An auction record for a Star Wars toy was established when Hake’s Auctions of York, Pennsylvania, sold a rocket-firing Boba Fett action figure for $95,700 (£76,600).

Extracted from Antiques Trade Gazette | Roland Arkell

The prototype figure, intended as part of Kenner’s licensed toy line for The Empire Strikes Back, was displayed at the 1979 Toy Fair in New York but never made it into mass production.

While some speculate that the toy (this one with an L-slot mechanism) was pulled after concerns the red plastic rocket was a safety hazard, many Star Wars scholars have concluded it was more likely shelved due to a production or cost issue.

The online sale at Hake’s took place on July 11 and the buyer’s premium was 18%.

The original production figure of Boba Fett, the memorable bit-part character in The Empire Strikes Back, is itself a rare and very desirable item.

Examples have set auction records before, such as a Palitoy 30B Boba Fett that sold for £15,000 at Vectis in January 2015, and a French issue figure that sold for £21,000 again at Vectis in July 2016.