It's no secret that Star Wars is one of the most popular film franchises of all time. George Lucas' space opera has spanned decades and generations of moviegoers, allowing the property to accrue a mass of fans since A New Hope arrived in 1977. And since the galaxy far, far away means so much to moviegoers, they're willing to shell out top dollar to take home props from the movies-- especially the original trilogy.
That's exactly what happened when an L.A. auction recently put up Luke Skywalker's blue lightsaber, which was reportedly used by the protagonist in A New Hope. The auction claimed it was one of five props designed by Roger Christian, although Mark Hamill wasn't sure about it's authenticity. And after warning fans against shelling out 20k for a prop that might be fake, the item has officially been removed from the auction.
When news of the lightsaber's removal from the auction became public, one of Mark Hamill's many Twitter fans if he was home laughing about the situation. While responding, Hamill was sure to take a jab at himself too, saying:
While seemingly reacting to news of the blue lightsaber's fate, Mark Hamill also revealed something that will shock most Star Wars fans out there: he doesn't even have a lightsaber at home. So while countless kids have taken up a toy saber and pretended to be Luke, it turns out that the man himself doesn't have the Jedi's legendary weapon on hand.
The lightsaber in question was going up for a whopping $200,000, so its authenticity is rather important. After all, who wants to shell out all that money for a fake? Mark Hamill was sure to warn the fandom about this possibility, and now it seems that the auction in question has taken his concerns seriously.
In fact, Profiles in History, the auction which was originally set to sell off the questionable lightsaber, has even released a statement about the lightsaber (via The Guardian). It reads:
In light of conflicting information regarding the origin of Roger Christian's lightsaber, Profiles in History has decided to withdraw the piece from this auction until Mr Christian can clear up the inconsistencies that have been brought to our attention.
It looks like the origin of the blue lightsaber is up for question-- especially who created it, and if it was truly used by Mark Hamill in A New Hope. The Star Wars actor has maintained that he's used a ton of lightsaber throughout the years, so it's tricky to nail down which one was used during the first film in the franchise. And now it seems the authenticity of the prop is going to be verified before it's sold at such a high cost.
Mark Hamill will return to the Star Wars franchise when J.J. Abrams' Episode IX arrives in theaters on December 20th, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your trips to the movies in the New Year.
