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LucasFilm Auctioning Star Wars Memorabilia

Posted by chrisd on from the these-are-not-the-auctions-you-are-looking-for dept.

Captain Chad writes: "LucasFilm has donated some items to eBay's "Auction for America". They include a lightsaber used by Ray Park (Darth Maul) and a stormtrooper helmet used in The Empire Strikes Back and in Return of the Jedi. Check out the list of auction items! I think some of the bids will get astronomical. Would anyone be willing to give me a few hundred thousand dollars so I can get the lightsaber?"

20 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. hmmm... by Quasar1999 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sounds great and all... but why not donate some of the revenues from the films (which we already pay a hell of a lot of money to go see anyways) to these charities... why auction off only one or two things which can only be attained by the rich?

    --

    ---
    Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
  2. So.... by DAldredge · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So how much of your income from Win32 driver dev. job do you donate???

  3. never thought i would see... by BigBir3d · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...a page on ebay slashdotted :-)

    good work people!

  4. Warning!!!! by DAldredge · · Score: 4, Funny

    They have a ZERO (0) feedback rating on ebay. How do we know they won't take the money and run???

    ;->

  5. Expensive by TMacPhail · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I personaly think that the storm trooper helmet will reach a much higher price than the light saber. Simply because the helmet is from one of the originals that have essentially become classics. The light saber will be expensive but not as high because episode 1 was not as popular as the original 3.

  6. $8000+ for a helmet? by dmarcov · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ok -- for no logical reason, I sure wouldn't mind having an authentic Stormtrooper helmet, but come on. They've already bid it up for over $8k. Sweet charity, or no -- $8,000 for a movie prop is impossible to comprehend.

    Well that -- and the armor never seemed to protect the actual stormstrooper from anything. Not even a damned Ewok with a rock.

  7. Re:Huh? by Party+Remover · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Doesn't surprise me much. A lightsaber prop sitting on a shelf or in a display cabinet doesn't necessarily look like anything special (especially if it's not part of a larger collection on display). You might even think it's a flashlight or something. But it's pretty tough to mistake a Stormtrooper helmet for anything else. :-)

  8. Auction the right to choose Jar Jar's future by Helevius · · Score: 5, Funny
    If Lucas were a genius, he would auction the right to decide Jar Jar Bink's future in the next or third Star Wars movie. He could bring in a lot of money by guaranteeing the high bidder's way to eliminate Jar Jar would appear on screen. Perhaps an AT-AT would step on him, or he could be rolled over by a sandcrawler? (Yeah, those are tame.)

    Helevius

  9. Forget about the Sith Lords by Wintermancer · · Score: 5, Funny

    #include "heavy-breathing.h"

    #incluide "voice-distortion.h"

    "Princess Lea, now you will see the true nature and power of the Dark Side of the force."

    "No, Lord Vader! We are just a peaceful planet of granola eaters and tree huggers!"

    "Yes, watch as the Empire unleashes the ultimate weapon....the Slashdot effect!"

    Really, this is amazing, we've Slashdotted eBay.

  10. Lucas, You Genius by Murdock037 · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...Do you know how much money I'd pay to get my own fully-functional Death Star? He's about to make a mint.

    (Of course, I'd want the first one, as we all know the second one is not yet fully operational.)

  11. Act now! Vader helmet cheaper than Stormtrooper's! by zsazsa · · Score: 3, Informative

    This probably won't last much longer, but there's a Vader helmet (used in Empire) going for a fraction of what the Stormtrooper helmet is up to now. ($1,700 vs $8,865)

    That's the power of a direct link from Slashdot's front page!

  12. Mostly Just Kit Models... by CaptainCarrot · · Score: 4, Informative
    ...Which is kind of too bad, but I suppose they couldn't just auction off all their original props. The Stormtrooper's helmet was used in the filming of Eps 5 and 6, and Darth Maul's lightsabre was the prop Ray Park actually used in the fight scenes. The Darth Vader helmet was cast "from an original used in the filming of The Empire Strikes Back," which seems to be saying that the original molds were lost and a new one was made from an old hemlet. Not quite the same as an original by a long shot, but Lucas has autographed the thing, so I suppose it has more cachet than some of the other items.

    Everything else seems to be a professionally-built kit model. They all come with certificates of authenticity, but what they authentically are doesn't seem to be to be all that unique.

    It should be remembered that for the newer movies, authentic models will be rare indeed since they're using a great deal fewer of them in favor of CG.

    --
    And the brethren went away edified.
    1. Re:Mostly Just Kit Models... by jcr · · Score: 3, Informative

      It should be remembered that for the newer movies, authentic models will be rare indeed since they're using a great deal fewer of them in favor of CG.

      I wonder what the original backup tapes will go for ;-)

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    2. Re:Mostly Just Kit Models... by CaptainCarrot · · Score: 3, Funny

      What tapes? They're recording on digital media now. One good lightning strike at the wrong time, and you've got to reshoot the whole movie....

      --
      And the brethren went away edified.
  13. Re:Act now! Vader helmet cheaper than Stormtrooper by pete-classic · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's 'cause Lucas messed up the value on the Vader helmet by scribbling on it.

    OTOH, maybe a lot of guys are like me, and couldn't sleep with that thing in the house.

    -Peter

  14. Re:Make your own lightsaber? by susano_otter · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...the more mechanically inclined among us could just turn their own on their garage lathes and bolt a bunch of gewgaws to it to finish the look.

    Are you talking about these guys?

    Or these guys?

    Or possibly even these guys?

    --

    Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.

  15. Heh. by DelyApple · · Score: 3, Funny

    Vader: What is thy bidding, my master?

    Emperor: My bidding is on your helmet, and I won. Hand it over.

    Vader: But I need this to liiiive...

  16. You want to see MY identification? by whovian · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear Mr. Lucas,

    We will give you 5,000 now -- plus 15 when we reach Alderan.

    --
    To-do List: Receive telemarketing call during a tornado warning. Check.
  17. Signed collectibles by freeweed · · Score: 3, Funny
    You know, Lucas signed the Darth Vader helmet (which took approximately 3 seconds of his time), and suddenly it's worth hundreds of dollars more.


    Reminds me of the 'old' adage about Bill Gates: that if while on the way to work in the morning, he stopped to pick up a $100 bill lying on the sidewalk. He'd actually LOSE money, because he makes more in those few seconds than the bill is worth. As to why he's walking to work in the first place...

    --
    Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
    1. Re:Signed collectibles by Legion303 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Kind of a stupid adage, then, since the money Bill "makes" in those few seconds is really just an average of what he makes in the course of a year, divided into second-long segments. In other words, since he's not actually earning anything for walking to work, he'd be wise to pick up the bill, if only to blow his nose with or whatever it is he does with $100 bills.

      -Legion