This is Darth Vaders screen-matched hero lightsaber from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, heading to auction in the Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction in Los Angeles in September, 2025 which is, in the words of Propstore COO Brandon Alinger. “a grail-level piece, worthy of the finest collections in the world.” Expected to go under the hammer (not literally) for $3 million, this is an incredible and ultra rare piece to go to auction.
Estimate: $1,000,000 – $3,000,000
The primary hero dueling lightsaber prop used by Darth Vader for duel scenes with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in the final acts of both The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983).
The prop is made from a British press camera flash handle. It was converted to a lightsaber prop with the addition of dressing components such as plastic grips, small electrical wires and a circuit board with magnifying bubbles from a calculator.
The prop photo matches to production stills from The Empire Strikes Back and screen matches to Return of the Jedi based on specific damage to the body. The prop has been in a private collection for decades, and largely unseen outside of the films themselves. It is coming to light and being made available at auction for the first time.
Genuine lightsaber props from the original trilogy are incredibly rare. This is believed to be the only hero lightsaber prop with verifiable screen-use to ever be offered at public auction. It is one of the rarest and most sought after “grail” Star Wars props in existence.
