used during the battle scenes in Episode I to represent destroyed remains of the Trade Federation’s war droids. It is made of resin and has the ability to bend at the elbow, wrist, and fingers. It looks like nothing more than a piece of plastic but George Lucas was a fan of authenticity and wanted to make even the throwaway parts in the background look real like this arm.
Jabba the Hut Barge Gargoyle – $4,156
Movie: Episode VI – The Return of the Jedi
Auction: Prop Store Live Auction of Film & Television Artifacts
Date Sold: October 16, 2014
Details: This gargoyle was one of the many that were attached to Jabba the Hut’s flying barge during the filming of Episode VI. They were also on his stage platform at his palace too.
Bespin Cloud Car Pilot Model – $4,485
Movie: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Auction: Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction
Date Sold: September 23, 2015
Details: This item is a master sculpt of the Bespin Cloud Car Pilots that escorted the Millennium Falcon upon its arrival to Cloud City. This is the final sculpture approved by ILM to help create the Bespin Cloud Car Pilots.
Battle Droid Headpiece – $4,531
Movie: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Auction: Prop Store Live Auction of Film & Television Artifacts
Date Sold: October 16, 2014
Details: This is another droids part used to represent the remains of the countless destroyed droids during the battle sequences in Episode I.
Concept Pod Racer Maquette – $4,613
Movie: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 49
Date Sold: July 31, 2012
Details: This is a pod racer maquette that was created during preproduction phase of Episode I for the pod races used during the film’s final version. This was not used in the film but was one of the originally designs.
R2-D2 Articulating Claw – $4,750
Movie: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 62
Date Sold: December 21, 2013
Details: This R2-D2 arm was the arm used during the infamous scene where we are introduced to Yoda for the first time in the Star Wars movies. It is a rare piece of film memorabilia that can be easily spotted during the movie.
Admiral Ackbar Eye – $5,015
Movie: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Auction: ScreenUsed Fall 2014 Auction
Date Sold: November 8, 2014
Details: This is the actual eye used during the filming of Episode VI and was controlled by puppeteers to operate the eye’s movement with cables throughout the film.
Model of Landing Platform on Endor – $5,389
Movie: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Auction: Rock & Roll and Film Memorabilia Auction
Date Sold: July 13, 2014
Details: This is the landing platform where Darth Vader’s Imperial Shuttle landed on his way to meet with Luke Skywalker. This scale model also came with a letter of authenticity signed by Nick Harrison and also an autograph of Star Wars creator George Lucas.
Imperial Shuttle Tydirium – $5,900
Movie: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 36
Date Sold: May 1, 2009
Details: This is a 1-inch miniature model used during the filming of Episode VI. It was the original ILM motion controlled miniature used in the film.
Death Star Gun Tower – $5,975
Movie: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Auction: Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction
Date Sold: September 23, 2015
Details: This miniature model was used during the Death Star battle scenes of Episode VI. It was one of the many different gun towers used during the production.
X-Wing Fighter – $7,080
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 43
Date Sold: December 17, 2010
Details: This X-Wing fighter was used for blocking out visual effects shots of the Death Star trench run. It came from the personal collection of Richard Edlund.
Pod Racer Maquette – $7,380
Movie: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 49
Date Sold: July 31, 2012
Details: This pod racer was created during preproduction of Episode I but was never used in the movie. It was part of a collection of pod racers created for the Planet Tatooine pod races featuring a young Anakin Skywalker.
X-Wing Fighter Fuselage – $7,670
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 37
Date Sold: October 9, 2009
Details: According to the auction’s website, these are the actual finished, scribed, and detailed sculptures from which the final female molds were taken for casting up the four or five final X-wing models built for the first, the original Star Wars.
Section of Death Star – $7,670
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: ScreenUsed Spring 2013 Auction
Date Sold: March 9, 2013
Details: This is the first of several pieces of the Death Star model that was used during the filming of the original Star Wars.
R2-D2 Eye Component – $7,800
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 74
Date Sold: October 1, 2015
Details: This lot featured both of the mechanical eye components that were used for the R2-D2 droid during the first Star Wars.
Han Solo’s Bounty Crate – $8,500
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 53
Date Sold: December 16, 2012
Details: This large box was seen during the scene where Han Solo demands his payment for transporting the entire crew on his ship, the Millennium Falcon. It is seen when Han Solo is loading it onto the plane.
Animatronic Tauntaun Piece – $9,440
Movie: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 44
Date Sold: May 15, 2011
Details: This is one of the tauntauns used during filming on the battle of Hoth. It is fully animatronic when in production and is one of the more unique Star Wars collectibles to date.
Section of Death Star – $10,620
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 37
Date Sold: October 9, 2009
Details: Here was another amazing piece of the Death Star model used during the filming of the original Star Wars movie.
X-Wing Fighter – $13,598
Movie: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Auction: Prop Store Live Auction of Film & Television Artifacts
Date Sold: October 16, 2014
Details: This was a blocking X-Wing fighter model that was used during the action sequences to set up the scene for filming. It was how they used to direct action sequences without all the fancy technology we have today.
