Is This Tusken Raider Mask Too Good To Be True?

After the production of Star Wars, a lot of props and costumes were thrown away, when clearing out a storage warehouse. A truck driver assisting asked for a Tusken Raider mask, and George Lucas himself gave him that and Luke’s belt.

It seems fishy to Dan Lanigan, who previously hosted Prop Culture on Disney+, as Lucas had been a collector all of his life.

But super-collector Gus Lopez recounts that someone working at the storage place remembers the studio deciding to stop paying for storage. George Lucas dropped by to claim R2D2 and C3P0, and said that they could throw everything else away. That person claimed the Death Star.

The Tusken Raider mask was eventually offered to Lopez, who purchased it with cash at a higher price than an auction house was promising.

So is it real?

Lanigan and his friends took a look yesterday on his YouTube channel Cinema Relics.

One intriguing part of the investigation, the inside of the mask isn’t shown, as fakes are simply too common these days.

Spoiler below the embedded video:

Academy Award winning VFX artist Martin Meunier appreciates the craftsmanship, but is surprised by just how good a condition the mask is, after being in two deserts and an earthquake. It’s an A+ match to a promotional photo, B+ to the film, says Cinema Relics archivist Caleb Stenzinger. So yes, the panel collectively authenticated the mask.

The item will now go to the planned The Saga Museum of Star Wars Memorabilia, which will combine over 1.5 million objects from five collectors.