Nerds Rejoice in Stellar Market for Star Wars Figurines

Craig Stevens Star Wars Collection. Photo: Courtesy of Craig Stevens via Flickr.

An anonymous Star Wars collector paid £18,000 at auction for a rare figurine, the BBC reports. The piece originally went on sale 35 years ago for £1.50.

The toy is of bounty hunter, Boba Fett, from the 1980s film The Empire Strikes Back. Still in its original packaging, it is thought to be one of only four or five to exist in such immaculate condition.

The seller is former chairman of the UK Star Wars Fan Club, Craig Stevens, who bought the figure in 1990 for £50. It went on sale along with 69 other lots from his collection, which realized a total of £23,796 at the toy auction house, Vectis, in Stockton, Teesside.

Although Stevens described parting with the Boba Fett figure as a “huge wrench” he still is the proud owner of 10,000 items of Star Wars memorabilia. Stevens told the BBC he decided to sell part of the collection in order to raise funds to purchase a house. He said “You think to yourself, ‘I’m in a [rented] flat and I have got a box of figures worth as much as a house.’ There’s no contest, really.”

Speaking about the sale, Vectis’ Kathy Taylor claimed the auction house had never had a collection like that of Mr. Stevens. She said, “We do get a lot of toys here which make big money, but this is the first Star Wars collection that we have ever had that is of this caliber.”


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