We've all been there, watching Star Wars and looking at Luke Skywalker enviously as he goes from the windblown sands of Tatooine to the Death Star and thinking to ourselves, Man, if only I could wear those pants…! For one hardcore Star Wars fan, that common dream has finally come true at a cost of $36,100.
Mark Hamill's pants from the first Star Wars movie have just been auctioned off by auction house Nate D. Sanders for a staggering $36,100, following last night's closure of online bidding. If you're wondering just what kind of pants are worth that amount of money, then the answer is apparently "sand-colored 'cotton drill' Levi's pants… purposefully distressed to display wear," according to the pants' online listing, but you might know them better as "the pants Luke wore for most of the movie."
That same listing reveals that the pants were customized by a London costumier, with a tag attached that also notes the pants were worn by Hamill and bear the costume department notation of "10490 Luke/ Star Wars." Apparently, a lot of work goes into pants that look so casual throughout the entire movie.
As a genuine part of nerd history, the pants were never going to be cheap -- the starting bid on the action was $2,500 -- but the final bid was a bargain when compared to the $70,000 to $100,000 value that the auction house had originally estimated. Hamill shouldn't feel too bad, though; the $36,100 was still higher than another pair of Levi's worn by Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain, which only raised $21,013 during the same auction.
Hamill described the pants as "just bleached Levi's with the tag still in them," so for those looking to recreate their own Luke Skywalker experience, the official Levi's website reveals that a brand-new pair of pants are available for $78.
