Hake’s Auction #243 is brimming with 1,449 lots of pop culture and Americana memorabilia. As can be expected from Hake’s, the auction is filled with rare, high grade, highly sought Star Wars memorabilia. For this auction, Hake’s has earliest released action figures, highest graded pieces, prototypes, and more.

Star Wars lots start with none other than the Luke Skywalker 12-back-A AFA 85 with double-telescoping lightsaber. This early figure of Luke features the double-telescoping lightsaber that has a second extendable piece. It was only available on three figures – Luke, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Vader – and only saw a short release window before lightsabers were modified to be one piece. According to Hake’s, at the time of cataloging, there were only three examples on a 12-back-A card graded AFA 85 with just one higher in AFA’s Population Report. It is just the second time Hake’s has offered the figure in AFA 85 and the first time they offered a 12-back-A example without the SKU on footer.

From one popular character to another, Hake’s has a Palitoy Return of the Jedi Boba Fett tri-logo 70-back-B AFA 85 French Meccano figure, which is the single highest graded example. This Meccano variety has darker gray plastic with a light brown belt and without the country of origin text on the back of the leg, which was exclusive to this release. The tri-logo card has text written in English, Spanish, and French. Not only is it the single highest graded in AFA’s Pop Report, there are just two other AFA 85 Tri-Logo Boba Fett examples from other card varieties.

The rarity continues with a Chewbacca first shot action figure AFA 85, which is the earliest complete pre-production Chewbacca figure known to exist. The “First 12” first shots are earlier material and no proto-molds and hardcopies are known to exist with the exception of a few parts. Because this is an earlier version, the details are more pronounced and sharper, and it is made of stiffer plastic than production figures. This First Shot represents one of the earliest Chewbacca figures, as originally sourced from a former Kenner employee who stated it was among the first created upon completion of the molds.

On the marketing side, Hake’s has an Action Figures Bell Hanger Advertising Store Display CAS-graded complete set. The complete set of advertising campaign items were used in stores to promote Kenner’s first 12 Star Wars action figures that were released in 1978. The 18” x 20-1/4” double-sided bell-shaped cardboard hanging sign features images of the vinyl cape Jawa and double-telescoping varieties of Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Vader, as well as eight other figures. The top of the sign shows Luke and Leia as they appeared in the movie poster art by the Brothers Hildebrandt.

Turning back to action figures, the auction offers a Glasslite Star Wars: Droids Vlix AFA 60. Based on the character from the animated Droids TV show, the figure was only released in Brazil due to the cancellation of the animated series in the US, making this the rarest of all Star Wars figures to be commercially released. This example is one of just 13 that have been graded by AFA.

Impressive Star Wars lots continue with a Power of the Force IG-88 92-back proof card AFA 80+, Early Bird Mail-Away Kit (double-telescoping Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and R2-D2) AFA 75, The Empire Strikes Back loose action figure of a Hong Kong IG-88 first shot torso and head AFA 85+, and The Empire Strikes Back IG-88 12” Series box flat.

More Star Wars highlights are the Micro Series Luke Skywalker (Bespin Gantry) prototype grouping, Revenge of the Jedi blank proof card test AFA 85, Return of the Jedi Imperial Shuttle vehicle AFA 85, The Power of the Force Yak Face 92-back AFA 80 (Kenner Canada), and a Jawa 12-back-B AFA 85 with a square bubble/inner tray.

Hake’s Auction #243 is closing soon on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 25-26, 2025.