Darth Vader's lightsaber from famous 'I am your father' scene sells for nearly $5m

Detailed summary

Darth 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 July

The Force was strong in the auction room as Darth Vader’s famous lightsaber sold for nearly $5million.

Auctioneers had expected the prop to fetch more than $1million, but a phone bidder snapped it up for $4.875million on Thursday – the highest figure ever paid for any Star Wars collectible.

The lightsaber was used in the Cloud City duel in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, one of the most famous scenes in the series that sees Vader cuts off Luke Skywalker’s hand before dropping the family bombshell that changed the course of the films. “I am your father,” he tells Luke.

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The same prop was used again in 1983’s Return of the Jedi, when the pair faced each other in a rematch. Luke got the better of Darth Vader that time, but his old rival came out on top at auction. In July, Luke’s lightsaber and the special-effects rig used to show his severed hand sold together for $3.75million. That was the previous auction record for a Star Wars prop used on screen. Darth Vader also beat the $3.875million paid for Tom Jung’s original poster artwork for the first Star Wars film, which held the overall record for a collectible from the series.

Brian Chanes, senior director of Hollywood and entertainment at Heritage Auctions, said Darth Vader’s lightsaber was “like the Holy Grail” to a Star Wars collector. He said: "It’s from the most iconic sequence of the entire franchise.”

This version of the lightsaber was built for a fight. To make it sturdy enough to take interchangeable wooden blades, the prop makers reinforced the handle with aluminium and steel. The handle itself started life as a 1950s British camera flash attachment called a Microflash.

For scenes where Darth Vader wasn’t fighting, the filmmakers used a separate bladeless handle.

Heritage Auctions said Star Wars…

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