Darth Vader’s lightsaber is up for auction

Darth Vader’s lightsaber is about to become someone’s prized possession. It’s up for auction alongside a bunch of other iconic movie props, as spotted earlier by The New York Times. The auction is hosted by the memorabilia company Propstore, and it estimates that Vader’s lightsaber will fetch anywhere from $1 million to $3 million.

Darth Vader had this weapon in hand in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). As noted by Propstore, it’s made from a 1950s British camera flash bulb attachment, which prop makers modified with plastic grips, electrical wires, and magnification bubbles used in vintage calculators.

In an interview with CBS News, Propstore CEO Brian Alinger said the lightsaber came from someone who received it as a gift while visiting the set of Star Wars as a child. Propstore matched the lightsaber to the Star Wars films “based on specific damage to the body.”

There’s plenty of other exciting memorabilia up for grabs during the auction, with the whip used by Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) expected to net $250,000 to $500,00, and Keaton’s Batsuit from the original Batman (1989), estimated at $250,000 to $500,000.