Prop Store Auction recently saw one of its biggest sales ever, when a piece of filmmaking history from Star Wars: A New Hope fetched a whopping $2.5M on Tuesday night.

The prop in question is a screen-matched Red Leader X-Wing miniature model, created by Lucas’ own special effects company, Industrial Light & Magic and used to depict the fighter of Squadron Leader Garven Dreis, played by the late Drewe Henley. The news also came in just a month after concept artist Colin Cantwell — the man responsible for designing the X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Star Destroyer, and many other iconic examples of Star Wars spacecraft — passed away.

The model, which dates back nearly five decades, was kept in pristine condition, which is rare considering that most fighter craft models from the film were destroyed by Lucas’ pyrotechnics crew during the film’s final scenes:

“The model screen-matches to a specific ‘pyro’ shot of an explosion going off on Red Leader’s engine in the film,” Brandon Alinger, Propstore’s COO, previously told Forbes. “Several behind-the-scenes photos taken at Industrial Light and Magic exist that show the model extremely well. Every scratch and airbrush mark in the paintwork can be matched up exactly to those images from 1976.”

The actual auction listing also takes note of the model’s remarkable state:

“The X-wing fighter model is preserved extremely well and remains in excellent condition. The light-weight rigid foam remains solid, and the original unrestored paintwork is in excellent condition, with only subtle flaking in small areas. One of the laser cannons exhibits slight warpage, and one of the scratch-built laser cannon tip assemblies is loose. The pyro X-wing was intended to mount on a C-stand with a hole in the back of the fuselage, or to be hung from wires during filming. There are several small holes in the top of the fuselage related to hanging the model on wires. A custom-made aluminum stand that supports the model through the fuselage is included with the piece, as is a wooden transport crate.”

The news also arrived just before Disney released the final episode of Obi Wan Kenobi, marking a significant milestone for the beloved original characters.

(Featured Image Credits: Prop Store Auction)