ScreenGawk
A Star Wars X-Wing Found in a Garage Sold for $3.135 Million
A Star Wars X-wing model found in Greg Jein's garage sold for $3,135,000 at Heritage Auctions on October 15, 2023. It was a filming miniature from the original 1977 movie, rather than a replica made for collectors.
The model had been considered missing for decades before friends sorting Jein's collection found it in a box. Jein, a model-maker and collector, died in 2022. His collection contained items he had created as well as pieces he had acquired from other productions.
Heritage identified the X-wing as the Red Leader model used in the film's space battle. Its sale became the standout result of a two-day auction devoted to Jein's collection.
A Filming Model With Working Parts
The X-wing was built by Industrial Light & Magic for the film. Heritage described it as one of four hero models, detailed miniatures whose wings could open into attack position. Other, simpler X-wings were made to be destroyed in explosion shots.
Inside this model were wiring, lights and electric servos for the wings. A miniature pilot and an R2-unit dome added detail, while heat shields and cooling ducts protected it from the lighting's heat. Heritage noted that the electronics were untested.
The model needed those systems for filming. It could be mounted at different points for different shots, with enough detail to hold up when seen close to the camera.
What Turned Up in the Garage
While helping with Jein's belongings, visual-effects historian Gene Kozicki uncovered the model's nose under packing material. His account described a discovery inside a box, rather than an object that had been sitting out on display.
Jein's collection included other people's work. The discovery reports left open how he had acquired this particular X-wing. He was Oscar-nominated for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 1941 and had worked on Star Trek, but finding the Star Wars model in his garage didn't identify him as its builder.
Heritage noted that the miniature had not been publicly displayed or exposed to daylight. The catalog described its production wear and missing small parts as well.
The $3.135 Million Result
Heritage reported that two collectors competed for the X-wing, which sold for more than $3.1 million. At the time, the auction house described it as the most valuable screen-used Star Wars prop sold at auction. That is a claim about the October 2023 result, rather than a statement about today's record.
The wider Jein sale brought in roughly $13.6 million. Other results included $645,000 for a Stormtrooper costume and $447,000 for a spacesuit from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
For the X-wing, the auction connected a recognizable screen object with a documented physical model, giving bidders a chance to buy a surviving piece of how the original film was made.
Heritage Auctions: Original Red Leader X-wing lot and result
