Luke Skywalker's lightsaber from The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: A New Hope sold for nearly half a million dollars

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford began filming George Lucas’ Star Wars saga in the late 70s. [caption id=“attachment_3768307” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Luke Skywalker and his famous lightsaber. Image from Twitter.[/caption] In a recent development, the lightsaber prop used by legendary actor Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, has been sold for nearly half a million dollars. The prop was sold to the Orlando-based Ripley company, according to the Orlando Sentinel, read a statement by The Hollywood Reporter. The lightsaber was part of the collection owned by producer Gary Kurtz and may be on display at one of the Believe It or Not locations around the country. But the details are yet to be out. This is still not the biggest “Star Wars” item auctioned off. An original R2-D2 unit used for the original trilogy sold for nearly $3 million. The 43-inch-tall unit was sold through the auction house Profiles in History and was compiled from parts used throughout filming the original films. In March, as a testament to the role that made him famous, Hamill shared a throwback photo from his first day at work, wearing his Luke Skywalker garb in the Tunisian desert that served as the set for Tatooine. Nearly 41 years later, Hamill is now preparing for his debut  as an older Skywalker  in Star Wars: The Last Jedi following an earlier cameo in The Force Awakens. Iconic actress Carrie Fisher, more famously and loving known as our Princess Leia  from the same franchise passed away on 27 December, 2016, leaving Star Wars fans in inexplicable grief. — With inputs from IANS.