A lucky buyer now knows the power of the dark side, having become the owner of a lightsaber used by Darth Vader in the Star Wars films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi .

The iconic Star Wars prop was sold at an auction on Thursday, fetching more than US$3.6 million.

It had been estimated that the iconic movie prop would sell for between $1 million and $3 million, according to the auction website Propstore , where interested buyers could place their bids.

There were 31 bids in total for Darth Vader’s lightsaber, and the winning one was placed at $3,654,000.

“Wielded by both David Prowse and stunt performer Bob Anderson, this is the primary dueling prop created for Vader’s character in both Empire and Jedi . It saw extensive use during the filming of both

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