DALLAS — We’ve got a good feeling about an upcoming auction celebrating the 45th anniversary of the film that started the most successful sci-fi film franchise of all time.
Collectors and “Star Wars” fans will have the rare opportunity to bid on items actually used in “Stars Wars: Episode IV: The New Hope.”
Heritage Auctions is auctioning off a screen-matched stormtrooper helmet and screen-used E-11 blaster shared within the film by stormtroopers, and the characters of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia.
The helmet is one of the six original stormtrooper helmets completed in time for filming “Star Wars” in the Tunisian desert in 1976. The so-called “sandtrooper” helmets have unique hand-painted detailing that’s slightly different from stormtrooper helmets completed later on during production of the film.
Screen Matched Original Stormtrooper/Sandtrooper Helmet from “Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope,” Heritage Auctions 
Stormtrooper Screen Used Hero E-11 Blaster from “Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope,” Heritage Auctions 
Stormtrooper Screen Used Hero E-11 Blaster from “Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope,” Heritage Auctions 
Screen shot from “Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope,” Lucasfilm Ltd. 
Obi-Wan Kenobi Hero Lightsaber Hilt from “Star Wars Episode 3 -Revenge Of The Sith,” Heritage Auctions 
Obi-Wan Kenobi Hero Lightsaber Hilt from “Star Wars Episode 3 -Revenge Of The Sith,” Heritage Auctions 
Obi-Wan Kenobi Hero Lightsaber Hilt from “Star Wars Episode 3 -Revenge Of The Sith,” Heritage Auctions
“Finding screen-matched props from ‘Star Wars’ is virtually unheard of,” said Joe Maddalena, the executive vice president at Heritage Auctions. “…There is something particularly magical about the helmet and blaster. These recognizable, revered items were made for a movie that was turned down by studios before 20th Century Fox OK’d a franchise that continues to thrive in the 21st century.”
According to the auction house, the helmet up for grabs was worn by a Stormtrooper who spoke to the bartender at Mos Eisley after Obi-Wan Kenobi cut off an opponent’s arm. It also was used by the Stormtrooper who said, “Stop that ship! Blast ’em!” before meeting his demise at the hands of Han Solo.
The screen-used hero E-11 blaster was used by various characters during the Mos Eisley spaceport shootout, as well as the trash compactor scene, and other sequences on the Death Star and Tattooine .
Some lightsabers will also be up for auction, including the lightsaber hilt used by Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Revenge of the Sith.”
The opening bid on the helmet will be $300,000 and $12,000 for the blaster.
The auction will be from July 22 to July 23 and will feature non-“Star Wars” items like the Batman suit (nipples and all) worn by George Clooney in “Batman & Robin.”
