A rare Palitoy Leia Organa action figure on a transitional card back, released to celebrate Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, has sold for auction for more than £9,000 at auction.
Expert Nick Dykes said the Princess Leia Organa toy was possibly among “four or five” still in existence, which features an original picture card from its first release.
When the figure went on sale at Vectis Auctions house, Stockton-on-Tees, on Tues (Nov 30), it was snapped up by an unnamed collector based in Wales for £9,375.
The auction house said the original owner – also not named – was given the toy when she was a child.
Mr Dykes said the Princess Leia figure was originally created by toy manufacture Palitoy as part of their Empire Strikes Back range, which was distributed in 1980 to coincide with the famous film.
The reason why this particular figure demanded such a high price was that it only had half of its original backing card, featuring a picture of Princess Leia.
Known as a “transitional card”, Mr Dykes said this version did not remain on shelves for very long before it was replaced by a full-length picture of Princess Leia, making it exceptionally rare.
He said: “We think there are only a handful of the transitional card in the world, maybe four or five.
