Jun 19, 2026
You don’t need to use The Force to acquire Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber. You can get it, complete with the Jedi’s prop hand, severed by Darth Vader in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, from an upcoming Hollywood memorabilia auction.
Instead, it may only take a check for a cool $1 million to allow you to hold that lightsaber in your hand and declare, in your best Darth Vader voice, “I am your owner.”
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The lightsaber is currently on the auction block as part of the Hollywood & Entertainment Signature Auction hosted by Heritage Auctions, which technically runs from July 13-17 but is open for bids now.
Other unique items on the block include John Lennon’s handwritten If I Fell Beatles lyrics ($525,000), boxing boots worn by Sylvester Stallone in Rocky III ($100,000), and Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West hat from The Wizard of Oz (also $100,000). Moneywise reached out to Heritage Auctions for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.
Some offerings, however, start as low as $100, allowing collectors of all sorts to indulge in the ongoing demand for the sort of nostalgic collectibles that the Journal of Antiques says “carry both rarity and a story” while “offering tangible links to cultural moments.”
But while buying such items brings a sense of joy, comfort and familiarity, it’s important to be aware of the potential dark side of collectibles — where emotion-driven buyers invest in nostalgia despite questionable chances of long-term returns.
The financial perils of chasing nostalgia
Last year, the auction exchange platform aShareX noted a “dramatic rise” in nostalgic items that “has added great value to pop culture memorabilia.”
They posited that the nostalgia demand also owes something to the prevalence of streaming services, which has added “high investment” potential to “items related to movies, TV shows, and even specific brands.”
That said, a Cambridge study published in April focused on “110 years of returns on collectibles for 13 asset classes” and found that assets that provided “positive emotional returns” also resulted in lower financial ones.
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It’s a fascinating finding that illustrates how the emotional value of a collectible can drive buyers to invest large sums on items with uncertain prospects for appreciation.
Wealth management and financial planning firm Atomos warns that, while collectibles bring joy, they also “act like risky assets at market extremes” while their value “can be highly subjective and vary significantly.”
So the folks who bought a sealed Super Mario Bros. game for $3 million in June, or two first-edition Batman and Superman comic books for $13 million in February, or Dorothy’s Wizard of Oz ruby slippers for $28 million in 2024, enjoy no guarantees that the items will increase — or won’t significantly decrease — in value over time.
In the 1990s, people scooped up Beanie Babies as investments “with the idea that, years later, they could flip them for hundreds or thousands of dollars.” Today, as a 2021 Vice story notes, most are worthless.
As well, early pandemic booms in collectibles like retro video games and sports cards eventually came back to Earth just a few years later, due to alleged market manipulation and simple market correction respectively.
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Even NFTs — non-fungible tokens — pose a cautionary tale. A 2023 report found that, after reaching a collective peak worth of $17 billion just two years earlier, 95% of them quickly lost all value as demand waned.
In addition, depending on your desired collection, the IRS may also come looking for its cut.
Yes, the taxman may have little interest in owning your collectible art or coins or stamps, but he sure is happy to consider them an investment and tax them at a capital gains rate of up to 28%.
That’s why it’s important to take a realistic, and fiscally responsible, approach to nostalgia collectibles.
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How to indulge in nostalgia while reducing financial risk
Ultimately, when it comes to collectibles, it’s best to stick to items that bring you joy.
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“We always say that you must buy what you will like in your living room, this is the first [return on investment] you will get for sure,” Maximilien Aguttes, of the Paris-based Aguttes auction house, said in an interview with MoneyWeek.
He suggested buying items “you actually like, and be able to identify rare and beautiful items, low prices and forecast increasing demand,” otherwise, “you will probably lose money.”
The Journal of Antiques also advises that you confirm the provenance of any collectible before putting money down by looking for “receipts, production notes, photo matches, and third-party authentication,” as well as auction records and any expert insight you can glean.
In the end, however, there is no guarantee that the nostalgia collectible you spent half your savings on will increase in value — which is why it’s important to buy what you enjoy without putting yourself at financial risk.
In other words, start small and don’t blow your life savings on Star Wars memorabilia — no matter how much you might Obi Wan-t it.
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Mike Crisolago is a Sr. Staff Reporter at Moneywise with nearly 20 years of experience working as a journalist, editor, content strategist and podcast host. He specializes in personal finance writing related to the 50-plus demographic and retirement, as well as politics and lifestyle content.
