May the force be with your Star Wars memorabilia

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/sep/12/star-wars-memorabilia-figures-fortune

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The three-inch plastic figures of Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and other Star Wars characters were just £1.50 in newsagents in 1977-78 when the first film hit cinema screens in the UK, but sell for as much as £18,000 each today. As the merchandise hits the shelves ahead of the next episode of the blockbuster series, due out in December, will they become tomorrow’s money-spinning collectables?

Already there is a huge buzz around the launch of the smartphone-controlled BB-8 droid, rolling into shops worldwide from around £130, which in Star Wars-style promises “holographic communication” to help you explore the galaxy together.

On what was dubbed “Force Friday”, the Hollywood merchandising death star blasted stores across the planet with droids, lightsabers, Stormtroopers, command shuttles and talking figures. Resistance was futile: the BB-8 sold out nearly instantly, transported within seconds to the cybersphere (ie, eBay) after they were grabbed by bounty hunters. Reinforcements are likely to arrive in shops soon, albeit from China, not Alderaan.

Related: Star Wars toys go on sale on 'Force Friday' – in pictures

News reports showed adults (and the odd kid) carting out multiple purchases: one to be played with, the others to be left unopened, kept in mint condition, in the belief that they will become great investments.

But asked about the potential of the new range, Britain’s master of Star Wars kit – on his desk alone are £50,000-worth of Han Solo, Darth Vader and other figures – says the force is not strong with this one.

Nick Dykes says he saw it happen in the late 1990s when the second trilogy of Star Wars films went on release: collectors, thinking they were rather cute, snapped up figures for investment – but so did lots of other people. “You can see them now at toy fairs: mint condition, unopened boxes, that cost £5.99 in the late 1990s. They are lucky to get £2 today.”

He is excited as much as any other superfan about the new film, set for release on 17 December, but won’t be snapping up the plastic this time.

A long time ago (well, 1977), toy collecting was in a galaxy far, far away. Kids would rip open the packaging and play out the film scenes, oblivious to the fact that within a generation that piece of plastic could be worth as much as their parents’ pension plan.

Old Hornby diecast train sets might fetch a bob or two, but cheap Made in Hong Kong plastic figures? Surely they were next to worthless?

Vectis, a Stockton-on-Tees company that is now the world’s largest toy auctioneer, says a full set of the 12 3¾-inch plastic characters made by Palitoy, and sold for £1.50 each at the time, would fetch (in mint condition) at least £20,000-£25,000 today. Even bashed-up Han Solos or Wookiees dug out of old toy boxes can sell for hundreds, says Vectis’s Star Wars expert Kathy Taylor. “Even loose they can be worth £700-£800,” she says.

The highest price paid for a Star Wars figure was in January this year, when a Boba Fett, who first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back, sold for £18,000. A Palitoy 3¾-inch Jawa in vinyl cape, and even with part of the packaging crushed, sold for £10,200 in 2013. The vinyl cape is an important detail – it’s actually the wrong colour for a Jawa, so Palitoy soon replaced it with a Bri-nylon darker cape, making the vinyl ones incredibly rare.

It’s not just the small plastic figures that fetch out-of-this-world prices. A 1978 cardboard Death Star, still in its box, sold in June this year for £5,760.

Dykes says he found much of his collection after tramping around car boot sales in the 1980s and 1990s, picking up figures for as little as 10p. “When the first film came out I was only seven. I started buying the figures when I was in my 20s as a nostalgia thing. The first was a Stormtrooper at a boot sale, but then I started going to toy fairs. There were not many collectors around then and they were not expensive to buy. The best time was between 1985 and 1992, after Return of the Jedi was finished and stores such as Woolworths were getting rid of stock in clearance sales. The most valuable item in my collection is probably the 1978 Meccano Luke Skywalker, which was made for the French market. It’s probably worth £6,000-£8,000.”

Today, he has more than 1,000 Star Wars items in his collection, filling the garage and loft of his home in Leeds, and reckons the total value is towards £100,000. Do his own children think he’s a bit of a nerdy dad? “My son has come to toy fairs. But I think he’s most interested in the financial gain he’s going to make when I pop my clogs.”

Auction prices and valuations have rocketed in recent years, fuelled by 40- to 50-year-old men on nostalgia trips, Dykes says. “I admit it’s probably a mid-life crisis thing. People are trying to buy their childhood again.”

At Vectis, Taylor says the demand for Star Wars merchandise comes from across the globe, with 70% of items it sells heading abroad – some of it going straight back to Hollywood. She is hoping for significant interest in one of the most unusual pieces of memorabilia to come to auction for some time, which goes under the hammer in October. “It’s the 45rpm vinyl single that was sent to all Odeon cinemas in England in 1977 to launch the film. There’s a very English voice saying ‘this film will be available at your local Odeon’ and then it goes in to the Star Wars theme music. We’ve put a reserve of £600 on it.”

But what if you missed out on the whole Star Wars thing? What other toys will fetch fancy prices in years to come? “Now you’re talking. We’re already seeing a lot of interest in Harry Potter. Whatever you do, don’t throw it out in a car boot sale.”