The Empire Strikes Back – Test US 1sheet with unedited Roger Kastel art with added images!

The Empire Strikes Back (now known as “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back”), the classic 1980 Irvin Kershner science fiction (sci-fi) outer space action adventure sequel (“The Star Wars Saga Continues”; “Story by George Lucas”) starring Mark Hamill (as Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (as Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (as Princess Leia), Billy Dee Williams (as Lando Calrissian), Anthony Daniels (“as C-3PO”), David Prowse (“as Darth Vader”), Kenny Baker (“as R2-D2”), Peter Mayhew (“as Chewbacca”), Frank Oz (“as Yoda”), Alec Guinness (as Obi-Wan Kenobi), Jeremy Bulloch (as Boba Fett), and John Hollis (as Lobot)

Artist: Roger Kastel

This is an ultra rare Star Wars poster, that has quite a story behind it! In 2009, a Japanese collector discovered two examples of this poster in Japan. He sent one to us, where it sold for $1,827 (to Star Wars collector, Steve Sansweet), and the other sold privately to Kevin Doyle, another major Star Wars collector. At that time, we said that it could be a “bootleg” poster, or possibly a “test” poster. In 2015, the poster that Kevin Doyle purchased was consigned to auction (now linenbacked), and this one auctioned for $5,450. The poster features Roger Kastel’s original art for this poster, but after he created it, the studio decided it was “too busy”, and they removed several of the elements from the poster (Lando, Boba Fett, Cloud City, and the ion cannon). So this poster was produced BEFORE that decision was made, so how then could it be explained? After he purchased the poster, Sansweet told us he believes that it is absolutely an advance test poster made prior to the decision to alter the image. At the time of the second auction in 2015, the auction house were told by one of the leading Star Wars poster dealers that he knew of the existence of a total of six of these posters that had “surfaced” since the movie was made in 1980, and that three of them had originated in Japan. Between 2016 and 2024, auction houses were consigned a total of ten more examples, but some of those were re-consignments of earlier examples. Because of the possibility of some of the results being re-consignments of earlier posters, we can’t say how many examples of this poster exist, but it is certain that it is a tiny fraction of the number of “regular” Empire Strikes Back one-sheets, and it is surely one of the most rare (and most desirable) Star Wars posters there is!

Condition: good. The poster was never folded. It has faint brown stains scattered on the back, but on the front, they are mostly scattered around the edges, more so in the top border. Other than this faint brown staining, the poster is in generally nice condition. Given the extreme value of this poster, it would make a world of sense to give it to the best restorer. It is likely that much or all of the staining can be removed chemically, and after that, the resulting linenbacked or paperbacked poster will display wonderfully, and it will likely have virtually no paint restoration.