Han Solo’s original blaster, used by Harrison Ford in Star Wars: A New Hope, is expected to fetch up to $500,000 (£410,000) when it goes under the hammer later this month.
The prop firearm, which was previously missing and presumed lost, was rediscovered by Rock Island Auction Company (RIAC), and will be available at the company’s premier auction.
The gun is the sole surviving blaster prop remaining of the three used for filming the original Star Wars trilogy, according to RIAC. The pre-auction estimate for Han Solo’s BlasTech DL-44 heavy blaster is $300,000-500,000.
The prop was based on the German-made Mauser C96, one of the first and most recognizable semi-automatic handguns ever made.
Wanting an old west gunslinger feel for the captain of the Millennium Falcon, the designers selected the Mauser C96 as the basis of Han Solo’s iconic blaster.
Star Wars Hollywood memorabilia has become highly desirable in the field of collecting. In 2018, Han Solo’s blaster from Return of the Jedi sold to Ripley’s Believe it or Not! for $550,000. More recently an original X-wing miniature prop went for $2.3m in June 2022.