‘Original’ R2-D2 droid made of parts from four Star Wars movies sells for £2million at California auction
The 43-inch robot was a seven-year labour of love for an anonymous British fan who built it using parts salvaged from movie sets
A COMPLETE R2-D2 droid made from pieces salvaged from four Star Wars films by a British enthusiast has been sold for £2.13million.
The 43-inch high robot fetched the out-of-this-world price of $2.76million at auction in Los Angeles, the first time a version of the famous robot made entirely of parts from the movies has gone under the hammer.
The prized piece of memorabilia was a seven-year labour of love for an anonymous British fan who built it using original parts used in the classic sci-fi series.
The dome was the one covering actor Kenny Baker's head in the first Star Wars film in 1976. Metal details from the body were also from that production, said the auctioneer.
R2-D2's legs were from 1980's The Empire Strikes Back.
The body is from The Phantom Menace, released in 1999, and its opening hatch is from 2002's Attack Of The Clones.
The item smashed the pre-sale estimate of $2million.
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Brian Chanes of auction house Profiles In History said ahead of the sale: "We're very excited to have it because really this is the only one to reach the auction block in the world.
"It's a high price but at the same time you couldn't expect to find a better piece, an artefact from the Star Wars trilogy.
"Someone actually assembled it over a period of seven years.
"It was a lot of work, it was definitely a act of passion on his part."
He said there are rumours a collector in France has also crafted a similar R2-D2 from original but these are as yet unproved.
The R2-D2 was the most expensive item offered in a movie memorabilia sale that included numerous props from the Star Wars franchise.
Other items up for sale included Luke Skywalker's lightsaber from the first two films, which sold for $450,000 (£346,500) and Darth Vader's helmet from the original film sold for $96,000 (£74,000).
Other space-themed film and television memorabilia was also for sale, with a collection of 23 ships from Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers sold for $1.8million. A helmet worn by late actor Bill Paxton on the set of Aliens sold for $51,000.
Not all the items that sold were out of this world. The underlit dancefloor from Saturday Night Fever sold for $1.2million.
George Michael's LAPD cop uniform from his hit song Outside will also be auctioned and is estimated to go for up to $15,000 (£11,600).
The costume, complete with sunglasses, black leather gloves and a badge with initials GM, was worn by the megastar in the 1998 music video.
The pop legend, who died last December at the age of 53, was poking fun at his earlier arrest for lewd conduct, which led to him publicly revealing his homosexuality.
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