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'Remarkable' Star Wars collection under the hammer

Chloe Aslett
BBC News, Yorkshire
Duggleby Group Jason Darling, a tall man with dark hair and sideburns. He has a blue star wars t-shirt on. He is holding action figures including R2-D2, a white robot character. Behind him are tens of boxes of action figures and vehicles from the series.Duggleby Group
Jason Darling, 55, started his collection aged eight

A "remarkable" collection of Star Wars memorabilia spanning 30 years is set to go under the hammer.

Jason Darling, from Driffield, East Yorkshire, started his collection aged eight in 1979 when he was given a Return of the Jedi Millennium Falcon for Christmas.

As a boy, he went to Redgates toy shop and the flea market in Sheffield, where he grew up, to purchase items including a £5.50 Land of the Jawas playset now expected to fetch around £120.

The 55-year-old former soldier said: "It's time now to let the majority go and let somebody else have some enjoyment out of it.

"There are some bits in there that if [they don't sell], I'm going to take them back."

Duggleby Group A collection of Star Wars memorabilia, including action figures and models of a variety of space vehicles. The items are on a green table. Duggleby Group
The collection is described by specialists as "unusual" as the items span three decades

By the time Mr Darling joined the military in the mid-1990s, the collection had grown so much it had to go into storage - where it stayed for 20 years.

The "sheer size" of the collection, which contains 55 lots but more items if counted individually, spurred his decision to sell ahead of downsizing to a new home.

Speaking ahead of viewings at the auction house, he said: "It has been in storage boxes, so it will be like walking into a toy store."

About half of the items have never been taken out of their boxes.

"Back in the day you just ripped the box open to get to the toy," he said.

"I don't know what drove me, but I didn't."

Staff at David Duggleby auction house in Scarborough described the collection as "remarkable".

"It spans almost three decades of collecting, which is one of the things that makes it so unusual," said Chloe Mckenna, a toy specialist.

"We often see collections of toys that people have treasured since their childhood, but the collections very rarely span such a long period of time."

Duggleby Group Wide angle shot of Jason Darling, a tall man with dark hair and sideburns, surrounded by tens of boxes of action figures and vehicles from the series at the auctioneers before the collection is sold.Duggleby Group
The collection contains 55 auctionable lots, but many more items if counted individually

The whole collection is set to fetch up to £7,000, with the Millennium Falcon estimated to raise £100-£200 and many action figures expected to sell for £50-£100 each.

Despite his collection heading to other homes far, far away, Mr Darling said his feelings about the hit franchise remain as strong.

"The addiction to Star Wars will always be there, Mr Darling said.

"That's never going to go away from me."

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