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The Empire Strikes Back (now known as "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back"), the classic 1980 Irvin Kershner science fiction (sci-fi) outer space action adventure sequel ("The Star Wars Saga Continues"; "Story by George Lucas") starring Mark Hamill (as Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (as Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (as Princess Leia), Billy Dee Williams (as Lando Calrissian), Anthony Daniels ("as C-3PO"), David Prowse ("as Darth Vader"), Kenny Baker ("as R2-D2"), Peter Mayhew ("as Chewbacca"), Frank Oz ("as Yoda"), Alec Guinness (as Obi-Wan Kenobi), Jeremy Bulloch (as Boba Fett), and John Hollis (as Lobot)v
NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography.

Artist: Roger Kastel

Important Added Info: This is an ultra rare Star Wars poster, that has quite a story behind it! In 2009, a Japanese collector discovered two examples of this poster in Japan. He sent one to us, where it sold for $1,827 (to Star Wars collector, Steve Sansweet), and the other sold privately to Kevin Doyle, another major Star Wars collector. At that time, we said that it could be a "bootleg" poster, or possibly a "test" poster. In 2015, the poster that Kevin Doyle purchased was consigned to us (now linenbacked), and this one auctioned for $5,450. The poster features Roger Kastel's original art for this poster, but after he created it, the studio decided it was "too busy", and they removed several of the elements from the poster (Lando, Boba Fett, Cloud City, and the ion cannon). So this poster was produced BEFORE that decision was made, so how then could it be explained? After he purchased the poster, Sansweet told us he believes that it is absolutely an advance test poster made prior to the decision to alter the image. At the time of the second auction in 2015, we were told by one of the leading Star Wars poster dealers that he knew of the existence of a total of six of these posters that had "surfaced" since the movie was made in 1980, and that three of them had originated in Japan. Between 2016 and 2020, we were consigned a total of six more examples, but some of those might have been re-consignments of earlier examples. After the first one in 2016 sold for $8,120, the next four sold for $11,557, $11,599, $14,500, and $13,450 (this last example was in "good to very good" condition, and the others were in "very good" condition). So to that time, we had auctioned this rare poster 8 times, but as we said, some may have been "re-auctions". We have heard that there have been other examples of this poster auctioned in Japan over the past few years, but there is also no way to tell if they were re-auctions of earlier examples.

Now we have been consigned what we know is not one of the ones we auctioned before. It was consigned to us from a collector who regularly travels to Japan, and he bought it from a Japanese flea market seller who had a number of 1970s and 1980s posters that he said he had bought many years ago. This poster was clearly used and displayed (see our condition description below). So we can't say how many examples of this poster exist, but it is certain that it is a tiny fraction of the number of "regular" Empire Strikes Back one-sheets, and it is surely one of the most rare (and most desirable) Star Wars posters there is!

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