C-3PO from the Star Wars universe is one of the most recognizable movie characters of all time. It should hardly be a surprise that all the well-heeled Star Wars fanatics would be ready to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars if an actual C-3PO movie prop is up for grabs. That’s exactly what happened! Anthony Daniels, the 78-year-old British actor who has portrayed the droid for four decades, recently sold a C-3PO head through the auction house Propstore Auction. The incredibly rare and highly collectible piece of movie memorabilia ended up selling for a whopping $843,750. According to Propstore officials, the head was featured on camera in multiple scenes in the 1983 Star Wars movie Return of the Jedi, which was directed by Richard Marquand and written by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas.
While the identity of the buyer who paid almost a million dollars has not been revealed, Propstore claims the C-3PO head was the only head still in a private collection before it was sold. The head is made out of fiberglass and is composed of three separate parts that interlock. Furthermore, the head of the overly caution protocol droid lights up, which is pretty cool! In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Daniels shared his emotional attachment to the prop and told the reason why he decided to part with his prized possession. “It is not only the prop that I wore, but it was also a prop I would use in interviews to identify myself,” Daniels told the outlet. “You don’t know my face, but you know this face.”
Daniels further added: “I had all this stuff, almost all of it was in cupboards, drawers, and in attics. Nobody was looking at it, nobody was treasuring it, if you will. And it was too good to throw away.” The auction house estimated that the C-3PO head by Propstore would sell anywhere between $500,000 – $1,000,000. Despite selling for almost a million dollars, the head is not the most expensive Star Wars movie prop. Last year, the long-lost Star Wars X-Wing model became the most expensive Star Wars screen-used prop by selling for $3.13 million.
