BBC Antiques Roadshow guest speechless at ‘astonishing’ value of item despite glaring ‘damage’ to collectible
A collection of Star Wars memorabilia dating back to the 1980s piqued the interest of expert Mark Hill when the Antiques Roadshow team headed to Swanage on the south coast back in 2023.
During the show, a wide range of items were brought to the team to evaluate against the seaside backdrop, but for Hill, it was a handful of iitems tied to the sci-fi blockbuster that caught his attention.
In the classic episode, which airs again this weekend, the owner of the Star Wars memorabilia was admittedly apprehensive whether or not his items would be worth “anything at all”.
But luckily for him, Hill was on hand to deliver some rather exciting news.
Kicking off the valuation, Hill picked up a “Perspex star” emblazoned with one of the films’ most iconic phrases.
“It’s a world famous phrase, known across the globe by literally billions of people, ‘May the force be with you!’ And, of course, it’s totally connected to Star Wars,” Hill said as he perused the star.
“Here, we have a Perspex star, two Christmas cards, and an invitation to a special screening of The Empire Strikes Back in May 1980. Were you involved in the film?”
The owner replied: “No, not all. But my mother was inadvertently involved with one of the producers. That sounds not good, does it?”
Chuckling at the guest’s phrasing, Hill regained composure to ask: “Were they good friends or?”
“No, she was a complementary therapist. She treated him for quite some time,” the owner answered before Hill probed who he was referring to.
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The Antiques Roadshow visitor then revealed that American film producer Gary Kurtz was the man who’d developed quite the friendship with his mother.
Hill then took the reins of the discussion as he explained: “Well, he was clearly very grateful to her because he invited her to the special screening for crew members.
“That’s quite an honour in 1980 to be invited to see The Empire Strikes Back before anyone else has seen it. And this star was given out to crew and cast, numerous were made as a souvenir.
“She’s also got two Christmas cards here as well, so obviously it was an ongoing relationship over time because this screening was in May these would’ve been sent out in December.
“The Christmas cards are interesting to me because you’ve a little signature in the bottom there, it’s ‘R.M.Q.’ which is Ralph McQuarrie and Ralph McQuarrie is so critical to the entire visual impact of the Star Wars saga, he devised many of the characters!”
Analysing one of the cards, Hill continued: “Here we have C3-PO and R2-D2 going shopping, he designed them, he designed Darth Vader.”
However, despite Hill’s excitement, he was keen to point out that the items in front of him weren’t exactly in the most pristine of states.
“Not in the best condition,” Hill remarked. “I notice there are a few chips on the star there.”
Turning his attention to the items’ value, Hill revealed all: “Bearing in mind it’s really props and toys that really drive the market for it, bearing in mind the little bits of damage there… £1,500, maybe even £2,000.”
“Really? That’s astonishing!” the owner replied, seemingly dumbfounded that the damaged goods would fetch a four-figure price tag.
Hill explained why: “Collectors really want to own as much as they can and anything connected to the film directly and cast and the crew is just like gold-dust.”
After bidding farewell, the owner told viewers he was gobsmacked by the value, in no small part thanks to the fact he’d merely been “tripping over it” for years.