A Star Wars toy that cost £1.50 when it came out 35 years ago has sold for £18,000 at auction.

The Boba Fett replica is believed to have commanded the highest price of any Star Wars action figure to have gone under the hammer.

It was put up for sale by Craig Stevens, a former chair of the UK Star Wars Fan Club and collector, who purchased it in 1990. The 45-year-old from Croydon, said: “I’m amazed at the price, that was absolutely perfect. The money is going to go towards a house for me and my wife.

“We are looking to move quite soon so that will be perfect to put towards it. I hope it will go to a good collector who will look after it and cherish it like I have.”

Stevens said he believes it is one of only four or five figures of Boba Fett, a bounty hunter, who first appeared in the Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back, still in pristine condition.

The toy, still in its original packaging, was sold to an unnamed online bidder through Vectis Auctions. The winning bid was £15,000, at the top end of expectations, but in total the buyer will pay £18,000, including 20% commission to the auction house.

The packaging was unpunched, meaning it had not been pierced so that it could be displayed on a shop peg, as usually happened. Stevens said he still has 10,000 items in his collection of Star Wars memorabilia.

“I was one of the children who queued up to see Star Wars when it was first released in 1977 and it had a tremendous effect on me.

“I began collecting everything that I could get my hands on connected to Star Wars and I have kept going right up to the present day.”

Valuer Kathy Taylor said the figures came from the “golden age” of Star Wars films and rarely, if ever, came to market. “We have never had a collection like this,” she said.

“We do get a lot of toys here which make big money but this is the first Star Wars collection that we have ever had that is of this calibre.”