Yesterday, more than 600 Star Wars items went under the hammer at Vectis Auctions in Stockton-on-Tees, including action figures and life-size helmets, raising over £177,000 from one collection, sold to pay for the seller’s upcoming wedding.
Joanne McDonald, from the auction house, said it was “a brilliant day” for “vintage toy markets”.
Pre-sale estimates had put Tuesday’s collection at fetching between £94,000 and £120,000.
A rare vinyl-caped Jawa figurine attracted the highest bid, selling at £9,180 after fees.
More than 1,000 potential buyers took part in the bidding process, with some 10,000 people watching the online sale at any one time, the auction house said.
Ms McDonald, Vectis’ catalogue department manager, called it “a brilliant auction day due to the amount of international interest in the Star Wars collections”.
She added: “We knew it would be a busy sale but we didn’t expect it to be that good, it was beyond our expectations.”
Vectis said it had three different terminals running at the same time, one for UK buyers, one for US and Canadian buyers, and the third for the rest of the world.
A Meccano Luke Skywalker model was estimated to fetch £2,000 but sold for £7,595, and other big sellers included a Meccano Boba Fett at £8,330.
Ms McDonald added: “There was a mixture of model items, and a lot of the items will be going abroad to international buyers, particularly to Americans.
“What we saw is a really positive sign for the future of Star Wars collectables and younger collectors.”
