There were a bunch of MINIon numbers I wanted to reserve just for me. I had to remind myself that even though we are a three MINI (Mini) family, that the MINIon # is not for the car, but for the person. So I only get one. I thought about it a lot, and decided on one of two numbers- #1138 was one of them.
One of the biggest geek questions out there is “Star Wars or Star Trek?” It’s a question that tears at the fabric of geek culture. For me it’s been hard to decide since both hold a very important part of my growing up. I remember walking around at recess in elementary school reading the Star Fleet Technical Manual. In middle school the first book I consciously picked up and read without prompting was “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” one of the first Star Wars spin off novel. I loved both franchises. So having MINIon #1138 made sense. Until I became friends with the real MINIon #1138. They had not requested a number, so when I finished with this one I recalled being on the Dragon (which falls on Free Comic Book Day) and driving to a Comic Shop in Sylva, North Carolina with this MINIon. Along the route we get passed by a ginormous pick up truck that then slows down to take pictures. It then pulls over to take more pictures… This was strange, but not really, it happens sometimes when a bunch of MINIs are driving in the required conga line. We get to the comic shop and there’s the truck again. It seems that the local chapter of the 501st were visiting the comic shop and that’s when things got awesome and these guys all gathered around for photo ops. You see, the MINI MINIon #1138 was driving is black… solid black, but the important part is it has a graphic on the side window of Darth Vader, and (since most MINI owners name their MINI) it goes by the name “Darth Cooper.” SO while I drew this one for me, I knew it wasn’t meant to be mine, there was a worthier MINIon for such a lofty and important number. If you don’t know the significance of 1138 to George Lucas & Star Wars- I’m sorry for you.