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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent

Star Wars miniature and Tom Hanks’ Castaway volleyball up for auction in LA

An X-wing starfighter  miniature from the 1977 film Star Wars: A New Hope
An X-wing starfighter miniature from the 1977 film Star Wars: A New Hope, which is expected to sell for $800,000 to $1m. Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images

A rare miniature model of a Star Wars X-wing starfighter and Tom Hanks’s volleyball companion Wilson from Cast Away are to go under the hammer in a Los Angeles auction of Hollywood memorabilia.

Bids will be invited for more than 1,800 items from well-known films and TV shows next month in a sale that is estimated to bring in more than $9m (£7.1m).

The most valuable of these is the screen-matched miniature model ILM Red Leader X-wing starfighter from the 1977 film Star Wars: A New Hope, which is estimated to sell for $800,000 to $1m.

Wilson the volleyball, which is Hanks’ personified friend and only companion during his character’s four years on a deserted island in the 2000 film Cast Away is also up for grabs, as are Will Smith’s boxing shorts from the 2001 film Ali, which focused on 10 years in the life of the boxer Muhammad Ali.

The distressed Wilson volleyball from the 2000 film Cast Away
The distressed Wilson volleyball from the 2000 film Cast Away. Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Other well-known objects include Samuel L Jackson’s “bad motherfucker” wallet from Quentin Tarantino’s hit film Pulp Fiction and Uma Thurman’s bloody samurai sword from Kill Bill.

Also up for auction will be Chris Hemsworth’s Mjölnir hammer from the 2011 Marvel film Thor and a full-size DeLorean time machine replica previously used for official promotional events for the Back to the Future film trilogy. Marty McFly’s hoverboard from the second film in the series is also up for sale.

Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi lightsaber from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Johnny Depp’s SFX insert hand from Edward Scissorhands also form part of the auction.

The auction, organised by Propstore, will take place over four days from 21-24 June. As well as the haul of famous film and TV collectibles, the auction includes more than 200 comic book and comic artwork lots.

Among these items is rare original cover art for a French edition of Batman: The Killing Joke by Brian Bolland and a copy of an Incredible Hulk comic featuring the first appearance of Wolverine.

Brandon Alinger, the chief operating officer of Propstore, said: “Propstore is excited to hold our largest Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction to date this June in Los Angeles.

“The auction includes a vast array of instantly recognisable film and television artefacts, a selection of over 200 comic book lots, as well as pieces from film historian and well-known author JW Rinzler’s collection.

“This auction has something for everyone, with over 600 different titles represented. We are pleased to offer in-person bidding again, and also accept bids via phone, or online.”

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