The collection amassed by Jein, who died last year aged 76, brought in about $US13.6 million ($A21.5 million) during a weekend event at Heritage Auctions in Dallas.
Jein not only had an Oscar and Emmy-nominated career making miniature models for nearly half a century, he also spent a lifetime collecting costumes, props, scripts, artwork, photographs and models from the shows he loved.
The Red Leader X-wing Starfighter that was used in the 1977 Star Wars film sold after a bidding duel between two collectors, the auction house said. Also going for an eye-popping amount was a Star Wars stormtrooper costume that sold for $US645,000 ($A1 million).
A rare surviving spacesuit from Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey sold for $US447,000 ($A705,000).
Jein, who grew up in Los Angeles, was still early in his career when he led the team that created the mothership for Steven Spielberg's 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
The model that appears gigantic in the movie is just over 1.5m long and is now part of the collection at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.
A small preliminary model about 12cm long brought in $US55,000 ($A86,800) at the auction.
Lou Zutavern, Jein's longtime friend and shop supervisor, said he and Jein always had "a ball" working together. He said Jein was a great friend, and recalled the time he brought a box filled with model kits to entertain Zutavern after he had a knee surgery.
Zutavern said his friend had a love of Hollywood history, and a passion for seeking out items for his collection.
"He loved the search and finding things and making a trade," Zutavern said. "It was part of the fun for him."
