Coloradan's Millennium Falcon replica sells for $350,000 on Star Wars Day

From a galaxy far, far away — to a basement in Colorado. On Star Wars Day in 2026, "May the Fourth" was definitely strong with Sean Sides in Castle Rock. Sides' replica Millennium Falcon sold at auction Monday for a whopping $350,000.

The starships in the original "Star Wars" films were miniature models, filmed with a moving camera against a blue screen. Sides spent years hand making an exact replica of the Millennium Falcon using the same vintage model parts the original creators used nearly 50 years ago.

"I grew up with Star Wars at 10 years old when the first film came out," Sides told CBS Colorado. "And, like most kids my age, it just grabbed my heart. I went back 13 times that summer to see it."

Sides was drawn to the stars from a young age, first with his interest in TV series "Battlestar Galactica," then "Star Wars."

"We get into these space battle scenes and these spaceships, and I just always said to myself as a little boy, 'How did they make those? And I wonder if I could ever make those,'" Sides explained.

It turns out he could. When he set his mind to it, it was, "Do, or do not. There is no try," as Grand Master Yoda said in "The Empire Strikes Back."

With his wife's blessing, Sides turned their basement into a Star Wars workshop and museum, and set about building the capital ships that belonged to the Empire in the films.

First came extensive research, which involved the help of friends and other fans online. Sides said there was no blueprint to create the Falcon.

"You work on these forums collaboratively with a lot of other model builders," Sides said. "So we kind of information share, put together a library, a database if you will, of all those individual model kit parts, and then color code those."

Next came sourcing the exact vintage model kits used in the 1970s, some of which he found on eBay.

"I had to source a lot of vintage model kits," Sides said. "There are some that are out of production and been out of production for many, many years. What I've got here is kind of my inventory of all the original model kits that were used on not just the Millennium Falcon, but on the Star Destroyer and a blockade runner."

Then came construction.

"I would create my own laser files to make the proper dimensions and sizes, and, from that, I would build all that around a steel pipe frame," Sides said. "I would go on to adding a bunch of model kit parts, and that's really the essence of what makes this model so real. It contains about 3,000 individual model kits from over 170 model kits, planes, ships, boats armor and all — a myriad amount of model kits."

Sides then put on the final touches true to every detail he could find of the originals.

"You'll notice there's a little man in there with a little Star Wars T-shirt, and we call him an ice cream cone," Sides explained. "The ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) guys really put him in there. That was one of the ILM guys. They took a photograph. They shrunk him down. They put him in there, but they knew they would never see him on film," he continued in reference to the Rebellion's blockade runner model.

Sides has hand made exact replicas of the Star Destroyer, Rebel blockade runner and Millennium Falcon.

"This is exactly the way the original Millennium Falcon was made ... down to every millimeter," he said.

It took Sides seven years to complete the Millennium Falcon.

"A warm feeling that would come over you to say, 'I have the Millennium Falcon.' I mean, this childhood model, and there are very few, if any, out there. Here it is in my own workshop," Sides said proudly.

His work was showcased in Hollywood, next to the original Dykstraflex camera system that filmed the models in the original trilogy.

"Emotional, overwhelming, and just, you know, it was like how does it get any better than this?" Sides said.

Somehow, it did when Heritage Auctions asked to feature Sean Sides' Millennium Falcon in its "May the Fourth" auction.

"I want to get it out the public. I want people to see my models," Sides said.

The Falcon sold for $350,000. Sides says he became emotional when the bid was finalized.

"It is an ironic level of success. Right? Because, all I did, this was to me to keep my youth, to feel like a kid," Sides said. "Every time I complete a model, all I think about is watching on the big screen, and it just makes me young all over again."

Sides' next project is the plans to construct an exact Death Star replica. He says the joy he gets from sharing his Force-forged masterpieces is priceless.

"When you see people come in here, and they just light up, and the joy in their face ... you can't put a price on that. Right?" Sides said. "It's just incredible to see that appreciation from others of what you've done."