Star Wars memorabilia auction 'out of this world'

An enormous and "rare" collection of Star Wars memorabilia, from one careful owner, is going under the hammer.

Hundreds of boxed figures and collectables from the sci-fi franchise will be auctioned off at Willingham, near Cambridge, on Saturday.

They include a rare 1978 radio-controlled Jawa Sandcrawler, in its original box, which could fetch £1,000.

Auctioneer Stephen Drake said: "It's a very special collection - out of this world, one would say."

The collection has been divided into separate lots, each containing dozens of mint condition boxed figures.

Many of the individual lots are estimated to fetch up to £300 at a time - with the entire collection valued at tens of thousands of pounds, according to the auction website.

Mr Drake said the pieces dated from 1978 onwards, depicting each of the nine movies in the franchise and all from "one person's collection".

"The value is in its thousands," he said.

"You're talking quite a few thousand figures in amongst the whole lot. Some of the early pieces - the Star Wars 17 figures - they're rare."

The collection ranges from figurines of the popular characters like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and Princess Leia, to more obscure fighters and droids - as well as weapons, fan club magazines and posters.

Mr Drake said the auction has piqued a lot of interest on social media.

"The Jawa could be upwards of £1,000, but it's an auction, that's the exciting thing, so we'll see," he said.

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