Sold! A Massive 'Star Wars' Toy Collection Hits Sotheby's

You know something has ascended way beyond pop culture when Sotheby’s gets in on the action. On December 11, a week before Star Wars: The Force Awakens premieres, Sotheby’s is holding “Return of the NIGO," a collaborative live auction with Japanese fashion designer NIGO® for its first auction dedicated solely to Star Wars.

All of the lots being offered come direct from NIGO®’s private collection. So, while he was launching and managing A Bathing Ape (BAPE), Ice Cream, and Billionaire Boys Club, NIGO® was also spending the decades collecting Star Wars memorabilia out of his Tokyo atelier. The collection includes “600 original action figures (including a rare Luke Skywalker with 'double-telescoping' Lightsaber),” Darth Vader and Stormtrooper helmets, and “complete sets of collectible 'Power of the Force; coins, limited edition toys, and autographed rarities, such as a Count Dooku Lightsaber signed by Sir Christopher Lee.”

“The style of my collecting is really unchanged and I still collect toys,” NIGO® said in 2014, during his first collaboration with Sotheby’s for the auction "NIGO® Only Lives Twice." “I am motivated to do it for the same reason, which is the personal attraction I have to certain things.”

“That attraction and appreciation for pop culture sensations has gone on to influence NIGO®’s own style,” Sotheby’s explains on the auction website. “After starting his Star Wars collection in the 1990s, NIGO® cited the series as an influence on his own distinctive approach to design. Later, he even fulfilled the wildest dream of any Star Wars collector—creating his own Boba Fett and Stormtrooper figures in collaboration with the MediaCom toy company.”

Now, if we could just get a live feed of all the geeks descending on the auction. Click here to visit and sign up for "Return of the NIGO."

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