As reported earlier today (LINK), Profiles in History was all over the news in the mainstream media (Associated Press, Page Six, Syfy Wire, etc.) with outlets writing about one of the highlights of their massive four day “Icons & Legends of Hollywood” auction in June – a “screen used” prop lightsaber attributed to use by Sir Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. Profiles in History claimed that the “hero” lightsaber had provenance leading back to the late John Mollo, the costume designer on the film who passed away late last year. I pointed to an active discussion on the Replica Prop Forum, with some members openly questioning the authenticity of the piece. It appears that the piece – Lot 775 – has been pulled from the auction, as a fresh download of the online PDF version of the catalog for the sale is two pages lighter. Scanning the now 499 pages, it skips the previous two page spread of Lot 775 entirely.
Astute members of the RPF quickly suggested that the prop depicted in the auction catalog photos matched the style of replicas made by prop replica artisan Darth Hez many years ago, prior to the identification of some of the found parts used in the actual prop made for the film, and using fabricated parts.
At the time of my initial article, I could not locate a quality photo of said prop, but user “Anakin Starkiller” (who was the first to suggest it was that make of replica) published not only a good photo of the Darth Hez replica, but a side by side comparison with one of the photos in the “Icons & Idols of Hollywood” auction catalog (credit Anakin Starkiller, The RPF):
Click this link to read the previous article on this topic: LINK
Jason DeBord