Star Wars figure originally bought for £1.59 expected to sell for around £1,500 at Newcastle auction

Star Wars figures which were originally purchased for less than £2 are expected to sell for over £1,000 when they go to auction this week.

A plethora of Star Wars memorabilia from the 70s and 80s will go up for sale at Anderson and Garland auctioneers in Newcastle on Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 March.

Director Fred Wyrley-Birch expects one figure of Yak Face, from around 1983 and bought for just £1.59, could sell for as much as £1,500 at the collectors' sale.

Fred said: "Yak Face is one of the last figures that they did and he's a rarity.

"There's two in this sale, one out of the packaging and he's estimated at about £100, and you have one in the original packaging and that's got a price label of £1.59 on it and its starting price is £1,000 and it's likely to be worth about £1,200 if not more."

The haul was previously owned by a collector in Sussex and includes an original Artoo-Detoo (R2-D2) and a Return of the Jedi Han Solo figure still on its original backing card.

A variety of additional items such as posters and vehicles from the films have been sent in from people living locally.

This includes a boxed figure of Chewbacca which is signed by the late Peter Mayhew, who played the Wookiee warrior between 1977 and 2015.

Fred said: "Star Wars always gets quite a bit of interest. It's iconic.

"When Disney took on the franchise everyone was a bit sceptical about what Disney was going to do with it but they've managed to create a whole new wave of collectors in the new movies.

"You've got new generations interested in Star Wars."

The Star Wars auction will begin at around midday on Wednesday and bids can be placed online, in person or via telephone.