Complete Star Wars collection sold for £2,500 Published duration 30 November 2017

image copyright Sheffield Auction Gallery image caption The collection of 99 action figures was estimated to fetch up to £3,500

A collection of the original 99 Star Wars action figures been has sold for £2,500.

The figures, which originally were sold between 1978 and 1983 for as little as £1.59 each, failed to sell during an auction at Sheffield Auction Gallery but a deal was struck after the sale.

The collection, which was estimated to fetch up to £3,500, was put up for sale by an anonymous collector.

Auctioneer John Morgan said it had attracted "significant interest".

image copyright Sheffield Auction Gallery image caption The Yak Face figure (centre of bottom row) was the last of the 99 figures to be issued and is among the most valuable

image copyright Sheffield Auction Gallery

"It's not that rare to see a full collection but it's rare to see it come up at an auction as a job lot rather than being broken down," said Chris Malbon, who runs Metropolis Toys in Warwick and helped value the figures.

image copyright Sheffield Auction Gallery image caption A boxed Boba Fett figure (similar to top left) sold at auction in 2016 for £26,000

image copyright Sheffield Auction Gallery

Auctioneer John Morgan said the collection had been put together by a man from Sheffield over a number of years but who has now decided to part company with the figures.

"The gentleman put them together, done, and now he has another collection he wants to put together so these must go," he said.

"There's been significant interest from around the world [in the collection]."

Cost a Boba Fett or two

image copyright Sheffield Auction Gallery image caption 96 of the figures are accompanied with genuine weapons, including blasters, light sabre, staffs, cloaks, and pistols

image copyright Sheffield Auction Gallery

Mr Malbon estimated a similar collection still in its original packaging would sell for in excess of £100,000.

"There's nothing else like Star Wars. It has captured the world in a way no other toy has. There's nothing like it."

image copyright Sheffield Auction Gallery image caption The toys were released between 1978 and 1983