Record Breaking Vintage Toys From the Jeff Jacob Collection — Star Wars Toys

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: This entire toy collection sold for over $5 million. Over the last several months, we've watched one of the greatest Star Wars collections slowly disappear. Hundreds of vintage toys, decades of history, and millions of dollars changing hands. But today, it all comes to an end. Today, we're counting down the 25 biggest sales across all five Jeff Jacob auctions. From record-breaking grails to unexpected surprises. And some prices that even shocked veteran collectors. But this finale is different. Because for the first time, I wasn't just watching. I was bidding. Let's go. Today's video is sponsored by Hake's Auction House. Right now, they're featuring their July premiere auction. Bidding starts July 7th on some of the most impressive vintage items from Star Wars, G.I. Joe, Transformers, and a lot more. Hake's is the best auction house in the galaxy because the best items are consigned on Hake's. Bidding ends July 29th. So go to Hake's.com right now to follow the action and tell them the Padawan sent you. Thanks for Hake's for being a sponsor. And now, back to the video. One thing I've always loved about collecting is that every toy has two stories. The first is the one Lucasfilm and Kenner created. The second is the journey it takes after it leaves the toy aisle. Who owned it? Who protected it? Where did it travel? How did it survive for all these decades? Jeff Jacob became one of those collectors whose name earned instant respect throughout the hobby. Not because he chased the biggest collection, but because he chased the very best examples. Pristine carded figures. International releases. Some of the rarest Star Wars toys ever produced. And not just Star Wars toys. Collectors knew that if an item came from the Jeff Jacob collection, it wasn't just another vintage toy. It was one of the finest known examples. That's why when Hakes announced that this collection would be sold across five separate auctions, the entire hobby paid attention. Collectors, investors, museums, longtime fans, and people who simply wanted to own one small piece of Star Wars history. Over five auctions, we watched record after record fall. Prices climbed. Unexpected items stole the spotlight. Long-forgotten rarities suddenly reminded us why they're considered grails. And now, with the fifth and final auction coming to a close, it's time to look back at everything. These are the 25 biggest sales from the Jeff Jacob collection. And together, they tell an incredible story about what today's collectors value the most. So let's begin. At number 25 from auction number 5 that ended July 1st, 2026, we have a 1978 vinyl Cape Jawa on the first issue, Star Wars 12-back A. And it's graded 75-plus by AFA. Now, for those of you who know how rare this is, for some collectors, this is their grail. And we're only at number 25. So for those of you who don't know about this action figure, when the Jawa was first released in the early spring of 1978, it came with the vinyl Cape, as we see here. But towards the end of 1978 and around the holiday Christmas shopping season, Kenner released the cloth Cape version and ended the production cycle of the vinyl Cape Jawa, making them rare to find today and almost impossible to find in great shape like this one. Even buying these loose is expensive and can sometimes go for about $4,000 for good graded examples. But this one, carded, sold for $12,455. At number 24 from auction number 5, it's the early bird set of action figures. Now, if you can believe it, Jeff had a number of these and this was the lowest graded version. So stay tuned to find out where the higher ones, what those sold for. Now, if you don't know what this is, when Lucasfilm was looking for a toy company to make the Star Wars toys, pretty much every toy company said no to making the Star Wars toys. Could you believe that? Companies like Mattel, Mego, Hasbro, respected companies, all said no. This was because action figures and toys from science fiction movies, or any movie for that matter, was a real gamble. Millions of dollars were at stake if the movie was a dud, and most science fiction movies at that time were. It's not like today, except for titles like Planet of the Apes and maybe Star Trek. But eventually, Lucasfilm found a small toy company called Kenner, who took a chance. But by the time they signed the contracts for the toy license, it was already April of 1977, and the Star Wars movie was opening only a month later in May of 1977. There was no chance that Kenner would be able to make the action figures and all those toys in time and get them to the stores. So while Kenner was in the design phase and production phase in the summer of 1977, the marketing department had a great idea. And that idea was the Early Bird Certificate Program, launched in time for the Christmas holiday season in late 1977. Parents would buy the certificate package at the store, bring it home for little Johnny or Susie to open, and then the kids would fill out a certificate, send it in the mail, and in the early spring of 1978, they would get these action figures. And this is the mailer that they came in. And these are super rare to find in such nice condition as this. Sealed in their original Kenner plastic baggies, and this Luke Skywalker is the ultra-rare double-telescoping version, where the yellow lightsaber has a small second filament that could extend out, and Kenner would shortly later replace this