Luke Skywalker’s medal from A New Hope is but one lot in a huge array of film memorabilia going up for auction this month.
Most of us don’t have tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of dollars to spend on film memorabilia, but still: it’s nice to dream. This month will see Propstore auction off a quite mind-melting array of movie-related items, with costumes and props from major blockbusters to cult obscurities.
One of the big-ticket items is arguably Luke Skywalker’s medal, as seen at the end of 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope. It has a starting bid of $150,000, and is expected to fetch somewhere between $300,000 to $600,000.
According to Propstore’s listing, only two of these medals – made from resin and covered in gold leaf – were made for the production, and while Mark Hamill wore the one up for sale in A New Hope, Harrison Ford modelled the same trinket in behind-the-scenes production photos.
Another item that will almost certainly be of interest to Star Wars fans: a hand-painted animation cel from the now-infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, which aired on US TV in 1978. Although Lucasfilm later tried to erase the variety show from history, it still has an important place in Star Wars lore; aside from being incredibly kitsch, it also marks the screen debut of bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Incredibly, the hand-painted cel, which shows off Boba in all his helmeted glory, has a starting bid of just $1,500, with an estimated hammer price of between $3,000 to $6,000. We suspect it’ll soar past that estimate if enough fans latch onto it; if not, someone could walk away with a bit of a bargain here.
Read more: Star Wars | Episode IV script once belonging to Harrison Ford sells at auction for £8,500
Away from the Lucasverse, Propstore’s listings also include the original Mr Fusion reactor, as seen on Doc Brown’s DeLorean in Back To The Future Part II. As is often the case with these auctions, there’s an enormous number of props from Alien and its sequels, including John Hurt’s suit (which hasn’t been melted with facehugger acid) from the 1979 film and assorted bits of Power Loader from the 1986 sequel.
After something a bit more obscure? How about a cast of the original Predator head from the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie? This is the version of the title monster, which looks a bit like an angry prawn – the one quickly rejected in favour of Stan Winston’s now-iconic design.
If you’re looking for something to hang on your wall, there’s a frankly stunning Matthew Yuricich matte painting of Sigourney Weaver’s Manhattan apartment building from 1984’s Ghostbusters. There’s also a set of four hand-drawn pieces by Tom Sullivan, which he produced for 1987’s Evil Dead II. We’d argue these belong in a gallery.
Even this barely scratches the surface of what must be dozens of rare items. Jerry Lewis’s clown costume from his unreleased The Day The Clown Cried? You’ll never see the film, but you could buy the outfit (if you were so inclined) for as little as $10,000.
Or how about a set of miniature aeroplanes, as used on the production of the wobbly 70s disaster flick, Airport ’79. Ah, the tat we’d buy if we were rich.
The Propstore auction is open for registration and bidding now, with the auction itself due to take place on the 26th March.
