Star Wars fans are known for being obsessive about memorabilia, the quality of said memorabilia, where and how it was used, and how much it's worth.

In fact, an entire industry sprung up that catered to them and, yesterday, they had one of their biggest auctions yet. Profiles In History, a well-known auction house in California, sold off a huge swathe of screen-used props - that means the actual prop used in the film - from the original Star Wars trilogy.

The jewel in the auction, however, was a 42-inch R2D2 unit that was operated by Kenny Baker in all three of the Star Wars movies - which eventually sold for a whoppinig $2.76 million to an undisclosed buyer. Also up for sale at the auction was Luke Skywalker's lightsaber from Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader's helmet and armour and a number of props and miniatures from the film series.

Keep in mind, the Cowardly Lion costume from Wizard Of Oz sold for $805,000, the hat - just the hat, mind - for the Wicked Witch Of The East sold for $230,000 and the diamond dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes sold for only $356,500 - so $2.76 million is a huge sum of money anyway, especially for movie props.

 

Via THR