A March auction sale of Hollywood props and costumes is packed with instantly recognisable items.
Film fans will know these items immediately and are likely to snap them up, despite estimates that price them at 10s and even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Here are our 5 top spots.
1 – C3P0s Head
A major part of this sale is the collection of Anthony Daniels, who inhabited the protocol droid’s suit in Star Wars.
This head is the standout item for Lucas fans and carries an estimate of $500,000 to $1 million. It is screenmatched to its appearance in Return of the Jedi.
The Star Wars series is really coming into its own as a high-value collectors’ series now.
And props are gold dust. Last year a model of an X Wing fighter sold at auction for $3,135,000 from an opening estimate of $400,000.
Don’t be surprised if the price of this item also heads to the stars.
2 – Michael J Fox’s guitar from Back to the Future
Another screenmatched item is this Erlewine Hondo Chiquita Guitar that was played by hero Marty McFly in Back to the Future.
It has a a guide price of $100,000 to $200,000,
Guitars are super collectible at the moment.
Rock ‘n’ roll fans are snapping up star instruments for massive prices.
This unusual instrument has real crossover appeal. It comes from a much-loved and enduring film with musical cachet of its own. Fox’s own personal story adds poignancy. It could easily be underpriced in the estimate.
3 – The 10 Commandments
Props don’t come much more epic than this.
These are the movie tablets of stone on which Charlton Heston carried the Hollywood word of God in the 1956 film The Ten Commandments.
Dating from the blockbusting heights of Hollywood’s Golden Age their estimate of $40,000 to $80,000 perhaps reflects the fact that those days are now fading out of living memory.
These items are iconic, but are they still fashionable and in-demand with collectors?
4 – Pickard’s chair from Star Trek: The Next Generation
From the world of TV comes this stunning prop from one of the most-followed series of all time.
You’ll need at least $50k to get in at the ground floor to bid for your own Starfleet commander’s chair.
Star Trek’s fan base is huge, and has money to spend.
In 2006 a major Star Trek auction was topped by a visual effects model of the Enterprise.
A listed estimate of $25k to $35k was soon vaporised for a final sale price of more than $0.5 million.
5 – Peter Fonda’s Chopper from Easy Rider
Is there any more iconic motor vehicle in Hollywood history than the long, low, laid-back choppers of Easy Rider?
This Panhead by Harley Davidson is Peter Fonda’s Captain America bike.
It carries an estimate of $200,000 to $400,000. Another of the custom-made bikes for the film was reported auctioned for £1.35 million in 2014, so this sale is an interesting comparison.
Its collectible as a machine in its own right. A Fonda signature adds mystique to this shiny piece of Americana.
The 1,700+ lots sale runs online from March 12 to 14. If estimates are hit it should realisee over $8 million, but it’s easy to see that figure being surpassed on this evidence.
