Darth Vader's Lightsaber Sells for $4.875 Million at Auction

A lightsaber used by Darth Vader on screen has sold for $4.875 million. Heritage Auctions said the sale set a world auction record for any Star Wars prop used on screen, The Guardian reported on 13 November 2026.

The weapon was used in the "I am your father" scene in The Empire Strikes Back, the 1980 film in which Vader tells Luke Skywalker that he is Luke's father. Heritage had estimated it would sell for more than $1 million. The final price was almost five times that.

The lightsaber was one of 27 lightsaber props offered in the sale, which Heritage called "the Ultimate Star Wars auction". Other lightsabers in the lots were used by Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi and by Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith.

The sale also included other pieces from the films. There was a blaster used by Boba Fett and a Yoda puppet hand from the character's first appearance in The Empire Strikes Back. Heritage had already made a big sale this year. In July, it sold Luke Skywalker's lightsaber and severed hand from The Empire Strikes Back for $3.75 million.

A prop is an object made for a film, such as a sword, a helmet or a gadget, that actors use on set. Most props go into studio storage or get lost over the decades. Those that survive can be sold by auction houses, which often sell to private collectors. Heritage handles many of these sales, and Brian Chanes is its senior director of Hollywood and entertainment.

For anyone who grew up with these films, the sale puts a price on a single object from a scene many people still quote. The record now sits with the Vader lightsaber, above the July sale of Luke's weapon.

The $4.875 million is the price the lightsaber fetched on the day.