R2-D2 Screen-Used Unit (Star Wars)

A droid built from the films themselves

This R2-D2 is not a single unit that rolled off one production. It is a 43-inch droid assembled from parts that were used in making the Star Wars films, built up over seven years by a British enthusiast who has never been publicly named. The auction's head of acquisitions said the collector made the character from retired parts from at least four films, and called it 'the only one to reach the auction block in the world.'

Accounts of exactly which films are represented differ. The Associated Press report described it as compiled from parts used throughout filming of the original trilogy. The CNN report, citing the auction catalog, said the components came from the original trilogy as well as Episode I, The Phantom Menace, and Episode II, Attack of the Clones, films made between 1977 and 2002. A Kansas City television report likewise named both the 1977 original and the 2002 Attack of the Clones.

The catalog explained why such an object could exist at all: R2-D2 units were upgraded as each new film was made, and older components were retired. Those retired pieces are what the collector gathered. The oldest is the dome, which dates to the original 1977 film, when the droid was operated from the inside by actor Kenny Baker.

The finished droid is built of aluminum, steel and fiberglass. It looks the part, but the catalog was candid that it does not perform: 'No internal mechanics or workings are present.'

The man inside, and the droid's makers

R2-D2 was designed in artwork by Ralph McQuarrie, co-developed by special effects man John Stears, and built for the first film by Stears' team and Peteric Engineering. George Lucas drew on the peasant Matashichi from Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress (1958), and he and McQuarrie also took cues from the drones Huey, Dewey and Louie in Douglas Trumbull's Silent Running (1972). Sound editor Walter Murch has said the name came from his request for 'Reel 2, Dialog Track 2,' abbreviated R-2-D-2, which Lucas overheard and called a great name.

Several units were built for the original films: one radio controlled that rolled on three legs, and others worn by Kenny Baker that walked on two. Baker, born in Birmingham, England, on August 24, 1934, stood 3 feet 8 inches tall. He was performing in a comedy act called the Mini Tones when Lucas chose him, and he first turned the part down because his act had reached the final of a British television talent show. His first day of filming was March 22, 1976, in Tunisia, which stood in for Tatooine.

For The Empire Strikes Back, Tony Dyson and his White Horse Toy Company built revised fiberglass droids, several of them remote controlled. By the prequels, technology did more of the work: there were 15 R2-D2s on the set of Attack of the Clones, eight radio controlled, two worn by Baker and the rest stunt models. Baker asked to appear in one Attack of the Clones scene 'for old time's sake,' the secret wedding of Anakin and Padme. He died on August 13, 2016, in Preston, England, less than a year before this droid went to auction.

The droid's voice was never in the costume at all. Sound designer Ben Burtt built it from an ARP 2600 synthesizer and his own processed vocalizations.

1977: the film nobody expected

Star Wars opened on May 25, 1977, in a small number of American theaters, 32 by one count. Few had been confident in it; production in Tunisia fell behind in its first week as props failed, and the radio-controlled R2-D2 units functioned poorly. The film went $3 million over budget. It became a surprise blockbuster, grossed $410 million worldwide in its first run, overtook Jaws as the highest-grossing film and won six Academy Awards.

It was the year Jimmy Carter took office, Apple Computer was incorporated, the space shuttle Enterprise made its first free flight and Elvis Presley died. In August and September the Voyager probes were launched toward the outer planets.

The 2017 sale

The droid was the top lot of a three-day Hollywood memorabilia sale in the Los Angeles area that ended its run on Wednesday, June 28, 2017. The catalog had estimated it at $1 million to $2 million and called it 'one of the most instantly recognizable pieces of pop culture in existence.' It sold above the high estimate.

The reported price differs by source. The Associated Press and outlets that carried its story reported $2.76 million. CNN, and the seller's own post-sale announcement that night, gave $2,750,000. The buyer was not identified. Because the droid was in the United Kingdom, bidders were warned that special shipping arrangements would be needed.

