‘Star Wars’ X-wing model, long lost, sells for almost $3.1 million at auction

Photo Credit (greety image)

The model was a part of the late Greg Jein’s collection. Greg Jein was a miniature maker who won both an Oscar and an Emmy for his work on “Star Trek” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

The starting price of a long-lost model of an X-wing fighter from the original 1977 “Star Wars” film is $400,000. Heritage Auctions is the source of the image.

On Sunday, a long-lost model of an X-wing fighter from the first “Star Wars” film from 1977 brought more than $3.13 million at auction.

Prior to the sale, Dallas-based auction house Heritage Auctions described the model, used to film the Rebel Alliance’s assault against the Empire above the Death Star in the last scene of “Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope,” as “the pinnacle of Star Wars artifacts to ever reach the market.”

The squadron designates the fighter as its “Red Leader” by painting a single red stripe across its top two wings.

The model is from the collection of the late Greg Jein, a miniature artist who won an Oscar and an Emmy for his work on “Star Trek” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

Prior to Sunday’s sale, Kozicki told the Hollywood Reporter that a group of visual effects specialists, including Gene Kozicki (“Face/Off” and “Flight of the Phoenix”), discovered what has long been known as “the missing X-wing” while helping Jein’s family sort through his collection.

“Since it left ILM (visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic), this model has not been shown or altered,” Kozicki stated. “This model is as important a discovery as the Maltese Falcon or the ruby red slippers for those of us who grew up in the 1970s or 1980s and those of us who work in visual effects.”

One of four “hero” models, the 1:24 miniature was designed to capture close-ups during strategic points in the space fight, such as the trench run as the rebel fleet tries to destroy the Death Star.

While the four “hero” models had elaborate painting, wings that spread open into “Attack Position,” a miniature pilot, internal wiring to power lights inside the spaceship, and minute details like blast marks and heat-scorching around exhaust nozzles, several “pyro” models were also constructed using a much simpler design that could then be blown up.

Director George Lucas wanted to develop different shapes for the climactic battle so the audience could identify between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire. The Oscar-winning team Industrial Light & Magic created them based on Lucas’s basic criteria.

It’s unclear how Jein got hold of this model, Kozicki told the Hollywood Reporter, adding that he occasionally acquired goods to exchange for other things in the future.

Kozicki stated that a group of people overlapped and worked on “Star Wars” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (Steven Spielberg) at about the same time. “And nobody, not even George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, could have predicted at the time the influence these movies would have on the industry or the cultural zeitgeist.”

A full Stormtrooper suit, also from “A New Hope,” brought $645,000 at Sunday’s auction, along with a number of other “Star Wars” pieces from Jein’s personal collection. Meanwhile, a set of original production screenplays brought $27,500 at auction.