Week 17: Snaggletooth

Snaggletooth….Actually, I have no interesting stories or asides about this particular figure from when I was a kid (ya’ll lucked out!).  The normal Red Snaggletooth is a very common and relatively uninteresting figure to me; however, this figure is most noted for it’s taller blue variant cousin the Blue Snaggletooth.  I do not recall the Blue Snaggletooth whatsoever as child and did not have the playset that he came with.  I guess my parents and grandmother didn’t shop at Sears.  Much more on the Blue Snaggletooth later.

Like the other cantina aliens, Snaggletooth appears first on the 20/21 back cards and like the other cantina aliens he did not make it to the POTF series.  However proofs of this card do exist as well:

Here are the known card back releases according to Kellerman's book:

SW 20-Back E w/Fett offer

SW 21-Back A

SW 21-Back B

SW 21-Back C w/ “secret figure” offer

ESB 21-Back G w/ “secret figure” offer

ESB 31-Back A

ESB 41-Back A w/Survival Kit offer

ESB 41-Back E

ESB 45-Back A w/Display Arena offer

ESB 47-Back A w/4-LOM offer

ESB 48-Back A

ROTJ 77-Back A

ROTJ 79-Back A

Foreign carded versions of Snaggletooth exist as well and some are pretty cool and many very hard to find.  (all images from www.12back.com, www.toysrgus.com, www.brianstoys.com):

Canadian  SW 20 Back Snaggletooth (note the cool “La Guerre Des Etoiles title on the back):

Palitoy (UK) SW Snaggletooth:

PBP (Spain) ROTJ Snaggletooth (note the title in Spanish…El Retorno Del Jedi):

Harbert (Italy) SW 20 back Snaggletooth:

Clipper (Netherlands) ROTJ Snaggletooth (note the HUGE bubble on this thing!):

Meccano (France) 20 back Snaggletooth square card.  (these Meccano card figures are just too cool):

Backside of the 20 back Meccano square card:  (note which Snaggletooth is pictured…the blue one!  However, no Blue Snags were ever released carded)

The Snaggletooth figure has one of the most unique variations in the much taller and blue suited Blue Snaggletooth figure.  Here is the story behind the Blue Snaggletooth:

I think most everyone knows the story, but basically what happened with this figure is a miscommunication and bad reference pictures sent from LFL to Kenner.  Sears was putting out an exclusive Cantina Adventure Set in the 1978 Christmas “Wish Book” catalog.  This exclusive playset would include 4 brand new figures as the cantina aliens which were not yet otherwise available.  LFL sent Kenner a black and white reference photos or drawings of Snaggletooth (as well as the other aliens) from the waste up or headshots.  Kenner using this made the figure the same height as the other figures and his outfit blue, and the addition of those silver moon boots are just hysterical.  This also explains the odd outfits that all the cantina aliens have.

The playset itself is little more than a cardboard backdrop diorama and offers little play value and sold in 1978 for about $9.00.  The playset was more of a novelty, but the real point of interest was the four brand new figures.  The playset is very collectible today due to the variant figure and it’s relative scarcity and can cost hundreds.  The Blue Snaggletooth was also offered as a mail away promotion through Sears as well in a two pack box with Greedo.  This box is the same as the pack-in for the Cantina Adventure set:

However, contrary to belief.  The Blue Snaggletooth is NOT found in every Cantina Adventure Play set.  In 1979, once the corrected red version of Snaggletooth was released as a carded figure, the Blue Snaggletooth was replaced by the Red Snaggletooth.  However, the box of the Cantina Adventure Play set were not changed and the Blue Snaggletooth pictures remain.  The pack-in box for the Red Snaggletooth and Greedo figures looks like this as well (note that there is NO change in serial numbers and the box is the same):

The only way (I believe) to know for sure is to open up the playset and/or two pack box and see which Snaggletooth is actually present.  A reason why these playsets are rarely found sealed.

Loose Variations….Aside from the standard red and blue variations there is also a variant Blue Snaggletooth.  Most likely a production error, but the Blue Snaggletooth can be found as “Dented Toe” or “Non-Dented Toe”.  I know pretty much nothing about this “variation” but I did find a picture of what I think it might be.

I found this picture doing a Google search.  As you can see, there is a small dent on the right foot of the figure on the right (I circled it in red).  My Blue Snaggletooth is the non-dented version and I do not know which is the harder to find if any as this is a variant that I am not too very interested in acquiring right now…if ever.  Mine is the non-dented version, so I am going to assume the dented version is the rarer of the two, but that is just an assumption as I doubt I have the rarer of the two figures.

There are variations for the Red Snaggletooth as well.  Nothing major, just coo (Hong Kong and Taiwan coo) as well as a foreign European variant.  Mine (pictured above) has the Hong Kong coo, however I am expecting this soon:

The figure on the left is the Tri variant Red Snaggletooth (figure on the right is a Kenner Red Snag for comparison).  The Tri variant has no coo and some darker paint applications.  Also like many Tri variants, the paints apps can be a bit sloppy and subject to easy rubs (note the hands and feet).  Again, I don’t have the figure “in-hand” just yet but it is on the way.

Snaggletooth Prices:  Again, a loose Red Snaggletooth in Mint condition is pretty common and can be found easily for $10 or less.  The Blue Snaggletooth is consistently around the $100 price range (more or less depending on condition).  The Blue Snaggletooth is prone to wear on the boots, hands, belt and head.  Making a mint specimen a bit of a challenge.  Bagged Blue Snags can run as much as 3 times the price of a loose figure.

Carded prices of course vary greatly.  $150+ for SW carded.  Less or possibly more for others depending on condition, rarity, etc.  There isn’t much on EBay right now for me to get a very accurate estimate. 

 Thanks for reading!