A Star Wars model less than 4-inches high, depicting Alec Guinness’s Obi-Wan Kenobi could realise £30,000 at auction in Stockton-on-Tees in the UK later this month.
The figure, made by the most famous Star Wars manufacturers Kenner, is a pre-production model with features that were ditched before mass production.
That makes it incredibly desirable to collectors and very scarce.
Vectis Auctions, who are handling the sale, say they believe it is a one-in-three rarity.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the most significant figures in the Star Wars universe. Image courtesy of Vectis Auctions.
Vectis Star Wars specialist, Peter Davis, told the Sun: “This is a pre-production engineering pilot, which gives it an extreme level of rarity as we know of only three of them in existence.
“They should have a blue lightsaber but because they were messing around to see if the production process would work they rustled up a yellow lightsaber.
“The original figures came with a double telescoping lightsaber but they quickly realised this was a faff so they went with one piece of plastic.”
It goes into the sale with a £25,000 to £30,000 estimate. It is graded as “near mint” in condition, with a score of 80 on a 100-point scale.
In comparison, a completed, released figure, in its original packaging is for sale in the same auction with a £300 top estimate.
Obi-Wan Kenobi was played by British actor Alec Guinness in the first Star Wars film, originally called Star Wars and subsequently renamed Episode IV — A New Hope.
The character has subsequently been portrayed by Ewan McGregor.
The Star Wars franchise, originally filmed as a trilogy, now takes in nine main-series films, two other movies, a number of streaming and TV animated and live-action series, games, and a huge constellation of related merchandise.
Some of that merchandise is extremely desirable.
The most valuable Star Wars items have been original props from the movies.
In 2023, a model of an X-Wing fighter used in filming was auctioned for $3.1 million. A Y-Wing was auctioned last year for $1.5 million.
The most valuable Star Wars toy is the legendary “rocket-firing” Boba Fett figure.
These prototypes were abandoned before release when the rockets were identified as a choking hazard. Most were destroyed, with Kenner workers picking up the few that survived.
Last year, one was auctioned for $1.342 million (£1.04 million).
This Obi-Wan Kenobi figure also came from a Kenner employee, who sold it to a collector.
With the right bidders, it could easily exceed its estimate. A packaged version of this figure has previously sold for $76,000.
