'Star Wars' star Mark Hamill reunited with long-lost vinyl record at Arizona store
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Star Wars" actor Mark Hamill was recently reunited with a long-lost piece of memorabilia from the iconic movie franchise that was gifted to him many years ago.
Bookmans Entertainment Exchange in Flagstaff, Ariz., returned the soundtrack for the 1977 film, "Star Wars: A New Hope," to the actor known to many as Luke Skywalker. The record was a gift to Hamill from film composer John Williams.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mark Hamill arrives at the world premiere of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" in Los Angeles. Hamill praised workers at Bookmans Entertainment Exchange in Flagstaff, Ariz., for returning the "Star Wars: A New Hope" soundtrack that had been a gift from film composer John Williams. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
“Dear Mark Hamill, May the force always be with us," Williams wrote on the vinyl's sleeve.
The record was one of several items brought into the store, which resells books, movies, records and videos games, by a woman after her father died in 2018, the Arizona Daily Sun reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“If it was authentic, it could be worth a lot. If it isn’t, it isn’t,” Bookmans general manager Micheil Salmons said of the signature on the record. “This lady — the quantity she had brought in, and based on the signature, how it was written, that it wasn’t printed on there, I personally was 100 percent convinced that it was an authentic signature.”
If the signature was real, the record could sell for up to $500, the paper reported. Store employees tried verifying it and eventually reached out to Hamill through social media. The actor confirmed it was genuine, and the record was returned to him.
Bookmans Entertainment Exchange general manager Micheil Salmons stands in front of the store in Flagstaff, Ariz., holding a DVD autographed by Star Wars actor Mark Hamill. (Scott Buffon/Arizona Daily Sun via AP)
Over Twitter, Hamill called the gesture “totally unexpected & positively surreal" given "they could have just as easily SOLD it!" He said he hadn't seen the record since the 1990s and offered to sign any Star Wars items Bookmans sent him.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“I’m so grateful to them & hope you consider spending lots & lots of $ at their store,” Hamill also posted to Twitter, the paper said.
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Salmons said Hamill signed a DVD of "Star Wars: A New Hope" and two medals that are replicas of those given to his character and Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Salmons told the paper he will keep the DVD as a "cherished memory."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.