The 2005 Nuremberg Toy Fair Darth Vader Polybag
A $1,000 Bag of Nothing Special
The minifigure inside is the same one you can buy loose for $40. The polybag it comes in is worth $1,000. That’s what event exclusivity does.
In February 2005, LEGO distributed a small polybag to attendees at their display at the 56th International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany — the Spielwarenmesse, the world’s largest toy trade fair. Inside the polybag was a Darth Vader minifigure with a trans-red light-up lightsaber and a black 2×4 brick. The Darth Vader figure itself is not rare — it also appeared in set 7263 TIE Fighter that same year and can be bought loose today for around $40. What makes this polybag a serious collector item is the packaging it came in and where it came from.
The Event
The Spielwarenmesse — the International Toy Fair Nuremberg — is the largest toy trade fair in the world, held annually in Nuremberg, Germany. The 2005 edition was the 56th, held in early February 2005. It is a trade-only event, not open to the general public, attended by toy industry professionals, retailers, journalists, and press from around the world. LEGO distributed this polybag to attendees at the LEGO booth.
Whether the polybag was available to all LEGO booth visitors or only to VIP trade attendees is disputed in secondary market listings — some sellers describe it as VIP-only, while Brickset simply says “attendees of the LEGO display.” The distinction matters for understanding how many were produced and how widely they circulated, but has never been definitively resolved publicly.
The timing is significant — February 2005 was the same month as the New York International Toy Fair, where LEGO distributed the Anakin Skywalker and Luminara Unduli invitation figures. LEGO was running parallel Toy Fair promotions on two continents simultaneously, both featuring the 2005 light-up lightsaber minifigures timed to the Revenge of the Sith release.
The Polybag
The polybag is a soft polypropylene plastic bag (type 5 recyclable material) with a heat-sealed top. The front carries the LEGO and Star Wars logos and the text:
6-99
56. International Toy Fair Nürnberg 2005
The 6-99 is the age rating — suitable for ages 6 to 99 — printed in the standard LEGO format of that era. The event name uses the correct German umlaut: Nürnberg.
The back carries the following text in four languages:
Non-replaceable battery included
Contains small parts.
Not intended for children under 3 years.
Components made in DENMARK
Distributed by the LEGO Group
DK-7190 Billund, Denmark.
The “Components made in DENMARK” line confirms Danish manufacture — consistent with minifigure production at LEGO’s Billund facility rather than the Czech Republic facility that produced the maxi-figures.
No stickers, labels, or additional markings are present on known examples. The polybag has no barcode beyond the printed set and age information.
The Contents
The polybag contains two items: one Darth Vader minifigure with trans-red light-up lightsaber (sw0117) and one standard black 2×4 LEGO brick with no special markings. The 1×1 round plate sometimes listed as part of the lightsaber hilt assembly does not appear to be present in all examples — it is not visible in sealed polybag examples and may have been omitted from the Nuremberg version.
The sw0117 Darth Vader is not exclusive to this polybag. The identical figure appeared in set 7263 TIE Fighter (2005) and can be purchased loose today for approximately $40. The polybag’s collector value derives entirely from the sealed event-exclusive packaging, not from a unique minifigure variant. This is an important distinction for anyone evaluating what they are actually paying for.
The Light-Up Mechanism and the Battery Question
The back of the polybag states “Non-replaceable battery included.” This should be understood as a 2005 LEGO disclaimer rather than a physical description of the figure’s construction. The light-up lightsaber Darth Vader figure (sw0117) almost certainly uses the same internal torso battery compartment as the other 2005 light-up lightsaber figures — accessible by removing the non-lightsaber arm, inserting a thin flat-blade screwdriver into the arm slot, and carefully prying out the back of the torso. The battery is likely two CR927 coin cell batteries, as used in the other figures from the same production era.
“Non-replaceable” means LEGO did not design or support battery replacement as a consumer activity — it does not mean the batteries are physically inaccessible. However, any collector considering opening a sealed polybag to replace the battery should understand they are permanently and irreversibly reducing the value of a $1,000+ item. The correct approach for a sealed example is to leave it sealed.
For more detail on the battery replacement process for light-up lightsaber figures generally, see the Anakin Skywalker and Luminara Unduli article — the same technique applies, with the same caution about aged plastic tabs.
Production Quantity and Value
No official production quantity has ever been published. BrickRanker explicitly notes the quantity is unknown. Given the Spielwarenmesse is a large trade fair with thousands of industry attendees, the production run is likely higher than the 55-copy VIP Gala Set from the New York Toy Fair the same month — but the combination of an unknown quantity, 20 years of attrition, and the sealed polybag condition requirement makes genuine sealed examples exceptionally rare in practice.
BrickRanker records only 7 confirmed sales since April 2022 and estimates the current sealed polybag value at approximately $1,096. Earlier market estimates placed it as high as $2,500. With only 7 documented sales over several years the price is highly volatile — a single auction can move the market significantly in either direction. The minifigure loose is worth approximately $40, which illustrates exactly how much of the value is in the sealed polybag itself.
Condition Notes
Sealed polybag examples from 2005 are 20 years old. The soft polypropylene plastic develops dents, wrinkles, and surface texture over time even when stored correctly and never opened. A polybag with minor surface imperfections but an intact heat seal is still a sealed example — condition grading for polybags of this age should focus on seal integrity rather than surface perfection. A polybag with a perfect seal and light surface wear is meaningfully different from a loose figure, even if it does not look mint to the naked eye.
What We Don’t Know
- Production quantity — how many were produced? Was it VIP-only or available to all LEGO booth visitors?
- The battery type — almost certainly CR927 based on the other 2005 light-up figures, but not confirmed from an opened example of this specific polybag.
- The 1×1 round plate — some sources list it as part of the contents, others do not. Does it appear in all sealed examples or only some?
- Distribution method — VIP-only or general booth visitors? The answer significantly affects the likely production quantity.
SW117PROMO-1 — Darth Vader (Nürnberg Toy Fair 2005 Exclusive Figure)
BrickLink: sw117promo-1
Distributed: February 2005 | Event: 56th International Toy Fair Nürnberg (Spielwarenmesse)
Minifigure: sw0117 Darth Vader with Trans-Red Light-Up Lightsaber (also in set 7263)
Quantity: Unknown
Current value: ~$1,096 sealed
Status: Owned (sealed)
