Snagging A Blue Snaggletooth

Red or blue. Tall or short. There is only one Snaggletooth. Well, in the movie Star Wars, there was only one. In the toy world however, there are two.

When Kenner began it's designs on the second wave of Star Wars action figures, it based it's design on a photo of the character sent to them by Lucasfilm. The problem with the photo was it was a shot of Snaggletooth from the waste up. The other problem with the photo was it was in black and white.

With Jawas and R2-D2 being the only known shorties to Kenner, they molded old snags in a 3 3/4 size, which was the standard size most Star Wars action figures. They also took liberties with the color of his costume and went with blue.

Production began on the taller and blue suited version and Snaggletooth was included the Sears Christmas catalog exclusive Cantina Adventure Set. Along with Snaggletooth, the playset also included Hammerhead, Walrus Man, and Greedo.

Kenner had learned of their mistake and not only quickly re-scuplted the figure to the correct shorter version, Kenner also gave him a proper red suit. However, in the meantime, they also created a holy grail among collectors.

I knew of of the figure as a few of my friends owned Blue Snags. I probably would have too, if I had got in on the Star Wars bandwagon sooner. It wasn't until years later that I would learn of it's origins and find out why it wasn't sold in the mainstream blister card fashion. I always wanted the elusive figure, but back in the day, if you missed the initial release you were out of luck. You would have to get one of your buddy's, in maybe a trade, or hope to find one at a garage or yard sale.

It wasn't until the launch of mediums like eBay and the Internet that I would have any hope getting the blue tall fellow. However, the expense of the Blue Snaggletooth has kept me at bay for years now. You can easily find these rarities selling for $100-150. So, I have held off...until now.

I have been pursuing the top 10 Star Wars toys I want to add to my toy collection, Snaggletooth being towards the top of the list, and I finally pulled the trigger. Picking him up with a buy it now option. Needless to say, I am excited and tickled pink  (not because I like dollies) to finally have this figure in my collection. Shoot! I might need to add a Cantina Advenure Set to my want list now.

About the author: John Sholtz is an avid toy collector and the interim editor of the Batcave Toy Room due to the abrupt death of Bruce Wayne. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter at, Facebook, Google+ and Linkedin.