A miniature X-wing Starfighter used in a 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� film sold for over $3 million during an auction over the weekend of items both collected and created by longtime Hollywood model-maker Greg Jein.
amassed by Jein, who died last year at the age of 76, brought in about $13.6 million during an event at Heritage Auctions in Dallas. The auction house said that everyone from model-makers to collectors and science-fiction fans attended, making the event its best-attended in years.
Joe Maddalena, Heritage鈥檚 executive vice president and a longtime friend of Jein鈥檚, said in a news release Monday that the auction was 鈥渁 profound testament to my friend as both a visual-effects master and one of the great collectors.鈥�
Jein not only had an Oscar and Emmy-nominated career making miniature models for nearly half a century, but he also spent a lifetime collecting costumes, props, scripts, artwork, photographs and models from the shows he loved.
The Red Leader X-wing Starfighter that was used in the 1977 film 鈥淪tar Wars: Episode IV 鈥� A New Hope鈥� sold for about $3.1 million after a bidding duel between two collectors, the auction house said. Also going for an eye-popping amount was a 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� Stormtrooper costume that sold for $645,000.
A rare surviving spacesuit from Stanley Kubrick鈥檚 1968 film 鈥�2001: A Space Odyssey鈥� sold for $447,000.
Jein was a fan of 鈥� 鈥� before he worked on the franchise 鈥� and some of the items that he collected were popular at the auction. A filming model of the 鈥淪S Botany Bay鈥� vessel from 鈥淪tar Trek: The Original Series鈥� from the 1960s went for $200,000 while prop devices from that series like a hero phaser went for $187,500 and a tricorder garnered $175,000.
Jein, who grew up in Los Angeles, was still early in his career when he led the team that created the mothership for Steven Spielberg鈥檚 1977 film 鈥淐lose Encounters of the Third Kind.鈥� The model that appears gigantic in the movie is just over 5 feet (1.5 meters) long and now part of the collection at the Smithsonian鈥檚 National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. A small preliminary model, which is about 5 inches (12 centimeters) long, brought in $55,000 at the auction.
Lou Zutavern, Jein鈥檚 longtime friend and shop supervisor, said that he and Jein always had 鈥渁 ball鈥� working together. He said Jein was a great friend, and recalled the time he brought a box filled with model kits to entertain Zutavern after he had a knee surgery.
Zutavern said his friend had a love of Hollywood history, and a passion for seeking out items for his collection.
鈥淗e loved the search and finding things and making a trade,鈥� Zutavern said. 鈥淚t was part of the fun for him.鈥�
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