A rare Star Wars action figure showing Ben – Obi-Wan – Kenobi has set a record for its type of over $100,000.
The figure was sold at Hake’s Auctions on January 22 and realised $105,182 in a $1.45 million sale of the Jeff Jacob collection.
The figure is rare because it was withdrawn after initial sales had gone ahead.
A “double telescoping” lightsaber was quickly replaced with a single-bladed weapon by manufacturers Kenner.
They cut production costs and simplified the manufacturing process. And, as some figures of Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, and Darth Vader wielding the two-part blade were released they created one of the great rarities of Star Wars collecting.
This piece was sold as “the most important Star Wars production piece to ever hit the auction block”.
Preserved in its original packaging, the figure is in wonderful condition. Image courtesy of Hake’s.
The most valuable Star Wars figures didn’t make it onto toy-store shelves.
The rarest of all is a Boba Fett figure, whose rocket-launching weapon was a choke hazard.
With just a few examples surviving their intended destruction, the figure has sold for $1.34 million, and has a base price of around $200,000.
Crucially, the Kenobi figure sold last week was in excellent condition, scoring an AFA 85-point rating on a 100-point scale. It was also in its original packaging.
Jeff Jacob is a construction worker from Denver and assembled his hugely valuable collection for the love of the popular sci-fi franchise.
He’s sold the figures, which included some of the rarest in Star Wars history, to finance a new home.
Hake’s Kelly McClain said: “This was the most significant and important Star Wars and action figure collection to come to auction.”
It’s also one that many collectors will recognise and dream of matching in their own areas of interest.
This is the just the first part of the Jeff Jacob collection to sell. In total, there are more than 3,000 figures in a collection that took more than 30 years to assemble and that takes in a number of other movie and TV franchises.
The complete collection is expected to raise several million dollars.
In the UK, another Obi Wan figure – a pre-production model – went on sale last week with a top estimated price of £30,000.
