CNN —A long-lost model of an X-wing fighter used in the original 1977 “Star Wars” movie is up for auction, with a starting price of $400,000. Used in the filming of the final battle in “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope” as the Rebel Alliance fight the Empire above the Death Star, the model “represents the pinnacle of Star Wars artifacts to ever reach the market,” Dallas-based auction house Heritage Auctions said. Long known as “the missing X-wing,” it was discovered by a team of visual effects experts, including Gene Kozicki (“Face/Off” and “Flight of the Phoenix”), as they helped Jein’s family sift through his collection, Kozicki told the Hollywood Reporter. “This model has not been displayed or modified since it left ILM (visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic),” Kozicki said. “(Steven Spielberg’s) ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ and ‘Star Wars’ were being made at roughly the same time, and with an overlapping group of people,” Kozicki said.

---

Persons: ”, Greg Jein, Long, Gene Kozicki, Kozicki, ” Kozicki, Oscar, George Lucas, Jein, “, Steven Spielberg’s, Steven Spielberg Organizations: CNN, “ Star, Rebel Alliance, Heritage, “, Hollywood, ILM, Maltese Falcon, Industrial, Hollywood Reporter, ‘ Locations: ” Dallas