star wars ticket top

Is it a collector’s item or just a “collecting dust” item?

Thanks to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we’ve been on a bit of a Star Wars frenzy here recently. We’ve seen everything from samurai stormtroopers to Japanese Star Wars tuna commercials, and it’s been absolutely wonderful.

But now here’s one thing possibly even more unexpected than anything else so far: a ticket to the original Star Wars theater opening in Japan issued all the way back in 1978. Here’s the original tweet:

▼ “My mom’s a huge otaku (currently 55 years old) and saved her ticket stub from the Star Wars premier.”

https://twitter.com/stephanie_nkgw/status/677364859248349184

First off, man, theater tickets have changed. Nowadays you’re lucky if your ticket even has the name of the movie on it, much less a full-color illustration. And not only that but a list of the actors, Oscar nominations, and the tagline (in “cool-sounding” English of course).

My only wish is that we had another object next to the ticket to see how big it is. Thanks to a little Googling however, the ticket seems to be 5.5 inches by 2.5 inches (140mm by 65mm). That’s practically gargantuan compared to modern tickets that can slip right out of your fingers if you’re not careful.

Here’s what Japanese netizens had to say about this rare find:

“Oh my god, that’s worth a fortune!”
“That’s the same ticket I remember getting. I think they gave out other gifts too.”
“Wow that brings back memories.”
“I think it’s probably worth more in sentimental value than money.”

And that last netizen has it absolutely right. Here’s a screenshot from a recent listing for all three of the Japanese Star Wars ticket stubs, and they’re all in better condition than the tweeted one:

▼ Plus shipping it comes to US$52 for all three, so a little over $17 each.

star wars ticket ebay

While the owner of the Japanese ticket stub may not be able to sell out and retire in luxury, it’s still an item that’s valuable with the memories it carries. And she could probably get some amazing otaku-cred if she “accidentally” slips it to the usher when she goes to the The Force Awakens, before she quickly and publicly announces her “mistake” to the theater.

Source: Togech via Twitter/@stephanie_nkgw
Featured/top image: Twitter/@stephanie_nkgw, Flickr/Japanexperterna.se, Japanexperterna (Edited by RocketNews24)