Darth Vader's 'Empire Strikes Back' Lightsaber to be Auctioned
The iconic prop, wielded during a pivotal scene, is expected to fetch over $1 million.
Darth Vader's crimson lightsaber prop from the 1980 film "The Empire Strikes Back" is set to be auctioned at Heritage Auctions in New York City next month, with an expected sale price exceeding $1 million. This artifact was central to the film's climax, where Darth Vader used it to sever Luke Skywalker's hand before revealing his paternal relationship to Skywalker.
![Darth Vader confronts Luke Skywalker in the iconic climax of "The Empire Strikes Back."]( "Darth Vader confronts Luke Skywalker in the iconic climax of "The Empire Strikes Back."")
The auction comes months after a prop depicting Luke Skywalker's severed hand and his blue lightsaber sold for $3.75 million in July, setting a record for a "Star Wars" prop. The Vader lightsaber, also used in "Return of the Jedi," is predicted by the auction house to surpass the $1 million mark when bidding concludes on November 12.
This is not the first time this particular lightsaber has been offered at auction. In 2025, it sold for $3.6 million at the Propstore in Los Angeles, a record at the time that was later surpassed by the Skywalker saber.
Heritage Auctions described the prop as an "extraordinary surviving artifact of two of the most consequential confrontations in motion picture history." The auction event will feature more than two dozen lightsaber props from "Star Wars" Episodes I through IX and their spinoffs.
Other notable items available include the Yoda hand puppet used by Frank Oz in "The Empire Strikes Back," a signed third-draft screenplay for the original 1977 "Star Wars" by C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels, a TIE Fighter pilot helmet from "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," and Boba Fett's EE-3 carbine blaster from "The Empire Strikes Back," estimated to sell for over $100,000.