with a single solid saber that just slid in and out from his arm. This also came with Princess Leia, Chewbacca with his green translucent bowcaster, R2-D2, and a baggie of white pegs to place on the thin cardboard stand that came inside their certificate. This also comes with pristine paperwork and a mailer box that's in great shape. And a viewer from my last video saw that I was covering this and said that the address on that box, yeah, that was his neighbor from down the street. So that's pretty awesome. This AFA-graded example sold for $12,756. And now you know about the early word figure set. Coming in at number 23 and also from Auction 5, it's the Power of the Force Yak Face released by Kenner Canada in 1985. And the story about this. This Power of the Force version was only released in Canada. And only this version came in this packaging with the coin and paired with the staff. It was never released in the USA or anywhere else in the world. Although some of my Australian friends say that it was released down under. Aussies let me know if that's true. And even though it was released in the UK and Europe by Palatoy for the Tri-Logo card backs, it wasn't in this Power of the Force packaging, nor did it come with a coin or a staff. So that makes this figure super hard to find on this card. And the coin by itself, the coins sell for about $700 to $1,000 each in good condition. And yeah, these eventually made their way to discount stores in the US like KB on the northern east coast and along the US-Canadian border. But they were never officially distributed or made for the US market. And here we have one graded at an AFA 85 and it sold for $13,510. And there is one more of these graded higher than this on this list. So you're going to have to see how much that one sold for. At number 22 and again from auction number three that ended on October 16th, 2025, which tells you how long and well planned out this auction was. Great job, Higgs. This is the 12-inch Boba Fett released by Kenner in 1980. And the 12-inch line of Star Wars action figures, they were really made to compete with the large-scale G.I. Joe figures. But they really couldn't sell as well as G.I. Joe because of the mountain of accessories and the better value that G.I. Joe was for parents to buy at the time. And these 12-inch figures, they weren't particularly popular with kids or parents when the action figures, the Star Wars action figures, the smaller ones, offered so much more better value and play features. They only made these 12-inch figures from 1978 to 1980 with IG-88 being the last of the 12 figures in this series. And besides IG-88, this Boba Fett is one of the more sought-after figures in this line. And here we have a sealed version graded at an AFA 85+, which there is only three other examples to have been graded this high. And this one sold for $17,700. This next one is one of the big surprises for me and why this sold so high. At number 21 and part of the third auction, it's General Maydean released by Palatoy in its Tri-Logo Carback. Now, this is an example of a toy where you really have to know what you're looking for to justify the price and the rarity and its place in these action figure history vaults. This version was only released in France, making it very rare to find on this card back. But what makes it even more rare is the bubble type called a double stem with those two plastic teeth on the bottom sticking out. In America and probably everywhere else in the world, Maydean was a peg warmer. But if you were lucky enough to buy this in France and then keep it in your attic for 50 years, you're pretty much a freaking genius. And this 70B card back AFA graded at an 80 sold for $18,355. And I was also bidding on items and there were some pretty good bargains to be made out there. So let's do a mini side list on the items that I was able to bring home. Coming in at my number four of items that I was able to walk away with. This is a 1982 Scout Walker. It's complete. And this is the harder to find 1983 Return of the Jedi box with the Hoth art on it. It comes with the instructions and a used sticker sheet. And I took this home for $353. And keep watching to find out what else I was able to take home from this. What I think is a historic auction back to the main countdown at number 20 from auction number five. It's a complete set of the 1982 Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark action figures made by Kenner. Now, most of these are graded at a U-90 and the U stands for uncirculated. Basically, that means that they were sent in to the grading company, sent in either sealed baggies or a sealed carded bubble, removed and then placed into the acrylic. And it was removed by the grading company. So it was never circulated into the collector population unprotected, untouched. And the scores on these tell that tale. They are all graded U-90 except for two that are graded at a U-85. And this was a great item for somebody to get because you can basically get a full set in one fell swoop. And this collection sold for $19,278. At number 19 and from auction number two that ended on May 5th, 2025, Revenge of the Fifth Day. And appropriately, this is the Darth Vader TIE Fighter released in 1979 by Kenner. These are super hard to find in sealed boxes because popular toys like this, they were opened and played with. Duh, that's how it's supposed to be. And there are only seven examples graded at an 85 with no examples graded higher. And because of that, this toy sold for $21,240, breaking the 20 grand