Darth Vader’s lightsaber sells for a record $4.875 million

A lightsaber used by Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi sold for $4.875 million on Thursday, 12 November, a price that Heritage Auctions says is a world record for any Star Wars collectible. The blade went under the hammer at the Ultimate Star Wars Auction held by the auction house that day.A record price surpassing previous highs for Star Wars collectiblesThe sale of the lightsaber has surpassed the auction house’s own previous record by about $1 million. That record was $3,875,000, paid for Tom Jung’s original half-sheet key poster painting for Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. The lightsaber also set a new benchmark for screen-used Star Wars props. It surpassed the $3.75 million fetched by the auction house in July for Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber and severed-hand effects rig from The Empire Strikes Back.In fact, the auction house already held a record in another category. In 2023, its screen-matched Red Leader X-wing Starfighter, a filming miniature, sold for $3,135,000. The house has now set records in three of the most sought-after areas of Star Wars collecting.Darth Vader’s lightsaberThe lightsaber was used in the climactic duel on Cloud City, in which Vader tells Luke Skywalker, ‘I am your father.’