Back in May, Heritage Auctions sold one of the few rocket-firing Boba Fett prototypes for $525,000, the first time a rocket Fett has passed the half million dollar mark, but their 4th December Action Figures & Toys Platinum Star Wars Signature Auction is looking like it could even surpass that. There’s a hand-painted version of the L-slot rocket-firing Boba Fett owned by rock star and well-known Star Wars collector Rick Springfield, but there’s something even more elusive and fascinating than that up for sale – long-lost and seldom-seen original packaging art for the Kenner action figures, including the watercolour artwork from the 1985 Droids version of Boba Fett.
Star Wars collectors, this is the auction you’ve been looking for.
But the hand-painted bounty hunter is far from the sole treasure in this auction. Indeed, collectors will discover in this event some long-lost, seldom-seen keepsakes from a galaxy far, far away: the original packaging art for Kenner’s adored action figures.
For the first time at auction, Heritage presents some of the original Star Wars action figure package art, most of which features photos from the films airbrushed by hand. One notable exception is the watercolor Star Wars Droids Boba Fett Original Packaging Artwork from 1985, which was tied to the Saturday-morning animated series and later used for two Topps trading-card series and various action-figure reissues.
Star Wars Empire Strikes Back Leia Organa (Bespin Gown) Original Packaging Artwork (Kenner, 1980)….Justin Caravoulias, Consignment Director for Action Figures & Toys at Heritage, says that no one ever thought the packaging artwork had any value – artistic or otherwise. It was just a thing meant to sell another thing. That’s how more than most of the Star Wars action figure packaging artwork wound up thrown away or lost. In the early 1990s, some of the works were discovered, and collectors rushed to rescue them from the dustbin of history. This Boba Fett piece has changed hands only twice since 1991 – and is available publicly for the first time in this auction.
“There’s never been an auction like this, and the fact we have these original works – for Leia, Han Solo, R2-D2 and the lesser-known Ree-Yees and Nikto – is unheard-of,” Caravoulias says. “It’s never been done. And it’s exciting as a collector and student of Star Wars and toys. These are one-of-a-kind pieces that serve as a sort of genesis for these toys; it’s how kids first saw them and why they wanted them. And it’s a privilege to present them – to hold them in my hands! – and to share them with others who’ve never seen them until now.”
Incredible items, so be sure to stay tuned for the results of the auction right here on the site.
