At a Los Angeles auction, the glowing head of the humanoid protocol droid C-3PO from "Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back" sold for more than a million dollars against an initial estimate of 350,000–700,000

It is the only known example of the character's head from the filming of that picture to have reached the collectors' market. Several versions of the costume and of its separate parts were made for every film: spares, technical versions, versions for close-ups. After shooting, most of them ended up in studio storerooms, were lost, destroyed, or stayed with members of the crew. This head was precisely such a case, and was kept for decades in the family of someone from the film crew.

Most sources describe the head of C-3PO as a prop belonging to "George Lucas"; this is an inaccuracy. "The Empire Strikes Back" was directed by Irvin Kershner, not Lucas. Lucas was the producer and the author of the story, but the director's chair was occupied by Kershner. Lucas himself directed only the first film, of 1977, and the prequels.