A STAR Wars collection which includes the “holy grail” of toys sold for over $500,000 at auction today — after being saved from being thrown out.
An elderly couple have “won the lottery” after a collection of Star Wars toys left to them by their neighbor sold for over $500,000.
The pair from Stourbridge in the West Midlands had no idea of the value of the treasure trove of plastic figures and spacecraft that their friend Peter Simpson who died earlier this year left them.
Mr Simpson, a Cambridge University graduate, spent several decades collecting the toys and left them to his long-term neighbors after he died in December last year.
When their son invited an expert to their terraced house they discovered they were sitting on one of the best Star Wars collections in the world.
Chris Aston, of Aston’s Auctioneers, found dozens of bin bags filled with hundreds of items including action figures still in their original packaging.
Among the treasures are two figures thought to be among the rarest in the world.
A Star Destroyer Commander is one of only two known to exist in the original packaging.
It is so sought after that auctioneers Aston’s, of Dudley, West Midlands, has not been able to put an estimate on it.
And a “holy grail” Jawa with a vinyl cape on a black card, thought to be one of only ten in a similar condition, is valued at over $30,000.
Source: Star Wars collection set to fetch £250,000 at auction after nearly being binned