Got a response from the seller.
He sold the remaining mouth-piece "tusk" for a whopping £680 on ebay a couple of weeks ago:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STAR-WARS-DARTH-VADER-MOVIE-PROP-ORIGINAL-PIECE-OF-THE-MASK-FULL-PROVENANCE-1983-/151911975835?hash=item235ea8cb9b%3Ag%3As~oAAOSwnH1Wbfvc&nma=true&si=brG4bGTAItVOXqGA%252FwSjPt58yFI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
(when the link goes dead the description reads:
"
For auction , in 1990 i purchased the original Darth Vader costume from a person who worked on the Star Wars film Return Of The Jedi as the construction storeman , he also worked with a supply company to the film crews . He sold me the costume and over 100 Star Wars Lucas Films production photos .The part for auction is the left metal stud one of two on the front of the mask. If you look closely at the Darth Vader photo i took at home in 1990 you will see it has only one pointed stud in the front of the mask this is because the mask was damaged , a small part of the fibre glass socket which held the stud in place had broke away . I painted black part of the metal stud which was exposed so it looked better when up close , glued it back in but it fell out few times again so i put it in a bag so not to loose it , the mask was also damaged at the base , it was very heavy to wear so i imagine it had been dropped . On the day i took the Darth Vader to enter into Christies auction i had simply forgotten to take the stud with me .This item has been at back of a draw for the past 25 years until last week when i looked at my Darth Vader photos after all the news about the new film . For auction are ,. 1. the metal pointed stud from the Darth Vader mask from Return Of The Jedi , 2 cm long . 2. the original yellow carbon copy letter from person who sold me the costume . 3. a glossy photo of the Darth Vader costume at my home in 1990 . 4. the original 35 mm photo negative taken with my old Nikon camera of the Darth Vader next to a signed Mark Knopfler guitar with copyright . 5. the Christies auction catalogue , letter .photocopy of payment check , newspaper clipping . 6. a 8x10 photo of used Indiana Jones props outside a studio door at Elstree studios circa 1980s . Thank you for looking and please see my other rare movie and Star Wars listings ."
Checking on the auction results the mask sold for £5,000 in 1990. Still cheap when you consider what it's worth now. I wonder if it was the original buyer who managed to get hold of this piece? What a reunite!
Image of the item that sold above:
