Springtime and early summer was a busy period in Japan for Star Wars with a string of events taking place for May the 4th and building hype for the release of ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu‘ movie. Just as I thought things had gone a little quiet a few pop-up stores appeared in Shinagawa and Shibuya along with an exhibit displaying some very rare and expensive screen-used movie props.

As nice and wonderful as it is to see all things relating to the sci-fi saga, not much gets better than seeing authentic costumes, lightsabers, helmets, blasters and so on. That was all made possible by Heritage Auctions Japan when an exhibit opened on September 18th.  Naturally I was there to see it all in Harajuku on the first day and I was quite surprised how close you can get to the items.

Taking place in a cool glass-paneled building on some of the fashionable little backstreets of Harajuku, the word auction had me a bit confused and I was half expecting to see rich collectors bidding on the items but it was basically a temporary museum showcasing what will eventually go under the hammer.

Full-size Vader and stormtrooper costumes are on display alongside a range of lightsabers from various movies in the saga. They’re not the most photogenic of items, particularly when in glass cases with so many reflections coming off them. Lightsabers on show include those used by Anakin Skywalker, Count Dooku, Darth Maul, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jin, Rey and Kylo Ren with the prices ranging from $50,000 to $150,000. The most valuable one by far though is Darth Vader’s from the early 1980s films. A cool $3.5 million should be enough to win it in the auction!

Before that the first things to catch the eye on entering the building were the life-size Yoda and Artoo droid unit (it’s R2-S8 and not R2-D2!) from ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story‘ (2018) with the latter one being signed by Kenny Baker. Its estimated value is around $120,000.

Seeing the actual screen-used hands of Yoda and C-3P0 was an awesome sight.

Multiple stormtrooper helmets were showcased such as the one Finn wore as FN-2187 in Episode VII.

An X-Wing pilot helmet was of particular interest to me as I have worn a far simpler and much, much cheaper one when cosplaying.

There were also the Poe Dameron and First Order Stormtrooper blasters from ‘The Force Awakens‘ (2015) with the auction valuing them at approximately $20,000 each.

It’s not just the Star Wars movies as there are a few gems from TV series like ‘The Mandalorian‘ and ‘The Book of Boba Fett‘ such as Din Djarin’s hand,

With such a fox-related name, it’s perhaps no surprise that I was excited to see Fennec Shand’s helmet and blaster.

On the second floor is mostly stuff from ‘The Walking Dead‘ (never seen it!) and Pokemon (no interest!) but there were a few vintage Star Wars figures and toys.

Also present were some extremely rare Star Wars trading cards.

This limited-time display of exclusive screen-used items is essential viewing for any Star Wars fan but just don’t set your heart on owning any of it unless you have very deep pockets!

• Heritage Auctions Japan is at 6-13-3 Jingumae, Shibuya. It is open till October 27th.

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