It’s not surprising that a pristine example of Kenner’s notoriously rare Boba Fett action figure with “rocket-firing” action—never released to the public after being deemed a choking hazard—commanded a jaw-dropping sum at a recent auction. But $525,000 is quite the handsome bounty.
According to a Heritage Auctions press release, “its price more than doubled the record for the most expensive Star Wars action figure sold at auction, held by a rocket-firing Boba Fett that realized $236,000 in June 2022.” This latest sale featured one of only two surviving examples of a hand-painted version of the never-released, circa-1979 figure, hence the increase in value; incredibly, it only exists today because someone at Kenner rescued it “from a box of discarded toys deposited there for employees to take home.
Heritage also notes that “this miniature Mandalorian also bested a Barbie to become the most valuable vintage toy sold at auction. In 2010, a one-of-a-kind, 1-carat-diamond-wearing Barbie sold for $302,000. Her reign ended Friday thanks to a protracted bidding war that landed this holy grail in one collector’s cargo hold.”