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Assuming you don’t put your faith in ancient weapons and hokey religions, your only option is to pack a good blaster at your side — and what better blaster than Han Solo’s very own DL-44?

And now it could be yours, if you have at least $300,000 to spend. Yes, the 275mm long prop used by Harrison Ford and, it’s claimed, Mark Hamill in The Empire Strikes Back, is up for grabs online.

Ford used it in Return of the Jedi too: it seems Lucasfilm’s props people kept the one used in Empire for future use. In both films, this non-firing model was used for long shots — close-up work required the presence of a second prop that was able to trigger a muzzle flash.

Alas the well-worn gun on sale isn’t original DL-44 prop put to good use beating Green Greedo to the draw in Star Wars, though it was formed from a cast made of the first weapon and as such, says auctioneer Invaluable, has the same serial number. The first DL-44 was build out of an old Mauser C96 — via redwolf.newsvine.com

A statuette of a bird featured in the classic 1941 detective thriller The Maltese Falcon sold for more than $4 million at auction Monday.

The final price on the prop was $4,085,000, according to Bonhams auction house.

The black figurine is one of two known statuettes made for the film but the only one confirmed by Warner Bros archives as having appeared in it, Bonhams said.

The winning bid came over the phone — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Lewis Collins, best known for his role as Bodie in the 1970s TV series The Professionals, has died aged 67 after a five-year struggle with cancer.

His agent said Collins died peacefully in his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday surrounded by his family, and asked for privacy during this very sad time.

The Professionals was a major hit on ITV from 1977 to 1983 due to its action-packed plots and memorable theme tune. The show thrust Collins and co-star Martin Shaw, who played Doyle, to stardom as a crime-fighting duo.

The pair worked as agents of a fictional unit called CI5, an amalgam of MI5 and the CID, targeting major league criminals from international drug dealers to terrorists.

Shaw, appearing in a West End production of Twelve Angry Men, said: I was very sad to hear today that Lewis has died. We spent a very tough four years together in making The Professionals, and shared in the production of what has become an icon of British television. He will be remembered as part of the childhood of so many people, and mourned by his fans. I send my love and condolences to his family, and the great many who will miss him — via redwolf.newsvine.com