The 43-inch tall model was auctioned off by Los Angeles house Profiles in History as part of a major auction of original trilogy memorabilia. The sale makes the humble astromech droid the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia ever auctioned.
But it isn't exactly the R2 used in the original trilogy. Instead, the model is a "frankendroid" consisting of the top dome from A New Hope, the legs from The Empire Strikes Back, the body from The Phantom Menace, and the opening hatch from Attack of the Clones. (Yes, someone paid millions of dollars for a piece of Star Wars prequel memorabilia.)
The "frankendroid" was the most expensive item auctioned off. Other items included one of Luke Skywalker's lightsabers, which sold for $450,000, and one of Darth Vader's helmets, for $96,000. Profiles in History estimated that the droid would go for as much as $2 million, which the model beat as easily as Luke bull's-eyed womp rats in his T-16. The buyer is unknown.
"We're very excited to have [the model] because really this is the only one to reach the auction block in the world," said Profiles in History acquisitions head Brian Chanes.
"It's a high price but, at the same time, you couldn't expect to find a better piece." Who knows what R2 would have auctioned for had the model also contained a holo-message from Princess Leia and plans for the Death Star?
The auction also included memorabilia from other classic works of science fiction, such as ship models used in "Battlestar Galactica" and "Buck Rogers," as well as a helmet used in the film "Aliens." For those who prefer their 70's films to be disco films instead of sci-fi epics, the dance floor from Saturday Night Fever was auctioned for $1.2 million.
