By: Friedrich Seiltgen
Copyright © 2022
You read that right! In what is described as a heated bidding war, one of three original Han Solo “Blasters” used by Harrison Ford in the movie Star Wars, and the last surviving example, recently sold at auction for $1,057,500 dollars. It was auctioned at Rock Island Armory and was expected to bring a price of about $300,000 to $500,000, but a heated bidding war drove the price over $1 million dollars.
This is the very same pistol used to blast Greedo in the Mos Eisley Cantina and one of three pistols created by Bapty & Company; a London-based movie prop company. Established in 1919, Bapty was involved in the first three Star Wars Movies, as well as Aliens, Batman, and the Dark Knight. The Blaster was thought to be lost but was found in the Bapty inventory
The DL-44 heavy blaster pistol was manufactured by Blastech Industries at their Baktoid Armor workshop located on Cymoon 1. Actually, it was one of three blank-firing pistols manufactured by a team of armorers using a Mauser C96 “Broomhandle,” a vintage German Hensoldt scope, and an MG81 flash hider on the cut-down barrel. The production used blank-firing guns because they help with the synchronization of sound effects, and there is a visible reaction when firing a blank gun.
The pistol comes with a letter of authenticity from Rock Island Armory. Authenticity was researched by way of serial numbers captured on the gun during filming as well as a verification of authenticity from Carl Schmidt who served as an armorer on the original Star Wars installment.
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Friedrich Seiltgen is a retired Master Police Officer with 20 years of service with the Orlando Police Department. He conducts training in Lone Wolf Terrorism Counterstrategies, Firearms, and Active Shooter Response. His writing has appeared in RECOIL, www.floridajolt.com, The Counterterrorist Magazine, American Thinker, Soldier of Fortune, Homeland Security Today, and The Journal of Counterterrorism & Homeland Security International. Contact him at [email protected].