Rare Star Wars toys to go under the hammer at Willingham Auctions

A large collection of original Star Wars toys will soon be going under the hammer in a village not too far, far away.

Willingham Auctions has taken delivery of a van-full of collectibles and memorabilia and will be putting them up for sale, alongside many other items, tomorrow (Saturday, August 27).

Stephen Drake, saleroom manager/auctioneer at the auction house on the High Street in Willingham, said: “It’s one person’s collection and I went to pick it up one evening last week. I turned up with a van and it is just as well I did really because it was a garage full. There was about 80 boxes of it! So I filled the van, got it back and have only just finished lotting it.”

Among this vast collection, what is particularly rare? “There’s a sandcrawler – a sort of early Jawa sandcrawler – which could possibly make £1,000, or £1,500,” says Stephen, “and there are figures in there which are quite rare; there’s one called Yak Face – he could make several hundred pounds.

“These are early figures, you’ve got to remember that. The Yak Face was actually sold in Tesco for 99p, so it’s a good return if you bought one of those. Obviously they’re so collectible, but they got played with so there’s not that many of those early ones still existing.”

Stephen notes that Willingham Auctions has “never had a collection like this before” when it comes to Star Wars. He adds: “I’ve never seen a collection like this before and never heard of a collection like this before.”

[Read more: Ceremonial sword exceeds expected price at auction]

He can’t give too much away, of course, but Stephen reveals that the collectors – a couple – are local and have been collecting Star Wars memorabilia “since the early days”. He says: “In some of the lots you’ve got maybe 100 figures all boxed, never been taken out, so it’s quite a substantial collection really and very valuable.” Interestingly, the couple were adults when they bought the toys.

Saturday’s sale is expected to attract plenty of interest. “There’s a special Star Wars section, which will be coming up in the early afternoon,” explains Stephen. “It’s a live auction so people can bid from the comfort of their own homes. But yes, it’s quite a special thing – I’m really looking forward to it.”

For more on Willingham Auctions, visit willinghamauctions.com.