mark on this collection list. At number 18 and part of auction number two, yeah, it's another Boba Fett. Another Boba Fett makes the list. And this might be something you have never seen before and probably never will again. We've all seen these mail-away Bobas before. But what makes this one so special is the mailer envelope which is super rare. And this AFA graded 85 example shows a pristine mailer envelope along with paperwork and catalog in great shape and of course the sealed action figure itself. Just a rare find and it's always nice to see toys preserved like this. And if you like preserving these toys and think of them as historical relics that should be saved for future generations to see, hit that like button. This example sold for $22,066. At number 17, part of auction number five. Remember when I said that Jeff had another set of the early bird figure sets? Well, that one was graded at a 75. This one is graded at an 85 with even nicer condition figures. A nicer tray, paperwork and an almost pristine mailer box which you hardly ever see. This one I did bid on but there was a massive bidding war for this one. Several collectors. Let me know if you were one of the collectors that were bidding on it and if you finally snagged it. The first one sold for just over $12,000. Well, this one beat it by $10,000 at a final price of $23,114. Another one that surprised the heck out of me because you never think things like this will sell that high. At number 16 from the third auction is the 1980 Darth Vader collector's case. Factory sealed and graded by AFA at a 75. This one is rare. Yes, because it's factory sealed. But also the version that came with the action figures inside is Boba Fett, IG-88 and Bossk. Every kid had one of these cases in their bedroom and they all opened them. Not a lot are found sealed, especially with these three figures. I mean, every kid had one of these cases, but not every collector has a case like this. And this one sold for $23,364. And now we get to the third item that I was able to buy in this historic auction. If you are in my private Facebook group called the Padawan Academy, sometimes I ask people if they have items for sale. This is one that I was hunting for for a long time because I couldn't find one in just the right condition that I wanted to. Well, I don't have to hunt anymore because I snagged the one at the Jeff Jacobs auction. This is a 1983 collector series land speeder sealed and graded at an 80+ by AFA. Now, some of you are questioning me about the year it was made. Can your Jedi senses serve you well? The original was released in 1978 in the Star Wars packaging, same as you see here. But in 1984, Kenner and their marketing department wanted to rebrand some of the classic toys, but kept the original packaging. So they dubbed them the collector series and placed this starburst on the box. It doesn't make them rare as millions and millions were produced, but obviously it takes a good hunt to find them sealed and in great condition. And I took this home for $940. Now back to the main countdown and at number 15 from auction number two, it's Yak Face. Again, on the power of the force card backs, which we learned about earlier. Well, that one was graded at an 85, still a high grade. This one, try 90 in which there are no other examples graded higher and only eight others with this same grade. So that's why this one sold for $23,738. At number 14 from the third auction, it's Anakin Skywalker from his Power of the Force release in 1985 by Kenner. And just like Yak Face, this one is rare. But unlike Yak Face, whose loose figure costs anywhere from $300 to $900 depending on condition for the Yak Face, for the Anakin loose figure, you can pretty much buy that one for 30 bucks, sometimes less. This is because Anakin was offered as a mail away in 1984 with millions and millions of figures sent out. It pretty much brings the price down because there's so many made. But the power of the Force card back and its coin and the fact that this figure in this packaging never got a wide release, that is what makes it so rare. The coin alone can go for prices of about $300 to $1,000 depending on condition. And today, sealed examples of Anakin in great condition are impossible to find. This example is graded 85 by AFA and it sold for $24,013. At number 13 from auction number 4 that ended on February 4th, 2026, it's a 1980 Millennium Falcon made by Kenner. This toy recently won the top spot as one of the most popular toys in the 80's on a past video that I just did so be sure to check that video out to see who it beat out. Even though the Millennium Falcon was originally released in 1979, Kenner released versions in 1980 for the Empire Strikes Back as we see here and again in 1983 for Return of the Jedi. This example is graded at a very high AFA 85 with none graded higher and it sold for $25,076. At number 12 and coming from the first auction which ended on January 22, 2025, we have another one of the early bird figure sets. So Jeff not only had one, not two, but he had three that made it on this top 25 list. This one is graded at an AFA 85 and it sits in pristine condition and someone took this home for $32,450, breaking the 30k mark on this list. And at number 11 from the fourth auction, we have our hero Luke Skywalker on his Star Wars 12 Seaback released in 1978. Now these original first card backs are considered grails to all action figure collectors, and as the years pass by, it's just going to get harder and harder to find these card backs in great