Other Star Wars lots in the same sale showed how far ahead the droid was. Reports of the Luke Skywalker lightsaber used in the first two films differ, at $450,000 in one account and $325,000 in another, and a Darth Vader helmet from the original film was reported at $96,000.

What makes it different

Most famous props are single objects with a single film history. This one is a composite, and its value rests on that being disclosed: every major component is said to have been used in production, but the droid as it stands was never on screen in this exact form. The catalog called it the only complete R2-D2 unit in the public domain.

Its physical marks of identity are the 1977 dome and the build itself: aluminum, steel and fiberglass, 43 inches tall, with no motors, wiring or electronics inside. Anyone weighing a claim that a given R2-D2 is 'screen used' should ask which parts, from which film, and how each is documented.

Legacy

R2-D2 and C-3PO are the only characters to appear in nearly every theatrical Star Wars film. R2-D2 was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh in 2003, and the Smithsonian included the droid in its list of 101 Objects that Made America. In 2022 a survey found R2-D2 the most popular movie robot in the United States.

The droid also proved that fans could build the real thing. For The Force Awakens, producer Kathleen Kennedy hired two fans, Lee Towersey and Oliver Steeples, to build new R2-D2s after seeing their working replicas at a 2013 fan convention. The 2017 sale showed the other side of that devotion: what a droid made from genuine production parts was worth.

The numbers

Film

Star Wars, released May 25, 1977

Opening

32 US theaters

First-run gross

$410 million worldwide

Academy Awards

Six

R2-D2 units on Attack of the Clones set

15 (8 radio controlled, 2 worn by Kenny Baker, the rest stunt models)

Timeline

1. May 26, 1975

   George Lucas founds Industrial Light & Magic to create effects for Star Wars.

2. Mar 22, 1976

   Kenny Baker's first day of filming as R2-D2, in Tunisia.

3. May 25, 1977

   Star Wars opens in a small number of US theaters. The dome on this droid dates to this film.

4. 1980

   The Empire Strikes Back uses revised fiberglass R2-D2s built by Tony Dyson's White Horse Toy Company.

5. 1983

   Return of the Jedi completes the original trilogy.

6. May 1999

   The Phantom Menace is released; Baker returns for scenes not needing radio-controlled units.

7. May 2002

   Attack of the Clones is released; 15 R2-D2s were on its set.

8. 2003

   R2-D2 is inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh.

9. Aug 13, 2016

   Kenny Baker dies in Preston, England, at 81.

10. Jun 28, 2017

    The assembled droid sells at auction in the Los Angeles area, reported at $2.76 million, above its $1 million to $2 million estimate.

The world in 1977

• Jan 3, 1977

  Apple Computer is incorporated.

• Jan 20, 1977

  Jimmy Carter is sworn in as the 39th president.

• Jul 13, 1977

  A 25-hour blackout hits New York City.

• Aug 12, 1977

  The space shuttle Enterprise makes its first free flight from the back of a Boeing 747.

• Aug 16, 1977

  Elvis Presley dies at Graceland at 42.

• Aug 20, 1977

  Voyager 2 is launched, followed by Voyager 1 on September 5.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, R2-D2 Screen-Used Unit (Star Wars) is number 34 of 100 in the memorabilia entries of the FLOAT 100. 100 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (28 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• R2-D2's name may come from a sound editor asking for 'Reel 2, Dialog Track 2.'
• Kenny Baker first turned down the role so he would not break up his comedy act.
• Baker was due to play the Ewok Wicket in Return of the Jedi but fell ill; he played the Ewok Paploo instead.
• The radio-controlled R2-D2 units worked so poorly in Tunisia that they helped put the first film behind schedule.
• R2-D2's voice was made on an ARP 2600 synthesizer mixed with Ben Burtt's own vocalizations.
• The droid that sold in 2017 has no motors or electronics inside at all.