There’s arguably no bigger pop culture franchise than Star Wars. Spanning eleven feature films and an endless assortment of comics, books, TV shows, and video games, this historic series has been delighting audiences for the last forty-five years. One of the most popular characters in Star Wars has been Han Solo, played most famously by Harrison Ford, and now the character’s original iconic blaster featured in A New Hope has been sold at auction for over $1 million, through Rock Island Auction Company.
The “DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol” was estimated to sell for around $300,000 to $500,000, but never tell a Star Wars fan the odds: the exact selling price for the blaster was $1.057 million. Besides the overall cool factor of the piece, this probably has to do with the fact that this is the last surviving blaster from A New Hope. Solo’s blaster is what helped establish the tone of the original trilogy, with a “worn” look to it just like the lived-in galaxy around it. Ford also always knew how to rock this classic sidearm and, ever since we met Solo in Mos Eisley Cantina, fans fell head over heels for this scruffy looking nerf-herder.
Ford would go on to play the character in five films, including The Empire Strikes Back, The Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens, and The Rise of Skywalker, but Solo’s arc in A New Hope remains legendary. Solo was a character that went from this selfishly lovable gun-for-hire to one of the key heroes in the rebellion against the empire. Also, his blossoming romance with Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia and his loving friendship with his trusty partner Chewbacca are other amazing parts to this character’s legacy.
However, beyond memorable characters like Solo, how George Lucas and his amazing crew pulled off the look of the first film is still an astonishing feat to this day. Star Wars was made at a time when everything had to be done practically or not at all, including all the weapons seen in the film. The story of how they went about creating the look of Solo’s blaster, deciding on what materials would best suit both the character and the world, is something that any film lover would enjoy.
While it’s initially crazy to think that Han Solo’s blaster sold for over $1 million, it really isn’t that insane as this piece is such an important prop in film history. It single-handedly helped define one of the most iconic characters of all time, and you can hear the incredible story of how this blaster came to be down below. You can also stream the entire Skywalker Saga on Disney+ now.