An elderly couple hit the literal jackpot when their long-time neighbor left them a massive Star Wars collection that recently sold for $525,000 (£400,000).
The Times of London reports that late collector Peter Simpson was a Cambridge University graduate and spent decades collecting plastic figures and spaceships related to Star Wars. Among the rare memorabilia that made up his collection is a Star Destroyer Commander, which is one of only two known examples to be in its original packaging. That item alone sold for $42,632 (£32,500), including fees.
"From what I understand they were pretty overwhelmed by having inherited all of this stuff from their neighbor and didn't know what to do with it," Chris Aston, of Aston's Auctioneers, told the outlet. "That was when they asked their son to contact myself."
Aston went on to explain that the collection consisted of hundreds of items, many still in their original packaging and in untouched condition. Among those items was a Palitoy Jawa, which fetched $35,748 (£27,280), and six vintage figures on Empire Strikes Back cards that sold for $13,107 (£10,000). Characters featured on the vintage cards included a Rebel Commander, an Imperial Stormtrooper in Hoth battle gear, a Bespin security guard, an Ugnaught and the character Lobot.
Another group of eight figures from Return of the Jedi, which cost $2 (£1.59) each when they were purchased in the '80s, sold for $1,836 (£1,400). The collection also boasted a variety of larger Star Wars memorabilia, including a Jawa Sandcrawler, which sold for almost $2,492 (£1,900), and three boxed TIE Fighter spacecraft, which fetched $1,705 (£1,300).
The unnamed couple who inherited the collection after Simpson's death last December reside in Stourbridge in the West Midlands. The auction comes just a few months after California's Prop Store auctioned off $6.2 million worth of rare film memorabilia back in August. Among the items sold then was Darth Vader’s original 1977 touring costume, which sold for $287,500.
Source: The Times of London