Die-cast Palitoy TIE Bomber sells for £2100

June 25, 2019

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The BBC take a look at a recent auction that saw a die-cast Palitoy TIE Bomber sell for ten times its listed price.

A rare and unopened Star Wars toy found in a loft has sold for £2,100, about 10 times its pre-auction estimate.

The Tie Bomber spacecraft had laid undiscovered in its original box, in Leicestershire, for about 40 years.

It belonged to a worker at Coalville’s Palitoy factory, which made Star Wars models and figures in the UK.

The item, which had an estimated price of between £200 and £300, sold at auction in Derbyshire earlier on Thursday.

The model was bought by Ben Watkins, 46, a headhunter from Hampshire, who spent about £5,000 in total at the exhibition.

The collector went for the Tie Bomber due to its “rarity” and felt he got a “bargain” when his £900 bid landed a rare Yak Face figure, which had been expected to sell for much more.

SourceBBC

Mark Newbold

Exploring the galaxy since 1978, Mark wrote his first fan fiction in '81 and has been a presence online since webpage Fanta War in 1996. He is the EiC and Daily Content Manager of Fantha Tracks and currently contributes to ILM.com, SkywalkerSound.com, Star Wars – Das Offizielle Magazin, Journal of the Whills and Starburst Magazine, having previously contributed to magazines Star Wars Insider, Geeky Monkey, TV Film Memorabilia, Model and Collectors Mart, partworks Build Darth Vader, Star Wars Encyclopedia, and Build The Millennium Falcon, and websites Jedi.net, Jedi News, StarWars.com, Lightsabre.co.uk, and Wirezone. He is the only podcaster to have appeared on every Celebration podcast stage since it began in 2015 (hosting it four times), and is the co-host of Making Tracks, Canon Fodder and Start Your Engines on Fantha Tracks Radio.

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The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art celebrates the power of visual storytelling. Founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, the museum explores how images move us and shape our collective memory. From Frida Kahlo’s self-portrait to Norman Rockwell’s scenes of everyday life to Charles White’s portraits of dignity. Each invites reflection. Each tells a story.

Designed by Ma Yansong of MAD, the Lucas Museum is located in Exposition Park in the South Los Angeles region. The museum’s campus includes new green space designed by Mia Lehrer and her team at Studio-MLA. Inside the building, our galleries explore timeless themes—family, love, work, play, fantasy, and more. Additional spaces include two state-of-the-art cinematic theaters and dedicated areas for learning, dining, retail, and events.

George Lucas and Mellody Hobson share a conviction that illustrated stories connect people across cultures and generations. Their decades of collecting span iconic American painting and popular illustration, comics, and cinematic art.

Lucas, creator of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, and founder of the George Lucas Educational Foundation began collecting in college, when the only art he could afford was original comic art for $30. Over 50 years, that collection has grown to more than 40,000 works. “I could never sell my art,” Lucas says. “It just is not what I think art is. I think it’s more about an emotional connection with the work, not how much it cost.”

Hobson, in addition to managing Ariel Investments, is the former chair of Starbucks Corporation and serves as a director of JPMorganChase.

In 2010, Hobson and Lucas signed the Giving Pledge, a campaign and public promise by some of the world’s wealthiest philanthropists to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes. The pair is committed to improving education, particularly through the arts. “We’ve always said we’re holding society’s money, which we fully intend to give back,” Hobson says. “This is how we’re doing it.”

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September 22, 2026 12:01 AM - 11:59 PM(GMT-07:00)

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- Advertisement -

The BBC take a look at a recent auction that saw a die-cast Palitoy TIE Bomber sell for ten times its listed price.

A rare and unopened Star Wars toy found in a loft has sold for £2,100, about 10 times its pre-auction estimate.

The Tie Bomber spacecraft had laid undiscovered in its original box, in Leicestershire, for about 40 years.

It belonged to a worker at Coalville’s Palitoy factory, which made Star Wars models and figures in the UK.

The item, which had an estimated price of between £200 and £300, sold at auction in Derbyshire earlier on Thursday.

The model was bought by Ben Watkins, 46, a headhunter from Hampshire, who spent about £5,000 in total at the exhibition.

The collector went for the Tie Bomber due to its “rarity” and felt he got a “bargain” when his £900 bid landed a rare Yak Face figure, which had been expected to sell for much more.