shape. And you're going to see these examples come up less and less for sale because collectors really hold on to these and instead of selling them, they pass them down as heirlooms. Now this example is special because it was featured in a book called Star Wars Vintage Action Figures: A Guide for Collectors, but it's simply known among collectors as the Kellerman Book because of its author, John Kellerman. And it's amazing that Jeff Jacob had access to get examples like this into his collection. And this AFA graded example sold for $37,668. And now we're getting into the top 10 and if you're still watching, please give this video a like and tell me your thoughts on this auction and please subscribe to the channel to see more videos like this. At number 10, we have one of the most popular figures to collect in the Star Wars Galaxy. From auction number four, it's a Palatoy Trilogo Boba Fett released in 1984, but this one is the Clipper variant made in Amsterdam and Brussels. And this has the mini catalog on the back of the card, which is super rare to find these days. And there are only two graded examples in the world of these. This being the highest graded version at an AFA 75 and it sold for $38,137. At number nine from the first auction, it's a Kenner 1978 R2D2 on his first release, 12A Star Wars card back. And that makes it a pretty cool find. But what makes this one even more special is that this is his Dark Dome variant. And what makes it even more rare and special is that this has the SKU number on the footer stand, that cardboard footer stand. You don't see those anymore. This is a very rare piece for collectors. And since it's graded at a very high 85 by AFA, it's sold for $38,940. At number eight, and I think this one surprised me most out of all these items. I see these all the time at vintage toy shops, at conventions. I even have a couple, one that's loose and in great shape, one mint in box with unused content. And I even have my original Jabba from my childhood, even though it's arm is broken. So when I saw how much this one sold for, my jaw dropped. This is the 1983 Jabba the Hutt playset made by Kenner. But this one is only one of eight known to ever be in this pristine of condition. Graded at an AFA 85, this sold for a mind-blowing $38,940. So let's get to know what's going on with that. Let us know. Inside Jeff's collection wasn't just Star Wars toys, but G.I. Joe, Mask, Masters of the Universe, Transformers, just to name a few. And they are all in rare and pristine condition, especially this one. Coming in at number 7 from the first auction, it's the Series 1 Megatron, released by Hasbro in 1984. Besides Optimus Prime, this toy is one of the most sought after Transformer action figures of all time. This is graded at an AFA 80 and it's sold for a mind-blowing $41,302, breaking the 40k mark on this list. So I collect the 1985 Power of the Forest Coins that came on the carded figures and just finding those, it's a real hunt. And I only have one more to go to complete my set with Yak Face. But the real complete set is 62 coins that was released to the public. Both ones that you can find on card and the majority of them are the mail away ones. With the 63rd coin only being a prototype. And when I saw this set come up for auction, I really followed it because of how rare it is to see complete sets, especially in this graded condition. You never see it. This was offered for the first auction and every coin is separately graded at an AFA 85. And most of these are the hard to find mail away coins that were never offered on card, which makes this set just amazing. It sold for $41,536. And this next piece that I was able to buy on the Jeff Jacob auction is my number two on my list. This is the 1984 B-Wing fighter made by Kenner for the return of the Jedi toys. And I think it's one of the nicest engineered toys of the eighties with the gyroscope cockpit and the faithful movie design. And I'm very, very happy and ecstatic to have these items in my collection. And it's graded at an AFA 80 and I bought it for $1,892. And I think the coolest thing about getting these items is that they come with a sticker that says it came from the Jeff Jacob collection. I think that's a nice touch. Getting into the top five of the main countdown from auction number four, my jaw dropped when I saw this was up for auction. Just because I'm currently on a graded loose action figure run for the entire Star Wars toy line. This is a complete set. All U-graded with the majority being graded at a U-90 and U-95. I would have loved to have won this set. 114 figures. And the price? $48,871. And that is why I did not take this home. But wow, what an incredible, incredible collection. Coming in at number four from the fourth auction, this is the 1983 ADAT. This, like the Falcon, is one of the flagship toys that stands out in the Star Wars vintage era and one of the most popular toys with kids of that era. That's why you never see these examples in pristine states or sealed hardly. Kids just took them out of the packaging and played with them as it should be. Originally released in 1980 for the Empire Strikes Back, this Return of the Jedi version is AFA graded at an ultra-high 85 with none graded higher. And because of that, this sold for $50,762, breaking the 50k mark on this list. I'm kind of sad that Voltron didn't make it on this list. The Legend of Voltron. I love that toy line. At number three, yet again, another Boba Fett. You can pretty much buy three things that will just continue to go up in value. You