Use the profit, Luke! Lightsaber used by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars sold for £133,000

By Mail Foreign Service

Mark Hamill with his lightsaber in Star Wars: a New Hope - the prop has sold for £133,000 at a Hollywood auction

The lightsaber used by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars sold for more than £130,000 at an auction of Hollywood props and memorabilia.

Actor Mark Hamill used the lightsaber, which was made from an old photography flashgun, in both the original Star Wars: a New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.

The weapon, sold by Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz, fetched £133,000 at the sale by Hollywood auction house Profiles in History.

An original section of the Death Star from the first 1977 movie also fetched £13,300 and C-3PO's helmet and robotic hands worn by British actor Anthony Daniels in the 1983 hit Star Wars: Return of the Jedi sold for £66,444 and £20,000 respectively.

An original set of the three Lord of the Rings books, all first editions printed in 1954 and signed by JRR Tolkien sold for £60,000.

Bound in original red cloth, each volume included a fold out map of Middle Earth at the back and used to belong to a student of Tolkien's.

The first British edition of Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice in which Fleming wrote:

'To the real James Bond from the thief of his identity' fetched £46,530.

Iconic: Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader have a lightsaber duel in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

The book was given as a present to American Ornithologist James Bond, who died shortly after he met Fleming in 1964.

And the second draft original handwritten manuscript of You Only Live Twice, signed by Roald Dahl, fetched £53,200.

Pricey: The handle of Luke Skywalker's lightsaber made from an old photography flashgun

The full-sized animatronic 'Joe' from Mighty Joe Young fetched £53,200.

Memorabilia from the hit Gremlins movies also fared well in the sale, with the original Gizmo, which came still attached to the animatronic wires and switches used to control him, selling for £10,660, twice its high estimate.

Daffy fetched £5,700 and the George Mogwai puppet sold for £6,660.

Bad guys Mohawk Gremlin and an animatronic Brain Gremlin sold for £10,660 and £8,660 respectively.

Cult character: C-3PO's helmet from Return of the Jedi sold for £66,444

Elsewhere in the sale, a flying saucer from the 1956 classic sci-fi hit Forbidden Planet, which starred comedy actor Leslie Nielsen, fetched £43,300, almost half its high estimate of £80,000.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature T-800 Terminator costume from the 1991 film Terminator 2: Judgment Day, described by the auction house as an 'incredible and iconic costume ensemble', fetched £13,310.

Jim Carrey's Riddler costume from the 1995 film Batman Forever sold for £21,655 while his cane sold for £6,663.

Christian Bale's Batman cowl from the 2005 film Batman Begins, with two metal rings sewn into the lining in front for attachment to the Batsuit, fetched £11,325.

And from X-men, Wolverine's black leather battle suit sold for £50,000.

The original Santa Jack sled from the 1993 film Nightmare before Christmas fetched £36,600.

The screen-used animatronic Little Green Man from inside the human head set in the 1997 film Men In Black sold for £23,300 and the Pitbull hoverboard used by Biff Tannen in Back to the Future II sold for £12,650.

And a set of Michael Jackson heads from the 1986 video Smooth Criminal fetched £6,000.

Original here