Star Wars: Long lost X-wing fighter model up for auction with $400K starting bid

Last Updated on October 4, 2023

A long-lost piece of Star Wars history has been uncovered, and if you’ve got a few hundred thousand to spare (at least), you can bring it home. An original 20-inch X-wing model used in the Death Star battle in the original Star Wars movie is set to be sold at a Heritage Auction next month in Dallas, with the bidding starting at $400,000.

The Red Leader X-wing model was part of the collection of late modelmaker Greg Jein and was one of just four hero filming models with articulating servo-controlled wings and lights. “This model has not been displayed or modified since it left ILM,” VFX historian Gene Kozicki told THR. “For those of us that grew up in the ’70s or ’80s, and those of us that work in visual effects, this model is as significant a find as the ruby red slippers or the Maltese Falcon.“

Kozicki, along with ILM VFX supervisor Bill George, modelmaker and Jein’s co-worker Lou Zutavern, and Jein’s friend Rob McFalane, made the discovery while helping Jein’s family catalogue his vast collection. “I knew something was probably in the box, so I started to carefully scoop out the packaging peanuts when the nose of the X-wing showed itself,” Kozicki said. “The four of us knew immediately that it was the actual filming model and then the magnitude of the discovery started to set in.” Kozicki isn’t sure exactly how the X-wing model wound up in Jein’s collection.

“We don’t exactly know the circumstances by which he came into possession of this model. And as an active collector/trader, he also obtained items simply because he figured that he could trade them for something more in line with what he wanted for himself,” Kozicki explained. “Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars were being made at roughly the same time, and with an overlapping group of people. And at that time no one, not even Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, could anticipate the impact these films would have on the industry or cultural zeitgeist.“

The Greg Jein Collection Auction will take place on October 14-15th. Although the X-wing model is the star of the auction, there are plenty of other amazing pieces, including an original Stormtrooper costume from the first movie, an astronaut space suit from 2001: A Space Odyssey, a handful of Batarang’s from the 1960s Batman series, and a lot of uniforms and props from Star Trek: The Original Series. Take a lot at all the items for yourself right here.