Star Wars 1978 Jawa figure by Palitoy on the original 12-back card (SW-12A) exhibiting the original vinyl cape, sold at Excalibur Auctions.
The figure on the original 12-back card (SW-12A) sold by Excalibur Auctions of Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, on January 27 against an estimate of £10,000-15,000 featured the original vinyl cape, which was later substituted with a cloth cape not long into production. The figure carried an E grade on a VG/E card and was bought by a UK collector bidding online.
It is one of the rarest carded Star Wars figures known to exist. With fees and VAT added, it will cost the buyer just under £20,000.
Only around a dozen ‘carded’ Palitoy examples are known. The first of these surfaced on eBay in 2013 when it sold for £11,300. Since then, a few others have been offered including two at Vectis – one sold in 2013 for £10,200, another for £18,000 in 2017 – and the near-mint examples that made a record £22,000 at Aston’s in Dudley in 2020.
This Excalibur example had been discovered in a loft in the UK following the owner’s unpacking of various film memorabilia that was stacked high in various rooms of his house.
Having served as the art director for Marvel UK between 1974-79, he received a whole range of gifts from Palitoy during the promotion of the Star Wars line in Marvel’s comics.
Excalibur sold an identical example from the same source in July last year for a hammer price of £21,000 against an estimate of also £10,000-15,000 (see ATG No 2605).
