Darth Vader's lightsaber from the iconic 'I am your father' scene in The Empire Strikes Back has sold for $4.875 million at Heritage Auctions, setting a new record for any Star Wars collectible.
Auctioneers had expected the prop to fetch more than $1 million, but a phone bidder secured it for $4.875 million on Thursday. The lightsaber was used in the Cloud City duel in the 1980 film, where Vader cuts off Luke Skywalker's hand before revealing their familial connection.
Record-Breaking Sale
The sale surpasses the previous auction record for a Star Wars prop used on screen: Luke's lightsaber and the special-effects rig used to show his severed hand, which sold together for $3.75 million in July. It also beats the $3.875 million paid for Tom Jung's original poster artwork for the first Star Wars film, which had held the overall record for a collectible from the series.
Brian Chanes, senior director of Hollywood and entertainment at Heritage Auctions, described Darth Vader's lightsaber as "like the Holy Grail" to a Star Wars collector, adding: "It's from the most iconic sequence of the entire franchise."
Prop Construction and Details
The lightsaber was built for action, with prop makers reinforcing the handle with aluminium and steel to withstand interchangeable wooden blades. The handle began as a 1950s British camera flash attachment called a Microflash, with the manufacturer's nameplate removed and seven black plastic grips, decorative wiring, and a strip of magnifying bubbles from a calculator added. A D-shaped metal ring allowed Darth Vader to hang it from his belt.
For non-fighting scenes, filmmakers used a separate bladeless handle. On the sold version, some of the reinforcing bolts are visible in production photos, though the performer's hand often hid them.
Broader Auction Context
Heritage Auctions noted that Star Wars creator George Lucas drew inspiration from King Arthur legends, envisioning a futuristic "laser sword" for peacekeepers to deflect blasts from ray guns. The auction featured 27 other Star Wars lightsabers, including ones wielded by Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith.
The sale drew on all nine films in the main Star Wars series, with other lots including a blaster used by bounty hunter Boba Fett and a Yoda puppet hand from the character's first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. Memorabilia from other films and TV shows also went under the hammer.
