You need to see this auction! Trust me!

[Darth Thalos]

I read that some of the guys on the RPF are already disputing some of the details of the saber!?

There is no doubt that some people have spare coin to blow on stuff like this. $200K would pay for a ton of Yoda Special Editions.

I guess some collectors are living in another reality separate from the one I'm in..

IMO, iconic items such as Luke's lightsaber should be donated to places like the Smithsonian due to the cultural impact they had on our society.

I was thinking something along the same lines.  If it is an original prop.  Donate it.  honestly, people would pay to see this kind of film history.

[BIGGS DARKLIGHTER]

I'm with the guys on the RPF. Everytime some item from Gary Kurtz's collection shows up on for auction it has T-tracks on it that don't match what we know from the OT. I have no doubt that that graflex was actually used in the films but I agree with some of the RPF speculation that it was probably a torn down prop that was rebuilt from parts, perhaps at Elstree. Regardless, 200K is a lot. As for donating props like that...no fear as Lucas has most of the best prop sabers are in the archives.

Well...other than the Vader ESB/ROTJ hero saber which appears to be in Pennsylvania and the Obi-Wan ANH hero which is lost to time and the Luke V2.

[Darth Thalos]

they are out there somewhere. ::)

[BIGGS DARKLIGHTER]

they are out there somewhere. ::)

Sadly, probably not in the case of the Obi-Wan ANH Hero  :'( It was most likely disassembled following ANH by Elstree and lost forever.

Or...maybe it just ended up being forgotten and disposed of like the original Death Star did and then be found years later in the Missouri Ozarks  ::)

Things are found all the time amazingly enough. Heck...that Vader ESB/ROTJ hero saber was just found within the last 1-2 years by the prop community! I'm convinced that the LFL archives also has a ton of props in it that aren't properly archived or labeled so who knows what'll show up  ;)