Just six months after selling a rare Star Wars action figure for $34,000, a lucky collector discovered another from 1978 after the company Kenner Toys briefly released a line of Jawa toys with vinyl capes (they were soon replaced with cloth tapes, and one found its way to the collector’s possession).
The Star Wars enthusiast and collector found the first vinyl cape Jawa toy in his attic and attempted to auction it for a little over $12,000; however, it was more valuable and sold for nearly $34,000. The second figure, which is still in its original packaging, will be sold on January 27.
‘Star Wars’ collector gets lucky with rare finds
The collector used to work with Marvel Studios UK as an art director in the ’70s. He got the action figures as gifts from the toy company Palitoy after a photo shoot for the comic. However, he left them in his attic and never saw them till many decades later.
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Filmmaker George Lucas had the idea to ditch the vinyl capes for cloth because he did not like the former, hence the first releases were quickly taken off shelves leading to their rarity. “Collectors, who tend to be adults, I think, start with nostalgia…when you look at it, there’s a certain appreciation for the design of the packaging and the overall aesthetic of the thing,” said the head of the international memorabilia auctioneers, Los Angeles, Brandon Alinger.
Record-price toys
The find impressed Auctioneer Jonathon Torode, who called it one of the holy grails of Star Wars figure collecting. “There’s usually a lot of worldwide interest in these, a lot of the people in the US are starting to wake up to the value of Palitoy Star Wars figures,” he said.
He also explained how adults use toys to “relive their childhood” when they get to a certain point. “There are people who get to a certain age and start to have a disposable income and get all the things they potentially trashed as kids,” he said. “When you consider this is 47 years old, there’s not many of us that get to 47 without any dings and dents.”