When Star Wars creator George Lucas set out to build a galaxy far, far away, he didn’t just look to the stars; he raided hardware stores, junkyards, and bathroom drawers. That scrappy, DIY spirit has become part of the franchise’s DNA. While the story might be classed as “high-tech space opera,” the props are often shockingly low-budget, not to mention incredibly inventive.
Lucas’s unwavering belief in practical, physical effects laid the groundwork for this hands-on approach. This philosophy continues to shape the saga’s look and legacy today. From potatoes standing in for asteroids to ice cream makers turned into ancient galactic relics, here are some of the weirdest, most brilliant things Star Wars used as props.
1. A ladies’ razor turned Rebel tech
One of the most surprising prop hacks came in The Phantom Menace, when Qui-Gon Jinn’s sleek communicator turned out to be… a Gillette ladies' razor. Specifically, it was a Sensor Excel, with its pastel plastic body lightly altered for its close-up with Liam Neeson’s rakish Jedi Master. The prop team took the pastel razor, cast it in resin, added a few details — like soldered “antennae” — and voila.
It’s a perfect example of the Star Wars design team’s uncanny ability to turn the mundane into movie magic, and proof that even the most advanced Force-user needs a solid grooming routine.
2. Ice cream maker as galactic vault
In The Empire Strikes Back, there’s a super short scene during the evacuation of Cloud City where a man clutches what appears to be a portable ice cream maker as he runs for his life. That man is now known as “Willrow Hood” in the fandom, and his kitchen appliance has become iconic.
Lucasfilm later leaned into fans’ collective amusement. The prop was canonized as a “Camtono,” a personal vault for storing valuables, and reappeared in The Mandalorian. Some have also speculated that the Disney Wish ship’s infamous $5,000 Kaiburr Crystal cocktail is also based on Hood’s ice cream maker.
3. Potatoes in space
Ever wondered how they created the asteroid field in The Empire Strikes Back? In Empire of Dreams, special effects legend Dennis Muren admitted that many of those asteroids... were just painted potatoes.
These humble spuds were tossed in front of a blue screen, filmed with motion blur, and composited into space. One rogue potato even made it into the final shot with the Millennium Falcon because nothing says galactic peril like flying produce. It almost makes you wonder if potato-loving Gonzo (you know, the blue alien from The Muppets) has a long-lost cousin working in the Lucasfilm model shop.
If you're thinking this makes the Falcon’s iconic escape less thrilling, never tell me the odds.
4. Kitbashing from model car kits
Ever notice how many Star Wars vehicles look simultaneously futuristic and like they were cobbled together in a junkyard? It’s no coincidence. Star Wars’ iconic ships and vehicles were built using kitbashing, the art of combining model parts to create something new. As late designer Colin Cantwell once recounted in The Autopian, he swiped parts from model tanks, dragsters, and airplanes to craft the X‑Wing, the Rebel fleet, and even Darth Vader's chest plate.
Lucas loved this gritty, DIY aesthetic, grounding sci-fi in real-world detail. Cantwell’s approach, using tank hulls and parts from various kits, became a foundational look that informed Ralph McQuarrie’s legendary concept art.
5. Aunt Beru’s kitchen brought to you by Tupperware
Tatooine might be a dust bowl in the middle of nowhere, but that doesn’t mean Aunt Beru wasn’t ahead of her time in kitchen aesthetics. For A New Hope, the set design team outfitted her home with something surprisingly familiar, off-the-shelf Tupperware.
According to an MSN roundup, the team loved the sleek, ergonomic look of Tupperware so much that they had containers shipped in specifically to dress the Lars homestead kitchen. The plastic’s smooth curves and standardized shapes gave just the right futuristic-meets-functional vibe, turning midcentury leftovers storage into galactic domestic chic.
6. Flash handles turned lightsabers
You probably already know this one, but it’s still worth a nod. The original lightsabers weren’t custom-designed sci-fi props. They were made from the flash handles of vintage Graflex cameras, commonly used in the 1940s and ’50s by press photographers.
Set decorator Roger Christian famously found the first one in a photography shop on London’s Kings Road while hunting for materials to build A New Hope’s props. The design team removed the flashbulb holders, added some grips, wires, and a few other greeblies, and lo and behold, the elegant weapon of a more civilized age was born.
The Graflex origin story has become a key part of Star Wars lore and has been confirmed in multiple interviews, including Christian’s own book Cinema Alchemist and this History Channel feature.
7. The infamous shoe in Return of the Jedi
One of Star Wars’ most persistent prop rumors revolves around Return of the Jedi and a sneaker hidden in plain sight. According to longtime speculation and interviews with ILM veterans like Ken Ralston, a tennis shoe was deliberately inserted into the Battle of Endor space sequence as a kind of in-joke or protest against the endless effects revisions George Lucas demanded. For years, fans tried to find it, without success.
That changed some Reddit users reignited the search in a post on r/StarWarsMagic. They claimed to have spotted a likely candidate in a teaser from an original 35mm print of the film, noting that the more recent digital and 4K restorations had likely scrubbed the detail away due to heavy denoising. “It is still blurred,” they wrote, “but this looks more like a tennis shoe/sneaker from the 80s.” Another user pointed out that this moment might be why no one could ever find it — it had been accidentally erased in the remasters.
YouTuber EC Henry even attempted a full breakdown of the scene in question, identifying a possible match, though he acknowledged the shape looked more like a slipper than a sneaker. Still, fans believe the original theatrical version does contain the fabled footwear, and screen captures from vintage prints may hold the final proof.
Ultimately, Star Wars proves that imagination matters more than budget. By transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, the design team created an entire world, one where a speeder might have a toaster coil and a TIE Fighter panel could include part of a washing machine.
This is why Star Wars endures. It’s movie magic made from literal junk.
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