Fakes at Hake’s
Hake’s first-ever Special Event Auction, one that featured memorabilia from the legendary Star Wars franchise, closed its books on US$903,000, illustrating yet again the pull of the genre.
It wasn’t all about the well-known rarities, though. Ironically, something that really drew the punters was a Hungarian bootleg Return of the Jedi Boba Fett figure, which more than doubled its preauction estimate to command US$20,768, a world auction record for that variety of Boba. Part of a series of ten unlicensed Hungarian figures released in 1987, its smaller size, lack of copyright information and the fact that it was made of lower quality injection-moulded plastic, singled it out.
Predictable, the Boba Fett L-slot rocket-firing prototype soared to a record-setting sale price: US$236,000. This prototype is famous in collecting circles because it was pulled from Kenner’s 1979 Star Wars toy line when the rocket firing aspect was deemed a choking hazard. The 3¾-inch figure was unpainted and featured the L-slot mechanism (named for its shape, as opposed to the J version).
One of the auction’s key lots was the Jawa with a vinyl cape on a 12 back card. This tiny fellow finally achieved US$40,887, again a world record price for any Jawa figure. The Power of the Force Yak Face on a 92 back card also fared well, realising US$19,145, another world record price.
The earliest Star Wars figures were represented by the Early Bird Mailer Kit that sold for US$15,576. It included the original white mailing box, Luke Skywalker with a double-telescoping lightsabre, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and R2-D2. ■