Here’s that Minion again. The one with the dart in his head. I still have no idea what to call him.

But there is a story that goes with him. I picked up the figure at a thrift store. He had been played with a lot and showed some wear and tear.  In particular, he had a hole in the middle of his forehead, and something metal was stuck in there. But it wasn’t otherwise bad, and he was two bucks, so home it came. I found a pair of needle nose pliers, and decided to pull out the metal piece and see if the head could be salvaged somehow. Well, what came out of there was the entire end of a dart. Not the tiny dart he has now, but a full sized spike from a pub-type dart! After I removed it, to my surprise, the plastic closed up around the hole, but it was still very visible. Then I got an inspiration. I’d long ago found these “dart” thumbtacks at a dollar store and decided they’d make good Minions at Work props. So I stuck one in the hole, and despite the pointy part being much smaller, it stayed in the hole just fine.

So, “Dart Minion” was born. I thought he’d just be a one joke character, and I came up with the one joke. (No, it’s not this one.) I figured then that I’d find a mask or some headgear to hide the hole. But I found I liked the idea of the guy obviously going about his business seemingly unaware (or uncaring) that he has a big ol’ dart imbedded in his forehead. Will I eventually run out of things to do with him? I don’t think so, actually. There will be always be Minion group scenes, where I drag out every Minion I can find for a briefing or mass operation, and it will always be funny to have that guy with a dart in his head standing in the background. Some things don’t get old.

One thing that does get old: Headaches. And as it happens, I have one as I’m typing this. Like I’ve said, I choose the cartoon reposts pretty much at random, so it is pure chance that this one comes up in the middle of my rare headaches. Irony, it’s what’s for dinner.