DALLAS, TX.- The Force has reached a new high at Heritage Auctions. Darth Vader’s screen-matched hero dueling lightsaber from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) just sold for $4,875,000, establishing a world auction record for any Star Wars collectible.

The result surpasses by $1 million the previous overall record of $3,875,000, which Heritage achieved with Tom Jung’s original half-sheet key poster painting for Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope. It also establishes a new auction record for a screen-used Star Wars prop, exceeding Heritage’s $3,750,000 sale of Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber and severed hand effects rig on July 15, 2026.

Vader’s weapon is a remarkable counterpart to that Skywalker lightsaber: Both were used in the unforgettable Cloud City confrontation in The Empire Strikes Back, the duel that culminated in Vader’s revelation and changed the course of the saga. Its use in Return of the Jedi further connects the lightsaber to the original trilogy’s enduring legacy.

The sale extends Heritage’s record-setting run across the most coveted categories of Star Wars collecting. In addition to the records for a screen-used prop and original artwork, Heritage holds the auction record for a Star Wars filming miniature, set in 2023 when the screen-matched Red Leader X-wing Starfighter realized $3,135,000.

The latest milestone came during Heritage’s Nov. 12 Ultimate Star Wars Auction, featuring material spanning Episodes I through IX and subsequent films and television series. Vader’s lightsaber headlined the most expansive collection of Star Wars lightsabers ever assembled for public auction, with 27 additional examples representing many of the saga’s most celebrated Jedi and Sith.