A prop lightsaber wielded by Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy has just sold at auction for almost $5 million.
This is the most amount of money a Star Wars prop has ever sold for, and it’s easy to see why. The lightsaber was featured in The Empire Strikes Back — largely seen as the best of the bunch — and Return of the Jedi, making it at least 46 years old.
As reported by The Guardian, the sale was done through Heritage Auctions, and sold for $4.875 million. The eye-watering figure beat the previous overall record of $3,875,000, which Heritage achieved with Tom Jung’s original half-sheet key poster painting for Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. It also eclipsed the previous record for a screen-used Star Wars prop: Heritage’s $3,750,000 sale of Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber and severed hand effects rig on July 15, 2026.
“Vader’s lightsaber is an artifact from the very heart of the saga, and its result led a historic auction,” Joe Maddalena, Heritage’s Executive Vice President, said.
The item description gives us some more details on the prop itself. For instance, this is the version that was used when the lightsabers were “ignited,” so there are “mounting bolts” that would have been used to attach a wooden blade, later edited to look like a lightsaber. Because of this, we know it would have been used by both David Prowse (the guy usually in the Darth Vader suit) and Bob Anderson, who handled fight scenes and stunts.
In other words, yes, this is the lightsaber that was on-screen during the fight on Bespin between Vader and Luke.
Other items up for grabs during the auction included prop blasters, figurines, and script drafts. However, none of them came even close to amassing the same amount of interest as the lightsabers used in the most iconic scene from the entire franchise. It’s hard to see what could top this now.
Nostalgia for the original Star Wars trilogy is in full effect, with Disney announcing plans for the first movie and the franchise’s 50th anniversary this week. A fresh documentary detailing the making of A New Hope, George Lucas’ original Star Wars film, will appear on Disney+ on May 4th next year. The Hero Awakens includes rare archival footage from A New Hope’s production, helmed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker R.J. Cutler.
The documentary follows the theatrical re-release of Star Wars on February 19. This will be the rarely-seen original 1977 version of the movie.
Rhiannon (she/her) is a freelance journalist who has been in the industry since 2019. She won MCV’s Women in Games award in 2025 and adores RPGs. You can follow her on Bluesky at @rhithewitch.