'Jaws' and 'Star Wars' props to be sold

A harpoon gun from Jaws, a jacket worn by The Terminator, and a Star Wars lightsabre hilt and C-3PO head are among the eye-catching items to be sold at auction next month.

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The collection of around 1,550 pieces of film and TV history will go under the hammer over three days from March 25, with in-room bidding on the first day only at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

From props to costumes, a selection of the memorabilia will also go on show for a day, on March 11, at The Maybourne Beverly Hills hotel.

The lots, which also include the so-called Marauder's Map from the Harry Potter films, have a combined pre-sale estimate of $9 million (279.2 million baht), according to Propstore, the auctioneers staging the sale.

It noted that buyers from around the world, who increasingly utilise online bidding, were forging a new global collectors market.

"We're seeing 20% to 30% more engagement, more registration, more people bidding," Ibrahim Faraj, Propstore's UK consignments manager, said at a media preview of some British-based items before they headed to California.

"It's growing bigger and it's the new, modern thing people are collecting now."