R2-D2 unit from the Star Wars movies auctioned off for $2.75 million
By Elaine Tveit
In an auction by Profiles of History, an R2-D2 unit made of parts used in the original and the prequel Star Wars trilogies sold for $2.75 million.
Most Star Wars fans would love to have an original prop from any of the eight films. Unfortunately for the majority of us, obtaining such a prop — especially an iconic one like an R2-D2 unit — requires, in the words of Dexter Jettser, big pocketbooks.
Per CNN, the Profiles in History auction house recently sold an R2-D2 unit compiled of parts used in the original and prequel Star Wars trilogies for a whopping $2.75 million. The droid was part of Hollywood Auction 89 which included other iconic cinema props like Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber from A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back; celebrity costumes; and the front doors to Rick’s Cafe Americain from the 1942 film Casablanca.
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According to CNN, Luke’s lightsaber sold for $325,000. The R2 unit, on the other hand, was the biggest sale of the auction, which took place June 26-28.
The auctioned-off R2-D2 unit was built out of parts used in the original trilogy, The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. The droid’s dome, for example, was taken from a unit used in the first Star Wars movie, A New Hope, in 1977. According to Profiles in History, R2-D2 droids were upgraded from film to film, leaving old parts to be archived. This discarding of old parts enabled the construction of a droid representative of 25 years of Star Wars history.
Unsurprisingly, Profiles in History’s R2-D2 has no working parts. It can’t serve you drinks or beep at you plaintively. It does, however, make a great conversation piece. And, of course, it is worth quite a tidy sum of money.