Jabba the Hut Maquette – $15,360
Movie: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 74
Date Sold: October 1, 2015
Details: This was the piece that was shown to George Lucas by the design team when creating the Jabba the Hut character for Return of the Jedi. There are not too many of these in existence, in fact, this might be the only one left from the original modeling process.
Death Star Gun Tower – $15,865
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: Prop Store Live Auction of Film & Television Artifacts
Date Sold: October 16, 2014
Details: As you may have already seen, the Death Star was huge. This is yet another piece of the Death Star that was used during filming and it is one of the gun towers that was shooting at the X-wing fighters.
Tauntaun Puppet Head – $17,700
Movie: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 43
Date Sold: December 18, 2010
Details: Every character in the Star Wars movies was created by making a mold of it to show to George Lucas. This is one of the only 3 remaining pieces of the original Tauntaun mold.
Rancor Puppet – $17,700
Movie: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 43
Date Sold: December 18, 2010
Details: This is the first casting of the Rancor model ever made for Star Wars. It isn’t that big but if we had it, this sucker would be hanging in our office tonight
Death Star Surface Panel – $17,937
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction
Date Sold: September 23, 2015
Details: This marks one of seven pieces of the Death Star that have made the list. It would be interesting to find out if the same person bought all of them to build their very own version.
Section of Death Star – $18,450
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: Profiles in History – Icons of Hollywood Auction
Date Sold: December 16, 2011
Details: As mentioned previously, the sections of the Death Star were all sold throughout the years in various places and hopefully the winner was the same person trying to build their own version.
Dewback Headpiece – $23,000
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: Rock & Film Memorabilia
Date Sold: April 27, 2005
Details: George Lucas owns 1 of the 2 master headpieces of the creature known as a dewback. It was never used in the film.
R2-D2 Dome Cast – $24,429
Movie: Episode
Auction: Entertainment Memorabilia
Date Sold: December 18, 2013
Details: R2-D2 is probably the coolest Star Wars character and he does not even speak. The value in anything created for the original Star Wars is going to be ridiculous but this dome cast molding of R2-D2 was just plain nuts.
Yoda Rehearsal Puppet – $27,765
Movie: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Auction: Icons of Hollywood Auction
Date Sold: December 16, 2011
Details: Before Frank Oz unleashed the Yoda character for the film, they had to use this puppet for blocking and to see where and how it would stage for the movie.
Han Solo Stop-Motion Puppet – $35,400
Movie: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 43
Date Sold: December 18, 2013
Details: Han Solo was played by Harrison Ford so when you see a stop-motion puppet, you must be wondering why. It was used during the opening scenes of Episode V while tauntaun’s carried them threw the snow covered planet of Hoth.
Section of the Death Star – $39,000
Movie: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 49
Date Sold: July 31, 2012
Details: If you had a million dollars, would you buy all the pieces of the Death Star and try to build it for yourself?
Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder – $44,250
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: ScreenUsed Fall 2015 Auction
Date Sold: November 21, 2015
Details: This is not the original screen used landspeeder that Luke Skywalker drove during the film but it has been used for promotional reasons, in parades, and was built by one of Hollywood’s best prop creators, Al Eisenmann.
Tauntaun Stop-Motion Puppet – $59,000
Movie: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 43
Date Sold: December 18, 2010
Details: This is a stop motion armature design of a tauntaun which, at that time, was a giant leap forward in the world of film special effects.
AT-AT Model Vehicle – $70,800
Movie: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 43
Date Sold: December 18, 2010
Details: Every kid loved to play with the AT-AT vehicle from Kenner toys. They might have been on the dark side during the fighting, but they are still so much fun to watch.
Turbolaser Tower – $92,250
Movie: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 49
Date Sold: July 31, 2012
Details: This is a turbolaser that was used on the new Death Star in the final episode of the Star Wars original trilogy.
Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing Fighter – $221,400
Movie: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 49
Date Sold: July 31, 2012
Details: It will never get old to own Star Wars movie models, especially of the planes they flew. But owning Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing? That is simply the coolest thing we have heard all day.
X-Wing Fighter – $265,500
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 40
Date Sold: June 11, 2010
Details: This is one of the few surviving X-Wing fighters that were preserved after Episode IV.
TIE Fighter – $402,500
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 32
Date Sold: July 31, 2008
Details: If you noticed the chipped wing it was because this is the TIE fighter that collided with Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter during Episode IV that allowed Luke time to blow up the Death Star.
Blockade Runner – $450,000
Movie: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Auction: Profiles in History – Hollywood Auction 74
Date Sold: October 1, 2015
Details: The blockade runner was the one in the opening scene of Star Wars that was carrying Princess Leia, R2-D2, and C-3PO. It has always been considered one of the most sought after pieces of Star Wars collectibles and when it was sold just recently, it lived up to the hype and ended up being the most valuable screen-used model ever.
