Darth Vader’s The Empire Stikes Back Lightsaber Is Coming to Auction
The battered and chipped weapon of the Sith Lord hits the block this fall
A lightsaber used by Darth Vader in combat sequences in the movies The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi will be sold in a live auction at Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, on November 12. The Vader saber itself carries a starting bid minimum of $1,000,000. While James Earl Jones famously provided the deep, menacing, resonant line readings that made Lord Vader’s voice almost universally recognizable, the saber was wielded on camera by David Prowse (the man behind Vader’s physical portrayal) and by stuntman/former Olympic fencer Bob Anderson.
The sale comes following a hot moment for Star Wars props when, on July 15, a lightsaber that Mark Hamill carried as Luke Skywalker in the Cloud City duel scene sold at Heritage Auctions for $3.75 million, setting a record for Star Wars memorabilia. That prop came with a severed wax hand attached to it, as Luke loses a hand in the scene in which it was used.
It is speculated that the lightsaber coming to Heritage Auctions might have also been used in Episode IV: A New Hope. While this cannot be proven, photo-matching confirms, via certain distinctive details, that this is the same lightsaber used in Empire and Jedi. Unlike many props from the more recent films, its sense of authenticity is abetted by plentiful signs of wear that reflect both its frequent use as a working prop and the film-world environment of 50 years ago, a time when the market for memorabilia was not what it is now, and items from films were less likely to be guesstimated for subsequent resale.
Other highlights of the sale include cult favorite Boba Fett’s screen-matched hero EE-3 carbine blaster used in The Empire Strikes Back. It has a starting estimate of $100,000.