A 1970s Star Wars toy sold for a world record breaking $185,850 at auction in Pennsylvania, USA last night].
The sale, made to an anonymous buyer, marks the highest ever sum paid for any Star Wars toy globally.
The coveted 'Boba Fett J-slot rocket-firing prototype' never made it into production because of safety concerns over its shooting mechanism.
Only about 80 to 100 were made for testing and as little as 24 are known to have survived, according to experts at Hake’s Auctions, the company which held the sale.
This particular example has no damage from the testing process and remains in perfect condition.
The previous world auction record for a Star Wars toy was $112,926, paid for the a slightly different Boba Fett L-slot on July 11 [2019] in York, Pennsylvania.
Kelly McClain, Consignment manager of Hake's Auctions, 33, said: "The design never made it into mass production due to safety concerns about the toy’s rocket-firing mechanism.
"For this reason, few prototypes ever made it into collector’s hands.
“Originally, 80 to 100 Boba Fett prototypes were shipped to the Kenner toy company from Hong Kong for safety testing, and of those, approximately 24 to 26 examples of the J-slot variety are known to have survived.
“Several of the surviving J-slots are in rather rough condition because they’ve undergone rigorous testing procedures that included heating, freezing and more.
“It is clear that the figure was not put through such harsh testing challenges. The only evidence that it underwent any testing evaluations is the presence of indexing marks on the underside of the figure’s feet.”
The toy debuted at the 1979 New York Toy Fair but it was not until the 1990's that collectors learned the J-slot version of the coveted action figure even existed.
McCain added: "In the early 1990s, the figure's original owner, Kenner Reliability and Safety technician John Howlson, sold it to Tom Tumbusch of Tomart Publications
"Tumbusch subsequently featured the prototype in both his magazine, Action Figure Digest, and the first Star Wars Price Guide, which he published.
"That exposure was what first brought it to collectors’ attention."
The prototype was sold with official letters of authenticity from both Howlson and Tumbusch, as well as a letter of provenance from Star Wars memorabilia expert Brian Rachfall.
