Star Wars memorabilia auction 'out of this world'

Most of the items are mint-in-box collectibles of figures, weapons and vehicles

An enormous and "rare" collection of Star Wars memorabilia, from one careful owner, is going under the hammer.

Hundreds of boxed figures and collectables from the sci-fi franchise will be auctioned off at Willingham, near Cambridge, on Saturday.

They include a rare 1978 radio-controlled Jawa Sandcrawler, in its original box, which could fetch £1,000.

Auctioneer Stephen Drake said: "It's a very special collection - out of this world, one would say."

A rare 1978 Jawa Sandcrawler is among the collection

The collection has been divided into separate lots, each containing dozens of mint condition boxed figures.

Many of the individual lots are estimated to fetch up to £300 at a time - with the entire collection valued at tens of thousands of pounds, according to the auction website.

Each of the lots has dozens of individual items, most of which are unopened

The vast collection is being divided into separate lots

Mr Drake said the pieces dated from 1978 onwards, depicting each of the nine movies in the franchise and all from "one person's collection".

"The value is in its thousands," he said.

"You're talking quite a few thousand figures in amongst the whole lot. Some of the early pieces - the Star Wars 17 figures - they're rare."

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The collection ranges from figurines of the popular characters like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and Princess Leia, to more obscure fighters and droids - as well as weapons, fan club magazines and posters.

Willingham auctioneer Stephen Drake said the collection was "absolutely rare"

Mr Drake said the auction has piqued a lot of interest on social media.

"The Jawa could be upwards of £1,000, but it's an auction, that's the exciting thing, so we'll see," he said.