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WHAT’S SELLING ON eBay
WHAT’S SELLING ON eBay

by Deborah Abernethy and Mike McLeod

There were four of these T.I.E. Fighters built for the first film. It is very
It is with sadness that I announce that Deborah Abernethy passed difficult to say whether this was a “good buy.” My personal guess would be
away in February from an illness. For more than a decade, she has that this series will not “fade out of memory” any time in the near future,
diligently given freely of her time to make “What’s Selling on eBay?” a since the time span for the six films covers 28 years. This is the only T.I.E.
fun feature and an informative read for thousands of collectors and Fighter that has ever been sold. I am not sure that the others actually exist, as
antiquers. As a memorial to her passing, one of her first collaborations they may have been “destroyed” in filming. This is the only one that has been
with me is below. It is from August, 2008. – Mike McLeod recorded as being sold.
Is this a good buy? Who can predict the future? Maybe Darth Vader will

$1,525: Five 1954 Creature From The Black Lagoon Lobby Cards. come back to capture it and fight again. Or maybe it was a time warp dream
Numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8. Excellent images of classic scenes from the film. and hasn’t occurred yet.

The set is in very good condition for their age. Four have pin holes, and one
has some creasing and black marks, but the rest are basically unmarked. There $3,000: Jose Reyes Nantucket Covered
is one card that looks mint and unused. Purse. 9” wide x 6” tall x 6” deep, carved whale
top piece, old patina, faint signed on bottom,
DA: Lobby cards were made to be displayed in the movie theatre lobbies. “Jose Formosa Reyes Nantucker,” with island
They are usually 11” x 14” and in sets of eight. Collectors love these, as outline, good condition. (Courtesy of MV
evidenced by the sales price of this group. There are five of these from Auctions, West Yarmouth, MA)
Creature From the Black Lagoon, and the condition is good for being from
1954. The title card is considered the best DA: The Nantucket Lightship Basket tradition
and most costly of the group. The title began in 1856 when men were stationed on the
card from Metropolis brought $4,481.25 at lightship to work the lights that kept ships from
auction. So this set of five for $1,525 seems wrecking. In their leisure time, the men began to Similar example by Jose
like a bargain. make graduated-size baskets with a grooved Reyes. Original photo for this
Note: because the original photo from 2008 was wooden bottom. The lighthouse purse tradition column was too small for
not printable now, it was replaced with this started in 1945 when Jose Reyes came to printing purposes.
photo of the same lobby card from Heritage Nantucket from the Philippines. He made a basket form with a woven lid with
Auctions, HA.com. cane-wrapped leather straps. A carved piece of whale ivory in the form of a
seagull or seashell would attach the lid to the basket of the purse, and it would

$350,000: Original T.I.E. Fighter from Star Wars: A New Hope. During be topped with scrimshaw like top.
the nail-biting assault on the Death Star in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, The baskets made today are with synthetic ivory or recycled ivory. Audrey
this is the actual filming miniature of the T.I.E. fighter that bumps into Darth Hepburn was known to carry one. A new 8-inch round purse made today will
Vader’s fighter, knocking him out of the trench, allowing Luke to destroy the cost between $280 and $800 with the price variations being with the quality
Death Star. This historic piece is from the collection of Academy Award- of the ivory and scrimshaw. An older Jose Reyes purse will cost much more
winning visual effects wizard, Richard Edlund. The design concepts for the with $3,000 being the norm. It was a good buy in that these bags are difficult
T.I.E. (Twin Ion Engine) Fighters of the Galactic Empire originally came to find.

from Colin Cantwell and Ralph McQuarrie.
Only four T.I.E. Fighters were built for the first Star Wars film. Grant $7,500: Star Wars Box Flats ESB 12” Han Solo Hoth AFA 90. Grade: 90.
McCune, head of the model shop, used a fairly heavy, but stable resin for the Subgrades: NA. Serial #: 12160445. (courtesy of Premier Collectible
body of the ship and other resins for the tinier parts. The hexagonal wings are Auctions, Fountain City, WI)
created of finely expanded metal sheeting. Much of the intricate design detail
was robbed from plastic model kits, then modified and affixed. (Sold by and DA: At first, I thought that this auction was at
photo courtesy of Profiles in History, Calabasas, CA.) a Star Wars® convention and they had everyone
drunk! Why would a BOX sell for $7,500? So
DA: This Star Wars stuff gets to be too much I started investigating. This was a large Han
for me. I have seen every one of the six films of Solo in Hoth attire doll that Kenner had
the series, starting with the first one released. I planned to produce in 1980. There were three
guess that I am more into the characters: Luke, known unproduced dolls made with hand-
Leila, Hans, Obi-Wan, Darth Vader, Yoda, made outfits and mold-injected parts. Only
Chewbacca, and R2D2, to name just a few. three to five of these box flats are known to
Personally, I never paid any attention to the exist. None were ever used to contain a doll.
spacecraft. According to Wikipedia, “T.I.E. Other information, in case you are in a
fighters are fictional starfighters in the Star trivia game: Hoth is a planet of snow and ice,
Wars universe. Propelled by Twin Ion where creatures like the wampas and tauntauns
Engines (hence the TIE acronym), T.I.E. live. The Rebel Alliance had set up their
Fighters are depicted as fast, fragile starfighters headquarters there before the Empire tracked them down, forcing the Rebel
produced by Sienar Fleet Systems for the Alliance to leave. (This was Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.)
Galactic Empire.” These spacecraft are more defined in the action game series Is it a good buy? Who knows because there are so few that you won’t find
and literature than in the films. one to compare with it.

14 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles