The prop lightsaber used by Darth Vader in the most iconic scenes of the original Star Wars trilogy is going up for auction soon, but it won’t be cheap. It was recently added to the preview items listed on PropStoreAuction.com, with an estimated sale price of $1 million to $3 million. That’s a lot considering that the production budget for the first Star Wars movie was just $11 million altogether, yet it’s hard to doubt that this piece of fandom history will sell. It’s the very same prop lightsaber used in the climactic duels at the end of Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes back and Episode VI — Return of the Jedi.
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The prop going on sale soon is the familiar hilt of Darth Vader’s lightsaber, with an allen bolt sticking out of the top where a prop “blade” could be attached to film dueling scenes. Presumably, there was an identical hilt on set without the bolt for filming scenes where the lightsaber was inactive. The listing even includes some details on how these props were originally made.
“The prop is made from a British press camera flash handle,” it reads. “It was converted to a lightsaber prop with the addition of dressing components such as plastic grips, small electrical wires and a circuit board with magnifying bubbles from a calculator.”
According to the auction website, this prop has been held in a private collection for decades, and this is the first time it’s been sold at a public auction. It’s authenticity can be verified by comparing it to the movies themselves, as the “specific damage to the body” matches the damage to the hilt seen on screen.
“Genuine lightsaber props from the original trilogy are incredibly rare,” the listing goes on. “This is believed to be the only hero lightsaber prop with verifiable screen-use to ever be offered at public auction. It is one of the rarest and most sought after ‘grail’ Star Wars props in existence.”
The lightsabers in the original trilogy were made with extremely complex visual effects before the age of CGI. The props themselves were just thin metal rods that the actors could swing. They were wrapped in reflective tape, but the glowing, laser effect in the final cut was achieved by animators in post-production. They traced the colored light into every single frame of those scenes, and the sound effects were added with meticulous timing as well.
Hopefully, some fan can come up with a few million dollars to purchase this prop and give it the grand display it deserves. For the rest of us, toys and replicas will have to do. All 11 Star Wars movies are streaming now on Disney+.
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