can buy gold, you can buy Apple stock, and you can buy sealed vintage Boba Fetts. That's the truth. One of the most sought after international variants that collectors love is the Lily Letty Toy Company versions. Lily Letty was the licensee over in Mexico and had original card art for the front and the back. And these are very rare and hard to find these days, especially in good condition. And here we have the 1983 Lily Letty Boba Fett graded at an AFA 75, which is the highest graded example to exist, which tells you how hard it is to find these in good shape. This one sold for a whopping $77,884, smashing the list into the 70k range. At number two is the Space Wizard himself. From auction number one, it's Ben Kenobi on his first released 12A card back from Kenner in 1978. Now, remember when I told you that the double telescoping Luke figure was rare? Well, the Ben Kenobi also came with a double telescoping feature, and this one is even more rare to find these days. How rare? Well, you're more likely to get hit by lightning than to ever come across one of these by accident. And if you want to find one carded, sealed, and in good condition, that becomes almost impossible. This also has the rare SKU number on the footer like we saw with R2 earlier. This action figure is just rare on rare on rare. And it's even graded at a very high AFA 85 which makes it even more rare. And this sold for a mind-blowing $105,182. Just wow. And before we get to the number one item that was sold at the Jeff Jacobs auction on Hakes, here is my number one item that I was able to take home. It's the 1980 Jawa Sandcrawler. This was first released in 1979 by Kenner in the Star Wars packaging. The 1980 version updates this to the Empire Strikes Back packaging. But this version is rare because this version in the Empire Strikes Back packaging was never released in the US, only in Canada. That's what makes it rare. That's why I wanted it. And when Kenner Canada made these, they updated the remote controls by simply placing Empire Strikes Back stickers over the existing Star Wars stickers, which you see here. This also comes with the cardboard inserts, bilingual instructions, catalog, and unused sticker sheets. And I am definitely going to get this piece created after I document what's inside. And all of these pieces that I got from the Jeff Jacob collection, I'm going to make standalone videos for my vehicles run. So that's coming soon. And I got to tell you, I am very glad to have gotten these pieces into my collection. And Jeff, if you're watching, these pieces are going to be in a very, very well taken care of collection. And I'm going to preserve what you started. Now for our number one piece on the main countdown from the second auction is a 1978 Darth Vader first issued 12A Kenner Star Wars card back. And just like the Ben Kenobi, it's the double telescoping variant and ultra ultra rare to find one of these in the wild. And you will never see these come up for auction because collectors hold on to these, especially in this great of condition. This is an AFA graded 80 example with only four others like this in the world. And this sold for an amazing $130,095. Amazing. Just an amazing piece of Star Wars history. When we started this series, we talked about rare toys, record auction prices, but somewhere along the way, this became about something much bigger. Every one of these toys survived nearly 50 years. Some stayed unopened. Some traveled across continents. Some quietly waited on shelves while generations grew up around them. And because collectors cared enough to preserve them. Today, we can still appreciate the craftsmanship, the artwork, the memories, and the incredible history behind them all. That's what collecting has always been about. Not just owning something rare, but becoming its caretaker. Until it's time to pass it on to the next collector. Jeff Jacobs spent decades preserving one of the greatest collections ever assembled. And now, those pieces begin the next chapter of their journey. Some items will disappear into private collections, never to be seen again. Some will be displayed for thousands of fans. And some may return to the auction block years from now with entirely new stories to tell. You know, throughout these five auctions, I kept asking myself one question: Why are these toys worth so much? The easy answer is rarity. But I don't think that's the real answer. Because none of us are really buying cardboard and plastic. We're buying memories. We're buying Saturday mornings. We're buying that feeling that we had when we walked into Toys R Us or Sears or KB Toys, hoping that today would be the day that we would have the figure we'd been searching for. Jeff spent decades finding these treasures. Today, they're scattered across the world. Sitting in hundreds of collections where they are going to inspire a whole new generation of fans. I think that's the beautiful thing about this hobby. None of us truly own these toys forever. We are simply their caretakers. For a little while. Until it's time to pass them on. Whether your collection is one figure or 10,000 figures. We are all preserving a small piece of Star Wars history for the next generation. And that is something far more valuable than any record-breaking auction piece. Please share this video with a friend that you think might like this. Subscribe to the channel. Give this video a like. And as always my friends, thank you and I will see you next time. [00:35:50] Speaker ?: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.