Mini Man

MINI MAN

The forgotten and mis-understood Mini Man. I hope there are few of these classic awards out there still standing on trophy shelves in Seattle or Portland.

I was down cleaning my shop the other day and ran across this special memory.

During my years of being Regional Director and Tournament director for the PDGA (Professional Disc Golf Association) up in the Northwest, I did a number of projects that I felt was for the players that went beyond helping with the politics and installation of the two main courses at the time, North Park in Seattle and Fort Steilacoom in Tacoma. I always felt that if I liked something so would others.

During my tenure, I created and financed quite a few custom hot stamped golf discs, minis, towels, tee shirts, score cards, newsletters and the like including the Mini Man Trophy.

I loved spending my time and money to help support the growth of the sport back then. So did most of us. For me the most satisfying “art” piece was the Mini Man Trophy.  This trophy took months for me to complete. In the early 80‘s, trophy shops didn’t offer figures for our sport.

These Mini Man trophy’s were not finished in time for the awards ceremony but eventually were awarded to the recipients.

I started by going to a toy store in search of a toy figure with adjustable joints. After some modifying I made a silicone rubber casting mold and went to work casting during the evenings after work.

I used scrap pieces of clear acrylic, plexiglass, glued together and then machined to create a base. On a lathe I turned scaled discs. After assembly there was painting and lettering.

Boy I wanted to win one of these so badly but all I have to show is four left-over rejects and, luckily, some pictures. I can only hope that the memory of the Mini Man lives on.