Darth Vader's lightsaber sells for nearly $5m at auction

Summarised from 7 outlets · Updated 14 Nov, 01:20 · Archive

Darth Vader's lightsaber from The Empire Strikes Back sold for $4.875 million, setting a Star Wars auction record.

Darth Vader's lightsaber sold for $4.875 million on Thursday at Heritage Auctions' Ultimate Star Wars Auction in Dallas, setting a world record for any Star Wars collectible and for any screen-used Star Wars prop.

The iconic prop was used in two films of the original trilogy. In The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Vader wielded it during the climactic duel in Cloud City, where he cuts off Luke Skywalker's hand. During this scene, when Luke accuses Vader of killing his father, Vader replies with one of the saga's most famous lines: 'No. I am your father.' The same lightsaber returned for the final duel between the two characters in Return of the Jedi (1983), where Luke cuts off Vader's hand but refuses to kill him.

The prop was built from a 1950s camera flash attachment. Both actor David Prowse and stunt performer Bob Anderson wielded the saber as Darth Vader during filming. The auctioneers could not confirm whether it may also have been used in the original 1977 Star Wars film.

The sale broke the previous auction record for a Star Wars prop, which was set just months earlier in July when Luke Skywalker's lightsaber and severed-hand effect rig from The Empire Strikes Back sold for $3.75 million.

Brian Chanes, senior director of Hollywood and entertainment at Heritage Auctions, described the significance of the prop. He said the Darth Vader saber was 'like the Holy Grail' to a Star Wars collector, adding: 'It's the one on the set. It's from the most iconic sequence of the entire franchise.'

The lightsaber was one of 27 Star Wars lightsaber props assembled for the auction. Heritage's Ultimate Star Wars Auction also featured other items spanning the entire franchise, including a blaster used by bounty hunter Boba Fett and a Yoda puppet hand used during the character's original appearance in The Empire Strikes Back.

How it is being reported

• Darth Vader's lightsaber fetches record £3.7m - making it the most expensive Star Wars prop everIt's enough to make a Wookiee weep - in an auction room far, far away, Darth Vader's lightsaber has fetched £3.7million.Daily Mail · 14 Nov, 01:05
• Darth Vader's iconic lightsaber from 'I am your father' scene sells for staggering £3.7mThe lightsaber wielded by Darth Vader during the legendary "I am your father" confrontation in The Empire Strikes Back has fetched nearly £3.7million at auction, nearly five times what experts had predicted. Heritage Auctions in the US had expected the prop to go for more than £750,000, but fierce bidding on Thursday drove the final price to almost £4million. The prop, which also appeared in 1983's Return of the Jedi, was sold as part of an event billed as "the Ultimate Star Wars auction," establishing a new world record for any Star Wars prop ever sold at auction. The Vader sabre was among…GB News · 13 Nov, 12:54
• Darth Vader's lightsaber from famous 'I am your father' scene sells for nearly $5mDarth Vader got the better of Luke Skywalker at auction as his lightsaber fetched $4.875million, topping the £3.75million paid for Luke's lightsaber and severed-hand prop in JulyThe Mirror · 13 Nov, 11:44
• Famed Darth Vader light saber sells for almost $5 million at auctionA light saber used by Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" movies "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" has sold for nearly $5 million in an auction.CBS News · 13 Nov, 11:39
• Star Wars lightsaber used in Darth Vader’s ‘I am your father’ duel sells for nearly $5MThe sale marks a world auction record for any “Star Wars” collectible.New York Post · 13 Nov, 09:30
• Darth Vader’s lightsaber, used in Star Wars movies The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, sells for nearly $5mUsed in the famous ‘I am your father’ scene, the on-screen prop was originally expected to sell for a fraction of the price Auctioneers estimated it would sell for over $1m, but on Thursday a Star Wars lightsaber used by Darth Vader in the famous “I am your father” scene from The Empire Strikes Back ended up selling for nearly $5m. Darth Vader’s saber was one of 27 lightsaber props up for sale by Heritage Auctions in the US, including ones used by Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith. Continue reading...The Guardian · 13 Nov, 04:41
• Darth Vader strikes back at auction as his lightsaber from two original Star Wars films reclaims the record from Luke Skywalker's propDarth Vader's lightsaber sold for nearly $5 million, breaking the record set by Luke Skywalker's in July. The hilt, made from a 1950s camera flash attachment, was used in two of the original trilogy's duels.DW News · 13 Nov, 02:27

In this story: Darth Vader · Luke Skywalker · Heritage Auctions · David Prowse · Bob Anderson · George Lucas · Cloud City · Dallas

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