It's a good idea, but the tusks are simply too small to serve for that kind of functionality.

I always thought these were the male part of wood screw snap studs. The knurled part would be for gripping and turning to screw the stud into place. I think these are already existing pieces not custom made.

Just a thought

Cheers Chris

I would be very grateful if anyone here has solid information on how the PSoL ones I own are not authentic to pass it onto Stephen Lane and also to please let me know if you are doing this.Stephen has assured me that they are authentic but I have been unable to get any solid provenance by way of source as I have been looking into these myself.The pieces were never claimed to be screen used,only unused production pieces, and when I spoke with Brian Muir and showed him pictures he said they looked authentic although this of course does not mean much thirty years on.He also told me that the pieces were in fact machined individually and not found parts for what that is worth.If you guys can definitively prove to Stephen that these are not authentic then I can still get a refund on the pieces.I would be most appreciative for assistance in this.Please email Stephen at:
stephen@propstore.com
and please cc myself at:
bigbaddaddyvader@aol.com
Thanks guys.

Just as an update.I have spoken at length with Stephen and another person about these tusks and have gotten a lot more detail on source and provenance.Firstly I think it is important to note that these tusks were not taken from a screen mask nor were they removed from a backup mask or anything like this nor is it claimed that they were.These tusks come from a very good source and do have what I would consider to be very good provenance.These pieces may have been rejected due to problems with machining or due to mistakes whilst making.While the differences between these and the screen used pieces would certainly point to them not being screen used it does not speak to their inauthenticity as to being original production pieces which I would remain confident they are.I cannot speak more to the details of provenance for obvious reasons on a public board.
This being said once again if anyone can definitively prove to Stephen that these pieces cannot be authentic then I more than welcome this input however I remain confident that they are what they were originally sold as-unused (for whatever reason) production-made tusks.Nothing more,nothing less.

I think that when "authentic" is used in regards to Vader pieces, then it is meant as screen used or screen accurate pieces and doesn't counter in the fact of pieces made during production but was not screen used are also "authentic" production pieces. If I make sense...

I quite agree Carsten.I also agree that the differences between these and the screen pieces certainly point to there being no way at all that these could be screen used.No doubt.However when discussing original props in a wider sense it is important to define the term authentic-made for and during the production.Screen used means used on screen but particularly when discussing Star Wars props made for production pieces are,in my view,also highly desirable pieces.
As I say these pieces were never sold as screen used not would I ever claim they were and were I to ever sell them,which is unlikely,I would not claim them to be.Any of you who know me will know that in the past when a piece has been proven to be inauthentic I am always willing to listen and have pulled two sale pieces in the past due to this being proven to me with a reasonable doubt as if there is reasonable doubt as to authenticity I would never sell a piece.
I am confident that these pieces are unused production-made tusks.Possibly rejects,possibly prototypes and there really is no way to be sure of why they were not used.After discussion with other people I am of the personal opinion that they were rejected pieces due to machining problems but that is only opinion.

Yes, the definition "authentic" in these cases must be used with a great deal of thought, as you can end up having a meaning to what you wrote that you never intended. Totally agree on that.

I believe I saw one of your projects on the RPF that you pulled because it was shown that it was or may have been something other than what you thought. Was it the Imperial officer's mauser pistol or something? Can't remember. Just remember that I thought you were very professional and willing to hear people out and not stomping your feet and ignoring people just for a sale. Definitely showed that you are an up-standing character, imo.

Oh... that went a little OT... but still imo in context of what's been happening here.

Hope we'll find the exact shape and look of the ANH tusks. And interesting info regarding them being machined and thereby not found objects.

I have had to pull two sales over the past year.One was the inauthentic imperial officer blaster that was proven to be a Boba Debt replica.I was selling a casting of this as a casting of an original piece and bottom line was it turned out not to be.I would not want to sell something as something it isn't.The other piece was a Matrix pistol that was a fake and the previous owner,who it has been returned to,still claims it is authentic and it definitely is not and there for me lies the real problem.A lot of collectors simply dont want to believe they have been burned.I have been burned on a couple of occasions and have tried to learn from them.In both these cases it was proven to me that there was no chance they were authentic so they had to be removed from sale.It all worked out though as in lieu of a refund for the Matrix pistol I got my production-made unused ROTJ Anakin scars.
At any rate these tusks are as has been stated not accurate to the ones seen on screen in ANH but are interesting artifacts from the production.I spoke with Brian about them as I have this set and was interested to learn more about them and a friend had actually asked me about them too so I figured if anyone would know what they were Brian would.Brian confirmed to me that they were custom machined by the production.This,combined with the differences between these and the screen pieces,are what make me believe that there were mistakes machining these or that these were early attempts at them as these would not fit a screen mask.As Thomas has said the base is too long so this may be why they were rejected.