Luke Skywalker's severed hand and lightsaber prop sold for $3.75M

The lightsaber that Mark Hamill held and lost, along with the hand holding it, to the central reactor shaft of Bespin's Cloud City in "The Empire Strikes Back," which canonically was preserved in a cloning tank by Emperor Palpatine, or whatever, sold for $3.75m at Heritage Auctions' Hollywood & Entertainment Signature Auction last week. The total, including a 25% buyer's premium, is $4,69m. Heritage says it is the highest price ever paid for a prop from a Star Wars film.

As the original film approaches its 50th anniversary, interest in the Star Wars prop and memorabilia market remains white hot, with record prices achieved across nearly every major collecting category. In 2023, Heritage Auctions set the world record for a screen-matched and used Star Wars prop when the "Red Leader" (Red One) X-wing Starfighter filming miniature sold for $3,135,000. In 2025, Darth Vader's lightsaber from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi realized $3.6 million, only to be surpassed later that same year by Tom Jung's original artwork for the half-sheet key poster painting – the first widely published promotional artwork for Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope – which sold for $3.875 million.

Original trilogy Star Wars lightsabers occupy the absolute pinnacle of entertainment memorabilia, with screen-used examples tied to specific and pivotal on-screen moments remaining extraordinarily rare. Unlike generic background components or unidentified production material, this is the actual Luke Skywalker lightsaber associated with one of the most important sequences in cinematic history – the moment Darth Vader severs Luke's hand and forever alters the destiny of the Star Wars saga.

The hilt is a modified 3-cell Graflex camera flash unit with a Kobold flash attachment at the base, black plastic "T-track" grips and a faux clamp box, measuring about 10 inches. It comes attached to the practical-effects rig built by the late Stuart Freeborn's makeup department for the moment Darth Vader chops off Luke's hand. This called for a resin wrist hidden under Hamill's sleeve, a spring-loaded trigger, and a resin hand cast from Hamill's own. The saber ultimately came directly from Freeborn (who also made the original Yoda).

The Associated Press reports the saber led a sale of other Hollywood memorability: Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch of the West hat from "The Wizard of Oz" brought $550,000 and Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka top hat fetched $350,000. The rug from "The Big Lebowski," which really tied the room together, went for $350,000. All bids and sales anon.

Last year, Darth Vader's dueling lightsaber sold for $3,654,000 at Propstore in Los Angeles, reported then as a record. For $4m I would expect a real light saber at the very least.

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (TCF, 1980), Mark Hamill "Luke Skywalker" Screen-Used Lightsaber with Severed Hand Effects Rig [Heritage Auctions]