Darth Vader’s reign has ended. For a brief time, he owned the mantle of “Most Expensive Piece of Star Wars Memorabilia,” but before you could say “more wealth than you can imagine” he fell once again, with a new challenger rising to take his place. It was only this past September that a verified screen-used lightsaber hilt wielded by the Dark Lord of the Sith in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi set a sales record by fetching $3.65 million. It was a high bar, but it’s already been cleared.
The family of late Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz recently put a rare and valuable piece of artwork up for auction: Tom Jung’s original halfsheet painting depicting the heroes of the Rebellion, soaring X-Wing starfighters, and the looming head of Vader himself. Heritage Auctions ended up selling the piece for a staggering $3.875 million–setting a new record.
Experts credit two things for the incredible value of this piece of artwork. One is its scarcity. The term “halfsheet” refers to an old movie poster format that was typically oriented horizontally rather than vertically and was printed on heavier stock meant for theater lobby displays. The original Star Wars movie poster (also painted by Jung) was in the more traditional vertical orientation and was more widely sold and collected–although you can see the iconic Luke and Leia pose from that poster used again in a slightly different variation in the bottom left corner of the halfsheet art.
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The other reason is that for many people this was the first visual introduction to the world of Star Wars for a large portion of the audience in 1977. Jung’s art was used in print newspaper ads beginning in early May of that year, several weeks before the film was released in theaters. It’s credited with laying the foundation for the movie experience–the artwork is dramatic, with competing shades of darkness and light. It establishes the look of Vader, R2-D2, C-3PO, Chewbacca (if you look closely), and the X-Wings. You see the grave face of the elder Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi juxtaposed with the eager young face of Luke Skywalker looking skyward. It even has a spoiler (not that people in 1977 would know that’s a triumphant medal ceremony Luke, Chewie, and Han Solo are marching towards). As the Heritage Auctions press release says, this is “the painting that introduced the world to Star Wars,” because it was “the first widely published image to ever promote Star Wars,” adding that it “quickly became the definitive visual identity of Star Wars, later gracing the film’s official program cover, massive 24-sheet billboards, and countless magazine and newspaper ads during its original release.”
Now that a new champion has earned the top spot on the leaderboard, here are a few of the other extremely valuable “Holy Grails” for collectors of all things Star Wars:
DARTH VADER’S LIGHTSABER
As mentioned, the item that held the top spot for a few months was a verified screen-used lightsaber hilt, sold at auction at the Los Angeles Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction. It was the only lightsaber prop to ever come to public auction that was proven to be used on camera. Price: $3.64 million
X-WING MODEL
Discovered in the garage of late Star Wars modelmaker Greg Jein, this extremely rare 20-inch X-Wing model was used for the final battle sequence in the original Star Wars and was believed to have been lost forever. In 2023, Heritage Auctions put it up for sale. Price: $3.1 million
VLIX ACTION FIGURE
Not one of the most iconic Star Wars action figures, but definitely the rarest and most valuable. Don’t worry if you have no idea who Vlix is, you’re probably not alone. He only appeared in four episodes of the 1986 animated kids show Star Wars: Droids. What makes him rare is that he was originally set to be produced by toy manufacturer Kenner (who produced all of the other figures in the Droids line as well as the movies) but the show was cancelled before they could use the expensive molds they had already made for Vlix. So Kenner sold the molds to a Brazilian toy company called Glasslite, who then made the figures. They are extremely hard to find and coveted by collectors. Price: Anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000.
MARVEL COMICS STAR WARS #1
Long before Disney owned them both, Luke Skywalker and Spider-Man shared a common home. In July 1977, Marvel Comics kicked off their Star Wars comic book line with issue #1, a retelling of the movie adapted by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Howard Chaykin. Depending on condition, it remains one of the most valuable Star Wars comics. Price: Anywhere from $2,500 to $11,500.
KRAYT DRAGON BONES
In the beginning of Star Wars, C-3PO wanders through the desert of Tatooine and passes the remains of a dinosaur-like creature. Actually, it was a dinosaur–the bones were repurposed props from an old Disney movie called One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing. Later identified through lore as the bones of a “Krayt Dragon,” the prop bones were actually left behind by the crew in the desert of Tunisia where they filmed, and pieces of the bones were discovered by an actual archeologist in 1995. Fans and rabid collectors have even trekked to Tunisia to find (and sell) pieces they’re able to find in the sand. Price: Anywhere from $150 to $1,800.
