Luke's Lightsaber Is Worth a Pretty Penny

A lightsaber with Luke Skywalker's severed hand from The Empire Strikes Back has sold for $3.75 million at auction, per the AP. Heritage Auctions announced the results of its Hollywood & Entertainment Signature Auction on Monday. The lightsaber, used onscreen by Mark Hamill in the climactic Cloud City fight where Darth Vader declares, "I am your father" in the 1980 Star Wars sequel, even included a severed hand—or at least the special-effects prop used when Vader sliced off his son's hand. Heritage said the price was the highest ever fetched for a prop used in a Star Wars film. Also:

• A Wicked Witch of the West hat worn by actress Margaret Hamilton in 1939's The Wizard of Oz brought in $550,000 at the auction.
• The cocoa-colored top hat worn by Gene Wilder as the title character in 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory went for $350,000.
• Daenerys Targaryen's chest with dragon eggs inside from the first season of Game of Thrones brought in $312,500.
• Two rugs essential to the convoluted plot of The Big Lebowski also sold. The one belonging to Jeff Bridges' the Dude that "really tied the room together" and is soiled at the beginning of the 1998 film went for $350,000. And the nicer one that he takes from his wealthy namesake outdid it with a price of $375,000. The rugs went for far more than expected.
• The items' buyers and sellers were not identified.