Here are the details of how Harrison Ford’s Star Wars prop was taken apart and put back together again for a hefty price.
The Star Wars movies have earned a dedicated legion of superfans, including some willing to shell out millions for a piece of the film. A prop used by Harrison Ford’s Han Solo recently broke a Guinness World Record for the most expensive sold at auction. Here are the details of how this Star Wars collectible was taken apart and put back together again for a hefty price.
How Han Solo’s ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ blaster prop gun was created
The gun, a BlasTech DL-44 Heavy Blaster, was created especially for Ford’s character, the pilot and rebel Han Solo. It’s one of just three “hero props,” meaning it was highly detailed and used for close-up shots and publicity images.
According to Guinness World Records, Star Wars set director Roger Christian designed the weapon. He chose different components from real-life guns like a WWI Mauser C-96 pistol, a WWII MG81 machine gun, and a Hensoldt-Wetzlar rifle.
Armorer Carl Schmidt put the different pieces together to create Han’s gun. He used the shape of the Mauser C-96, the flash-hider from the MG81, and the scope from the Hensoldt-Wetzlar.
London prop house Bapty created the gun using their own weapons. Once filming for 1976’s A New Hope ended, production returned the piece to Bapty where their team disassembled it.
Harrison Ford’s reassembled blaster auctioned off for over $1 million
Finally, in 2010, Han Solo’s original gun was finally put back together. The new owner of Bapty, Terry Watts, asked Schmidt, the original creator of the gun, to reassemble the Star Wars blaster.
After the armorer recreated Han Solo’s gun, the prop went up for auction. It was originally hoped that Bapty could get £410,000 ($500,000) for the Star Wars weapon. But one fan was so eager to have Han’s gun that they shelled out double that amount. The prop gun went for $1,057,500, or £904,342.
Han Solo’s blaster didn’t just exceed the auctioneer’s expectations. It also shot past another Star Wars weapon that went for a hefty sum at auction. A blaster prop used in 1983’s Return of the Jedi recently sold for $550,000 (£448,734).
Other ‘Star Wars’ Guinness World Records, from largest collections to fewest Oscar nominations
Han Solo’s gun in A New Hope now holds the record for the most expensive prop gun ever sold. But that isn’t the only Guinness World Record of the franchise.
According to Guinness, records include the record for the highest-grossing film series at the global box office, the most appearances in Star Wars movies (Anthony Daniels as the gold cyborg C-3PO), and the largest collection of Star Wars memorabilia (Steve Sansweet’s collection of 93,260 items).
Many Stars Wars Guinness records involve some of the video game adaptations of the popular movies. A gamer known as “Striker” set the record for the fastest 100% completion of the videogame Star Wars. They finished it in just 9 minutes and 52.500 seconds.
Another player holds the record for the highest score on the Star Wars Trilogy Pinball game. Hal Erickson has scored 45,767,010 points.
Some of the Star Wars movies also hold records. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones tie for the fewest Oscar nominations for a Star Wars movie. The movies also tie for most visual effects shots in a Star Wars film. Approximately 2,200 visual effects shots appeared in each one.
