Lightersabers, Superman's Cape, and Mjolnir At Auction

BY MATT TUCK

Have you ever wanted to own a lightsaber actually used in Star Wars? How about Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth or have Mjolnir jump straight from the film to your living room? There is a massive auction happening now that can make your dreams come true...for a substantial price.

Heritage Auctions is hosting a major screen-used props sale that will have your inner nerd (or outer nerd if you’re like me) ecstatic. There are so many one-of-a-kind items in the listing, and most of them hit home for science-fiction and superhero fans.

If you haven’t heard of Heritage Auctions, you are missing out. The high-end auction site boasts some of the most unique collectibles and artifacts from virtually every spectrum of life. You can find anything from the holiest of comic book grails and video games to the rarest of baseball cards. It doesn’t stop there; you can buy historical artifacts and even Elton John’s Grand Piano that he used in concerts from 1974-1993. 

A couple of my particular favorite items up for grabs are two screen-worn lightsabers. The first is a stunt prop of Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber from 1983’s Return of the Jedi. Along with Luke’s laser sword, Darth Maul fans will want to watch the bidding for his double-bladed lightsaber. This particular version was made with exceptional details for close-ups in The Phantom Menace. Want it? The bidding starts at the low price of just $50k, and Luke’s prop stands at $15k in case you want to own them both.

Maybe Star Wars isn’t your thing. Heritage has you covered because the auction also features a rare type-two phaser from the original series. With that rarity comes high prices, and the opening bid for the phaser is $100,000. That’s not all, Trekies, because you can also find communicators and “cage” lasers from the show as well. The real treat may be the used prosthetic Spock ears that were worn by Leonard Nimoy himself.

On the superhero side of things, there are props for both the Marvel and DC fans. One of the more interesting items is a Batman cowl worn by Christian Bale in Batman Begins. For the Wonder Woman fans, Heritage is offering a prop Lasso of Truth as well as one of Dianna’s swords from the 2017 film. There’s also Henry Cavill’s iconic cape from Man of Steel up for sale.

On the MCU side of things, you can own an Iron Man helmet that was used on the set of Iron Man 3. Maybe you’d rather have a Mjolnir stunt prop that Chris Hemsworth wielded in the making of Thor: the Dark World. It will pair well with a red cape the actor sported in the first Thor film. X-Men fans won’t be left out. With all the Hugh Jackman talk about reprising his role as Wolverine, his claws from X-Men Origins: Wolverine should command a respectable price.

Perhaps the most unique and treasured item is a Dorothy costume worn by Judy Garland during the filming of The Wizard of Oz. 

For the movie buff in all of us, paging through the listings is a treasure trove of nostalgia. There are many more unique items up for grabs, and this is only a sampling.

Of course, when I say unique, that implies expensive - very expensive. All these amazing items for sale on Heritage regularly set records, and it is not uncommon to see seven-figure sales. Just last month, Heritage auctioned at Detective Comics #27 for over $1 million. Alas, few of us will ever hold such a treasure, but it is fun to window shop all the same.

Matt Tuck is the author of the novel, Lost Bones of the Dead. He is a professional writer, avid comic collector, former teacher, and an international man of mystery. You can follow him on his Facebook page, The Comic Blog.