Han Solo's Star Wars jacket fails to sell at film auction

Han Solo's jacket, worn by Harrison Ford in the 1980 film Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, is displayed at the IMAX ahead of being auctioned later this month in London, Britain, September 6, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville/

LONDON (Reuters) - A jacket worn by Harrison Ford as Han Solo in the Star Wars film "The Empire Strikes Back" failed to sell at a London auction of movie memorabilia on Thursday, the sale's organizers said. The blue-grey jacket, which was found at a costume house and screen-matched, is the only significant costume piece from the original film trilogy to come to public auction. The item had a pre-sale estimate price of between 500,000 pounds and 1 million pounds ($660,000-$1.33 million). But the bidding climbed to 450,000 pounds before stalling. "Han Solo’s jacket ... didn’t meet reserve but we’ve already had a number of post auction enquiries," said the sale's organizer, Prop Store, in a statement. Collectors had a chance to get their hands on film props and costumes from other films such as "Indiana Jones", "Forrest Gump" and "Back to the Future II". The London and Los Angeles-based Prop Store put more than 600 lots from some 150 movies and television shows up for sale. Other Star Wars items include Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber from the "Revenge of the Sith" movie, which sold for 110,000 pounds. Star Wars items are among the most sought-after pop culture collectibles. A gun used by Han Solo in "The Return of the Jedi" sold for $550,000 in June and an R2-D2 droid used in several films sold for $2.7 million. The most expensive item at the auction was a fedora hat Ford wore as Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" which sold for 320,000 pounds. A hoverboard used by Michael J. Fox in "Back to the Future Part II" sold for 30,000 pounds. ($1 = 0.7537 pounds) (Reporting by Lisa Keddie; Writing by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Andrew Heavens)