Darth Vader's iconic lightsaber from 'I am your father' scene sells for staggering £3.7m

The lightsaber wielded by Darth Vader during the legendary "I am your father" confrontation in The Empire Strikes Back has fetched nearly £3.7million at auction, nearly five times what experts had predicted.

Heritage Auctions in the US had expected the prop to go for more than £750,000, but fierce bidding on Thursday drove the final price to almost £4million.

The prop, which also appeared in 1983's Return of the Jedi, was sold as part of an event billed as "the Ultimate Star Wars auction," establishing a new world record for any Star Wars prop ever sold at auction.

The Vader sabre was among a collection of 27 lightsaber props offered at the sale, with weapons used by Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith also going under the hammer.

The auction's lots stretched across the breadth of George Lucas's galaxy far, far away.

A blaster carried by bounty hunter Boba Fett was among the items on offer, alongside a puppet hand crafted for Yoda's debut appearance in The Empire Strikes Back.

The previous record had been set just months earlier, when Luke Skywalker's lightsaber and severed hand from the same film sold for over £2.8million in July.

Brian Chanes, Heritage Auctions' senior director of Hollywood and entertainment, described the prop's significance in emphatic terms.

"It's like the Holy Grail" for any Star Wars collector, he said.

"It's the one on the set. It's from the most iconic sequence of the entire franchise."

The result comfortably eclipsed the auction house's own previous benchmark, the £2.8million paid for Luke Skywalker's lightsaber and severed hand in July, confirming the enduring commercial power of the original trilogy's most celebrated moments.

Heritage Auctions confirmed the sale represented a world auction record for any Star Wars prop used on screen.

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Darth Vader ranks among the most significant antagonists in cinema history, conceived by George Lucas as a tragic figure at the heart of the Star Wars saga.

Once a heroic Jedi Knight called Anakin Skywalker, he was seduced to the dark side through Chancellor Palpatine's manipulation and a consuming fear of losing those he loved.

The character was brought to life through a remarkable combination of performers.

David Prowse provided the physical presence in the original trilogy, whilst James Earl Jones supplied the unmistakable voice.

Hayden Christensen portrayed the younger Anakin in the prequels and later reprised the role in subsequent television series.