Star Wars: Original X-Wing Prop From A New Hope Sells for Over $2 Million
It's a great time to be a Star Wars fan! Today saw the release of the final episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and fans are loving its epic conclusion. There's also plenty to look forward to from Lucasfilm and Disney+, including Star Wars: Andor, which is premiering in August, the third season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian in February, Star Wars: Ahsoka coming next year, and more. However, love for the original films remains stronger than ever. In fact, The Hollywood Reporter just shared that an X-Wing Fighter model used in the original Star Wars sold for $2.3 million at auction.
According to Prop Store Auction, the Red Leader X-Wing miniature model created by Industrial Light & Magic was estimated to sell for $500,000 to $1 million. However, the final price ended up being a whopping $2,375,000. The X-Wing belonged to Squadron Leader Garven Dreis, who was played by Drewe Henley in the film. Apparently, the model is quite rare considering most of them were destroyed by pyrotechnics during the filming of the Death Star battle. You can read a description for the item below:
"The X-wing fighter model is preserved extremely well and remains in excellent condition. The lightweight rigid foam remains solid, and the original unrestored paintwork is in excellent condition, with only subtle flaking in small areas. One of the laser cannons exhibits slight warpage, and one of the scratch-built laser cannon tip assemblies is loose. The pyro X-wing was intended to mount on a C-stand with a hole in the back of the fuselage or to be hung from wires during filming. There are several small holes in the top of the fuselage related to hanging the model on wires. A custom-made aluminum stand that supports the model through the fuselage is included with the piece, as is a wooden transport crate."
"The model screen-matches to a specific 'pyro' shot of an explosion going off on Red Leader's engine in the film," Brandon Alinger, Propstore's COO, previously told Forbes. "Several behind-the-scenes photos taken at Industrial Light & Magic exist that show the model extremely well. Every scratch and airbrush mark in the paintwork can be matched up exactly to those images from 1976."
You should be able to spot the X-Wing in the original Star Wars, which is now streaming on Disney+.