Magazine


May the force be with collectors' wallets

by Conrad Astley
12/ 5/2005

WONDERING whether anything lying around in the house is worth a few quid? You could be looking in the wrong place if you're polishing the old family silver.

Film and TV memorabilia, gathering dust in the attic for years, can be worth hundreds, if not thousands of pounds. And when it comes to memorabilia, nothing comes close to Star Wars.

Figures collected from the original film in 1977 often hold a special place in their owners' hearts, but can also be worth a lot of money.

And fans who bought models from the recent films may be sitting on more than they realised.

Experts say prices vary depending on levels of interest - but with new film Episode III Revenge Of The Sith coming out next week (Thursday, May 19) interest couldn't be higher.

Valuation events have been held in Burger King take aways across the country this week, encouraging collectors or curious fans to bring in their old figures and organisers say a few hidden treasures have been unearthed.

Five-year-old Jacob Dean, who brought a collection of original figures bought by his granddad during the `70s and passed on to dad Brandon, may not have to worry about university tuition fees. Just one of the many items, a Darth Vader head which fans collected by sending in tokens, was worth up to £1,000.

And a few years ago, organisers came across a woman who bought 20 figures for her grandson in 1977 for 49p each - a £9.98 investment now worth £10,000.

John Hemmelstein, an avid collector from Florida who acted as a valuer, said having the figures in their original packets was a guarantee they would be valuable, but even old figures out of the packaging could be worth something.

The original figures often went for £5 to £10 even in the worst state, but were worth much more in their boxes.

And models of the millennium falcon - Hans Solo's space ship - were worth about £40 in a poor state, but up to £3,000 boxed.

He said few people were aware of the potential value of the models when they were originally in the shops, so it is quite rare to find examples kept in good condition.

Star Wars creator George Lucas famously made a deal with 20th Century Fox when the first film was being made, entitling him to a smaller share of the box office returns, but all of the merchandising rights. The studio thought they were ripping him off, but these merchandising rights brought Lucas his millions - bankrolling his later films.

John said: "The thing is in 1977 there wasn't really such a thing as collectors, so nobody thought they would be worth that much.

"Not many people have the older models in the packaging, and there's a lot of completists out there who want to get everything, so that pushes the demand up."

He added any figures from a model's first run, produced in small numbers before manufacturers made tiny design changes, were guaranteed to be valuable, saying: "It doesn't necessarily have to be that old to go up in price, they could have changed the colour, some of the clothing, or even a typing error.

"It happens all the time. If you get one of the original line they're like gold. Sometimes a brand new figure is worth more than an older figure."

Models of the Jawa figure from the original films, with its vinyl cape - later changed to cloth - were worth up to £2,600. And a character called Snaggletooth is also valuable in its original blue form.

The manufacturers made it the wrong colour, as they were working from a black and white picture sent from the studio, and later made a new version in red.

The character, as part of a set in its original packaging with three other figures, was worth around £400.

Meanwhile, a Luke Skywalker brought out as part of the Power Of The Force series in the mid 90s, before the light sabre was changed, was worth up to £500.

John said the internet had created a huge industry, with old figures changing hands on e-bay, and websites like rebelscum.com set up to value collections.

But despite all the money involved, the figures still held a lot of sentimental value.

He said: "I've got over 2,000 figures, most in their original boxes, and people look at the collection and assume I must spend about £1,000 every month.

"But I'd only ever spend about £100 a month, and even that's quite rare.

"They don't realise I've been collecting them for nearly 30 years now. I can still look at each figure and remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I bought it."


Have your say
 
Have your say Got an opinion you want to share?
Register now and have your comments heard.

Register now


 
Personal Finance
 

Customers with a 'good' credit profile
Company Typical APR
Platinum Exclusive Loan 7.8%
Bank of Scotland (Semi-exclusive) 8.6%
Halifax (Semi-exclusive) 8.6%
Alliance & Leicester 8.7%
Lloyds TSB 8.9%
HASH(0x2b6000984f90)
Provider AER*
ICICI BANK
HiSAVE Savings Account 		5.50%
PRINCIPALITY BS
e-SAVER 		5.35%
ANGLO IRISH BANK
Easy Access Account Issue 2 		5.25%
FIRST DIRECT
Everyday e-Saver 		2.75%
ALLIANCE & LEICESTER
Online Tracker 		4.75%
BRADFORD & BINGLEY
eSavings 6 		4.60%
SAINSBURYS FINANCE
Internet Saver 		4.00%
ALLIANCE & LEICESTER
eSaver - Issue 2 		5.00%
POST OFFICE
Instant Saver 		3.75%
Fees may apply