Han Solo's Blaster From the Original 'Star Wars' Is Going Up For Auction (yahoo.com) 18
Long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 writes: The blaster that helped the Rebel Alliance finally take down the Empire could soon be yours.
Han Solo's DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol from the original Star Wars trilogy will be sold next month by Rock Island Auction Company. The weapon isn't just a lovingly crafted replica, either. It's the actual prop that was wielded by Harrison Ford on the set of the original film in the franchise, 1977's A New Hope.
Han shot first
Han Solo's DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol from the original Star Wars trilogy will be sold next month by Rock Island Auction Company. The weapon isn't just a lovingly crafted replica, either. It's the actual prop that was wielded by Harrison Ford on the set of the original film in the franchise, 1977's A New Hope.
Han shot first
Han didn't shoot first (Score:2)
Han shot!
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Sorry 'bout the mess.
Is Adam Savage selling his beach house right now?
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Adam Savage is the person who most deserves to be custodian of this but I can't help thinking he won't be able to afford it, not when GIFs of monkeys in hats are selling for millions of $$.
Re: Han didn't shoot first (Score:2)
For anyone considering buying - since it's based on a real gun it might still fall under that legislation in some areas.
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Even the real gun the prop was built from is rare [wikipedia.org], because collectors have already gotten at most of them.
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Good news is you can build a 22lr version using a bunch of AR15 parts (lower receiver and its bits, upper, 22 conversion bolt/barrel). Center fire calibers are possible if you leave off the gas tube and make it a manually operated action.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ar15... [duckduckgo.com]
Why yes, I have one in 22 I've made, and I am considering a straight-pull-action upper in a larger caliber
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Re: Han didn't shoot first (Score:2)
It appears to be a broomhandle mauser [rockislandauction.com] with a scope and some abortion of a flash supressor stuck on the barrel. Yes, pretty rare.
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Someone should send it to Geroge Lucas (Score:2)
with JarJar's head in a box for a Se7en [imdb.com] style reveal. [youtube.com]
Re: Someone should send it to Geroge Lucas (Score:2)
Potential buyer ... (Score:2)
I can see the Pontifical Swiss Guard [wikipedia.org], established in 1506, wanting this to help protect the Pope because... hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side,
Worth reading the provenience letter attached (Score:5, Informative)
If you click on the DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol [rockislandauction.com] link from the story you'll see a series of images of the blaster - included is a letter about the provenience of the blaster which is really interesting to read.
The quick summary is - after the movie the blaster was stripped to parts because it was a real working pistol that shot blanks. This guy eventually tracked down all the original parts and had the original Star Wars movie armorer re-assemble it, now that the UK is clamping down even harder on firearms he just wants someone else with fewer burdens on ownership to enjoy it.
I find it hard to believe this will go only for the estimated $300k-500k though, I'm thinking more like $1m plus.
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I find it hard to believe this will go only for the estimated $300k-500k though, I'm thinking more like $1m plus.
Mass-produced GIFs of monkeys in hats go for that much these days.
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Probably due to bad timing. But it's also because it could go to $1.5M or more, but auctions are unpredictable and $300-500k is probably at the lower end of the estimate to prevent the seller from having too high of an expectation.
A lot of valuations were wildly high because things like crypto pushed things into the stratosphere so suddenly people had a ton of money to overspend on a lot of thin
Big deal (Score:4, Funny)
Only the scope is a perfect match (Score:3)
Star Wars prop nerds (like me) are very familiar with the Han Solo blaster in the 1977 movie and stories around it. We have poured over the existing images published of it, and know every milling artefact, scratch and ding.
The gun and its accessory parts had been rented from a prop rental house, and then returned afterwards where it was disassembled. Parts of the gun, or similar parts, are known to have been used before in other combinations: in the movies The Naked Runner (1967), and in Sitting Target (1972). But the specific combinations of parts is unique to Star Wars (1977)
According to the note accompanying the gun for auction, it was reassembled from gun/parts from the rental house.
However, we prop gun nerds, have only been able to identify with certainty that the Henzoldt-Wetzlar Ziel Dialyt 3-power sniper scope and the top rings of the scope mount match images of the prop used in the 1977 movie.
The scope cradle is too tall, but could have been from the same run as the original.
The Mauser C96 pistol is absolutely not the same as the known gun. While both are "wartime" (WWI) patterns and have a "bull barrel" (thick barrel for attaching a silencer, as used in The Naked Runner), they have different serial numbers and other distinguishing marks.
The known screen-used pistol had a peculiar repair at the back of the upper receiver, as if it had cracked at one time, so there is speculation that it could have later been deemed unsafe, got scrapped and is lost forever.
The flash hider looks too good IMHO. It could be the same steel part, but if so, it would have been very well taken care of and got some surface treatment to make it brighter.
The original was a very rare variant made late in WWII for German aircraft guns converted for infantry use, and AFAIK no (other) surviving example is in that good condition as on the gun for sale here.
For those reasons, people suspect that it could be a replica (made by people in the replica-prop community).
ps This is supposed to be the blank-firing gun that Harrison Ford used to wear in holster and shoot with.
The gun seen in close-up before Han Solo shot Greedo is a different prop, from a "pick-up shoot" in America, whereas the original gun stayed in the UK.
If you Google "han shot first" (Score:1)