I was really pleased when my colleagues at the Yorkshire Reporter contacted me to say they were writing a Star Wars feature and could I write about the merchandise and collectibles from the films. There is a huge demand for Star Wars toys and other items so I could have written pages about the subject!
One of the biggest phenomenon in modern times in the collecting of toy and film memorabilia is Star Wars. Over the years, thousands of items have been produced and hundreds of thousands of them sold. Who would have thought that it would have been so popular back in 1977 when the first Star Wars film was released? At that time, an American company called Kenner had the rights to manufacture Star Wars toys. The immediate worldwide response to the film and desire for toys and memorabilia took the company by surprise and they arranged a partnership with the English toy manufacturer Palitoy.
They did a very good job of reproducing Star Wars toys and their early figures have become incredibly collectable. In time for Xmas 1978, Kenner had asked Palitoy to make the Death Star toy. Because of the pressure to bring it out in the time and their need to keep it under budget, Palitoy brought out their own version costing £6.02. The hemisphere was made of rigid cardboard but the chair, 2 guns and a garbage shoot were made of plastic. You can imagine how easy this was to damage and lose the small parts. A recently discovered model of this, complete and unopened, sold for a record price of £4400!
Between the 1970s and 80s, it is estimated that tens of thousands of Star Wars figures were sold. The original figures, known by collectors as the ‘12 back figures’ (this was because the original bubble packs showed the entire collection of figures on the back), are some of the rarest collectables. An original unopened Boba Fett, the bounty hunter from the 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, has recently sold for a staggering £18000!
Here are a few more examples of items sold recently in America –
Blue Snaggletooth $500
Luke Skywalker with Double-telescoping Lightsaber $1000
Vinyl Cape Jawa $3000
Obi-Wan Kenobi with Double-telescoping Lightsaber $6000
Darth Vader with Double-telescoping Lightsaber $7000
If you were lucky enough to have bought any of the original props that were used in the film, it would have proved a very good investment. A Jawa figure with vinyl cape sold for $16,500, a Chewbacca film-ready head $172,200, Luke Skywalker’s Episode IV lightsabre – a staggering $240,000 and unbelievably a miniature Episode IV TIE fighter $402,400!
Collecting items like these should be for enjoyment rather than investment. Star Wars is a generational thing and over time may not hold its popularity. For every wonderful story, there are thousands of items that have decreased in value. It is not only based on the cost of the item, many of these items were purchased for little more than £1. It is 50% genius and 50% luck being able to spot these trends. To bear that out, it has been stated on many occasions that the actor who played Obi-Wan-Kenobi, Sir Alec Guinness, said he thought of the Star Wars films as “fairy tale rubbish”. Despite thinking that he did a deal for 2% of the gross box office receipts for all the movies he appeared in. This has earnt him over $95 million.
You may be sat on a treasure trove! It is often the items that you think are worthless that can turn out to be the most valuable.
Not sure? Then send an email to antiques@yorkshirereporter.co.uk. I will answer everyone.
Look forward to valuing for you
Gary Don