The original lightsaber used by Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" was sold at auction for a record $3.75 million (roughly 1.7 billion tenge). This is the highest price ever paid for a piece of Star Wars memorabilia, reports the website infohub.kz.
The weapon appears in one of the saga's most famous scenes — the climactic duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, where Vader cuts off Luke's hand and delivers the iconic line: "No, I am your father."
Heritage Auctions initially estimated the lot at $1–2 million, but the final price vastly exceeded expectations.
The previous record for a Star Wars prop was held by a model X-wing starfighter used in "Star Wars: A New Hope," sold in 2023 for $3.135 million.
According to auction house representatives, the lightsaber is one of the most significant surviving artifacts from the franchise. It was built from a modified Graflex flash gun handle and remains together with the original prop for Luke's severed hand, created by legendary makeup artist Stuart Freeborn, who also worked on the character Yoda.