A STAR Wars toy which had been left in a draw for 45 years has sold for an eye-watering £21,000.
The extremely rare plastic Jawa figure which is just 2.25ins tall was made in 1978 following the huge success of the first film, A New Hope which had been released to year before.
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It is one of only 10 to 15 known surviving examples with a coveted brown vinyl cape on its original back card.
Manufacturers Palitoy and Kenner quickly withdrew the vinyl caped Jawa and replaced it with a cloth one instead as it was cheaper to make.
The toy was taken home by the vendor, a man in his 70s from Kent, who worked as the art director for Marvel UK between 1974 and 1979.
He was sent it as a promotional item as Marvel were doing a competition giveaway of early Star Wars figures in one of their magazines.
The vendor was unaware of how valuable it was until he brought it in alongside some of his old Marvel comics to Excalibur Auctions, of Kings Langley, Herts.
It attracted a hammer price of £21,000.
Auctioneer Jonathan Torode said: “The vendor, who worked for Marvel in the 1970s, was sent this promotional figure as their magazine was doing a giveaway.
“He took it home afterwards and put it in a drawer, where it stayed for 45 years.
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“He had no idea how valuable it is until he brought it into us with some old Marvel comics.
“He was gobsmacked when we told him this figure is one of the rarest carded Star Wars figures known to exist, with approximately 10-15 examples documented.
“The vinyl cape on the Jawa was substituted with a cloth cape not long into production, and the UK Palitoy carded variation is even rarer than the USA Kenner version.
“It’s a privilege to handle such a piece of Star Wars toy history.”
Jawas, which have been in Star Wars since the first film, are 3ft tall humanoids who conceal their faces and comb the deserts of Tattoine in search of discarded scrap.
The world record for a Jawa figure is £40,000, which was achieved in Pennsylvania, US, in March.
In February, a collection of more than 400 Star Wars toys in their original packaging sold for £622,000.
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