Rare 'Star Wars' Toys Fetch $505,000 At Sotheby's; Rick Springfield An Avid Collector?
A rare collection of "Star Wars" memorabilia was sold last week, for a whopping $505,202 at auction house Sotheby's New York, according to CNN.
Japanese designer NIGO, real name Tomoaki Nagao, is the name behind luxury clothing brands "A Bathing Ape" and "Billionaire Boys Club."
Nagao set up an auction Friday, entitled "Return of the NIGO," selling a small fraction of his memorabilia collection. Everything from faulty toys, cookie jars and light sabers went under the hammer and all 600 items sold for a little over $500,000.
A multipack of seven "The Empire Strikes Back" figures was the most valuable item, which sold for a cool $32,500, revealed Uproxx.
The pack was exclusively sold by Sears Canada and it features Lando Calrissisan, Luke Skywalker and Boba Fett, going over three times the estimate.
Another item that sold big was a 1977 glorified cardboard box. The store display, "Early Bird Certificate Package" sold for $20,000 because only five of these exist.
An early version of a Luke Skywalker toy sold for $20,000 even if it had a faulty lightsaber, the reason why the toy was recalled by Kenner. The one sold in New York is only one of 20 left in the world.
Other expensive items included a $7,250 Yak Face figure, which was barely an extra on the movie and a "Power of the Force" coin set which sold for $27,500.
NIGO's "Star Wars" collection is on "Jessie's Girl' rocker, Rick Springfield's level.
Springfield is also an avid "Star Wars" toy collector but says he won't be selling his toys, which includes a rare "21-Back Bobba Fett."
"I actually like the toys more than I like the movies," Springfield told Rolling Stone, while showing his collection. "They're cheesy figures! They're badly painted, badly made. The only cool thing is the great artwork."
The rocker added that he refuses to take the toys out of their packaging.
