A hyper rare Star Wars prop is expected to realise as much as $3 million at auction this summer.
The gun, one of only two to ever come to sale, will be sold by Studio Auctions from May 10 online with a closing live sale on June 28.
Solo, played by Harrison Ford in five of the Star Wars movie cycle, used this blaster in the first Star Wars film released in 1977 and subsequently renamed Episode IV – A New Hope.
It was designed by Roger Christian, who was asked to take his inspiration for Solo, a smuggler, from classic Hollywood westerns.
Roger Christian in 2011. He’s the man who created the light saber and also designed this western-inspired gun. Image By Piotr Drabik, CC BY 2.0.
This is said to be the only such weapon to have survived filming.
Star Wars is perhaps the most valuable movie property for collectors.
Action figures and memorabilia from the sequence can be hugely valuable, with the most expensive ever (a prototype of a withdrawn toy) making over £1 million last year.
Props are even more valuable.
An X-Wing fighter was sold for over $3 million in 2024.
That too came from The New Hope.
Solo is an iconic character and this piece is an integral part of his look. Its rarity and excellent provenance further boost its collectibility and value.
A Solo blaster from The Return of the Jedi (the third film made in the sequence) sold for over $500,000 in 2018. In 2022, a New Hope blaster reportedly doubled its estimate to hammer down for over $1 million.
Elsewhere in the sale, an R2-D2 model is predicted to make over $150,000, though it never made it to film, appearing only in a Disney theme park exhibit.
One of the first screen supermen, George Reeves, squeezed into costume in the 1950s, and his outfit from Adventures of Superman is expected to make $200,000.
Almost everything to do with superheroes can be collectible and valuable, and the most valuable comic book of all time is Actio Comics #1 in which Superman made his debut. A copy sold for more than $6 million last year.
The sale is online from May 10 at studio auctions.
