'Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi' Memorabilia Sold For $850K At Auction
Anthony Daniels parted with his iconic C-3PO head from "Star Wars" and made a fortune by auctioning it off.
TMZ reported that the "Star Wars" prop was sold for $843,750 at Propstore Auction's live auction on Tuesday. The lot was described as "a screen-matched light-up C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) head from Richard Marquand's 'Star Wars: Return of the Jedi'" on the auctioneer's website.
The C-3PO head, initially estimated to sell from $500,000 to $1 million, is one of the many items in Daniels' "Star Wars" memorabilia collection.
The "Star Wars" prop, originally designed by legendary concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, is "made of very thin fiberglass to be as close-fitting and lightweight as possible, and it comprised of three major components: a backplate, faceplate (with installed eyes), and a neck-ring which are fixed together with two neck-bolts and the forehead antennae," per Propstore.
Its initial designs were based on the Maria robot from Fritz Lang's 1927 sci-fi film "Metropolis."
Meanwhile, its "photoreceptor" eyes were specially designed with a black material behind the lights to protect Daniels' eyes when they were illuminated. The auctioned C-3PO head retained the eyes' original wiring.
Daniels' golden droid memorabilia was also described as "one of the most significant artifacts from the original 'Star Wars' film to come to market."
The English actor is best known for his role as C-3PO in George Lucas' epic space film, which premiered in 1977.
Aside from playing the role of C-3PO inside a costume, Daniels is reportedly the only actor to be featured in all of the "Star Wars" theatrical releases.
The humanoid robot character's popularity is "a testament to Daniels' fantastic performances," per Propstore Auction.
While the C-3PO head was auctioned alongside other items from the actor's collection, Daniels kept two things in his possession, per The Hollywood Reporter.
He kept a statue from Lucasfilm recognizing his 40 years of service and an 18-inch C-3PO statue made of Lego pieces.
Per THR, the "Star Wars" icon originally planned on leaving his collection to his wife, Christine Savage, for her to sell after his death. However, his wife told him to sell it now because she "doesn't want to deal with this stuff."
