Super rare Star Wars Boba Fett figure sets record after selling for over $1.3 million
A Star Wars superfan has spent more than $1.3 million on a rare Boba Fett action figure.
The 1979 Kenner Star Wars Rocket-Firing Boba Fett was sold by Goldin Auctions (USA) for a jaw-dropping $1,342,000 (£1,036,887), making it the most expensive Star Wars action figure sold at auction.
The packaged action figure shows the character in his Mandalorian armour and comes complete with his weapon.
Ken Goldin from Goldin Auctions said of the item: “What I am holding is one of the most important action figures in the entire hobby.”
He added: “Boba Fett is easily one of the most popular, if not mysterious, characters to ever appear in the Star Wars universe.”
He says that only 30 of these prototypes were ever made but that they were never mass-released due to safety concerns for kids.
Of course, that would make them extremely rare anyway, but it’s believed that only three of them exist today.
And the specimen being sold was the highest-graded among the three.
Ken added: “Owning this figure means possessing one of the most sought-after and valuable items from the original Star Wars toy line.”
Read about more record-breaking pieces of pop culture in our Arts and Entertainment section.
Boba Fett has been played by a number of actors over the years, most recently by Temuera Morrison in The Mandalorian TV series as well as spin-off The Book of Boba Fett.
Before this figure was sold, the record belonged to a Kenner Palitoy Star Wars Return of the Jedi Bib Fortuna Prototype Resin Master Tooling Aid vintage figure, which sold for £36,000 ($46,539.80; €41,683.70), including premium.
That figure was auctioned by Vectis in Stockton-on-Tees, Durham, UK.
The record-breaking Boba Fett sold by Goldin Auctions
Many other auction records have been set by pieces of Star Wars memorabilia.
The record for most expensive Star Wars memorabilia (off-screen item) was set by a piece of poster artwork created by illustrator Tom Jung (USA) in 1977. The half-sheet poster was used as the key art for the original release of Episode IV: A New Hope, appearing in print adverts, posters and flyers produced throughout May and June 1977.
It was sold for $3.875 m (£2.9 m) by Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, USA.
The most expensive prop gun sold at auction was a BlasTech DL-44 Heavy Blaster, made for the character of Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy.
The gun, the only survivor of the three originals made for A New Hope in 1976, sold for $1,057,500 (£904,342) at Rock Island Auctions in Illinois, USA.
All images: Goldin Auctions