One of the most iconic props in movie history sold for a record price Thursday night.
Darth Vader's lightsaber, used in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi," went for $3,654,000 at entertainment auction house Propstore.
The lightsaber's sale coincides with the 45th anniversary of "The Empire Strikes Back."
According to the auction house, "genuine lightsaber props from the original trilogy are rare with this 'believed to be the only hero lightsaber prop from the original Star Wars trilogy with verifiable screen use ever to be offered at public auction.'"
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The lightsaber was used by both David Prowse, who was in the Darth Vader suit, as well as his stunt double Bob Anderson.
“It is a grail-level piece, worthy of the finest collections in the world," Propstore chief operating officer Brandon Alinger said. "This lightsaber is simply everything you want it to be — one of the most significant Star Wars artifacts ever. One of the most significant cinema artifacts ever.”
"They are the 'ruby slippers' of cinema’s modern era," he added, citing the record-breaking $32.5 million sale of Judy Garland's Ruby Red Slippers from "The Wizard of Oz," which easily became the most expensive movie prop in history.
Pre-sale estimates for the lightsaber range between $1 million and $3 million.
Hero lightsabers from the franchise have been key chases for "Star Wars" collectors when they appear at public auction. Three lightsaber props have sold for $100,000 or more at Heritage in recent years, including Mark Hamill's "Luke Skywalker" hero lightsaber from "A New Hope" and "The Empire Strikes Back," which fetched $450,000 in June 2017.
Ewan McGregor's "Obi-Wan Kenobi" hero lightsaber used in "The Phantom Menace" sold for $125,000 in July 2022 and Hayden Christensen's "Anakin Skywalker" hero lightsaber used in "Revenge of the Sith" sold for $106,250 in July 2023.
When it comes to movie merchandise and sales in the hobby, "Star Wars" is more powerful than anything else. Disney made more than $1 billion just in 2024 on "Star Wars" merchandise sales alone, and over $12 billion last year on the franchise as a whole.
And Darth Vader is at the pinnacle of that. British film magazine "Empire" ranked Vader as the most iconic movie villain in history.
Matt Liberman is a reporter and video producer for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.