I have never heard of such creatures, so any help would be very helpful!

It was riding a rocket, had green skin, and kind of looked life an elf.

In fact, it looked very suspiciously like a "Happy Little Elf" from The Simpsons, which I imagine (with this new found knowledge) is kind of a combination between a Smurf and and Astrosnik.

As an aside, the Happy Little Elves on The Simpsons really make me laugh.

From what I saw, it seemed to be all eight of the regular Sniks figures that were produced by McDonald's.

Also, I have read on this board that they do resemble the Smurfs in a way -- but as many may have discovered, they were not created by Peyo, the original creator. They have that appearance though, because like the Smurfs, they originated in Belgium, where this character style was originated; however, unlike the Smurfs, they were created by a different entity, just as the Snorks (another host of characters that had their roots in Belgium) were...but that's another story! ;-)

As for colors, the standard Sniks are green, but I have seen blue and black ones as well.

The Bully company was the first company to be licensed to manufacture and distribute the Smurf PVC line on a large scale in the late 1960s. The Bully company began making Astrosnik toys in the 1970s. Astrosniks are green skinned aliens that come from Snikeria. The first Astrosniks made by Bully had black skin, red skin, and then pink skin. Then they began making the ones with green skin that are the most common. Their popularity never really soared in Europe like the Smurfs. Then in 1983, 1984, and 1985 McDonald's featured the Astrosniks as the prize in their Happy Meals. 1983 there were 8 Sniks released as a St. Louis regional Happy Meal, 1984 there were 6 Sniks released as a St. Louis regional Happy Meal, and in 1985 there were 11 Sniks released in an Oklahoma regional Happy Meal promotion. The Sniks from 1985 are the hardest ones to get and do not have a McDonal's "M" on them like the 1983 and 1984 ones do. The 1985 Sniks are the same figures that were also sold in toy stores in 1985. They came on cards and are marked Bully /Schaper (American Comapny that distributed them). This is when the Sniks enjoyed a modest popularity in the U.S. and a bunch of licensed merchandise starting showing up including story books, bubble bath, children's clothing, plush dolls, party supplies, etc. They were never extremely popular and these items are in great demand today when they are found.

Bully continues to make Astrosniks and release new ones. Unfortunately there are never any new mold variations. They are always paint color variations. Within the last 2-3 years the Astrosniks were available as a premium at German Pizza Hut restaurants with a kid's meal.

This is probably more than any of you ever wanted to know about Astrosniks and I don't mean to keep pushing everyone to my website because this is a great one but you can see my Astrosniks collection at http://mhl2.home.mindspring.com/astrosniks.html