A rare Kenner Star Wars vinyl cape Jawa figure realised £10,200 ($12,675) at Vectis Auctions, UK yesterday.

That’s a 70% increase on a £6,000 ($7,456) estimate.

The consignor explained to the BBC that he bought the toy for around £1 in Bacup, Lancashire in 1980.

Jawa vinyl cape versions are rare - cloth variants are much more common

While the box is marked Kenner (a US firm), it was produced on licence by British company Palitoy.

Earlier Palitoy Star Wars figures are marked with the company’s own logo.

He said: "As a kid and Star Wars fanatic I have memories of my mum taking me down to the local market every Saturday to buy me the latest figure.

"I would ask for everything, obviously having no understanding of money, but I was happy with whatever she could afford.

"I had a friend who, like me, was obsessed with Star Wars and we would share toys and play together and I think it was him that told me about the Jawa and how a plastic cape [version] was coming out.

"It took the stallholder weeks to find it and I remember him telling me how hard it was to locate and how rare it was and for that reason I never opened it."

Another vinyl cape Jawa figure, displaying the Palitoy logo, also sold for £10,200 ($12,675) in 2014.

The record for any Star Wars figure was set in 2016, when a rare Boba Fett with rocket launcher realised £26,000 ($34,179) at Vectis.

We have an intriguing piece of Star Wars memorabilia for sale.

Please sign up to our free newsletter to receive exciting news about movie memorabilia auctions.