1978 saw the release of the initial Star Wars movie trilogy, which was succeeded after two decades by a similarly successful “prequel” trilogy. Along with other merchandise accompanying the first movie was the highly successful series of Star Wars action figures. Kenner manufactured the first sets of 3 ¾-inch toys, which paved the way for a constant stream of action figures based on the movies, books, and cartoons they had spawned.

Thirty years after the first movie toys, some of the surviving relics from that year are now valuable commodities, almost regardless of condition. Adult collectors all around the world deem these Star Wars action figures priceless, and rightly so – some now fetch astronomical prices.

1978’s Darth Vader with Telescoping Lightsaber is the priciest figure of them all. The toy came with a built-in feature, which allowed part of the character’s plastic lightsaber to extend from within the hollow area in the toy’s arm, after which a thinner piece of plastic for the remaining length of the saber also emerged. The engineering of this toy was quite frail, rendering the feature easily broken, especially with the ministrations of younger fans. The next wave saw a sturdier variant of the figure, which had the extending lightsaber made in one piece. Other figures that had this feature were the Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi characters. The initial version of Darth Vader with Telescoping Lightsaber is worth $6,000 on average.

Other sought-after figures include the Jawa with Cloth Cape, released in the same year, and the Rocket-firing Boba Fett from 1980. These figures are now worth $2,000 each.