This picture shows a mini-mite on the left, the Jacobs first edition mini-mite in the center and the second, or the replacement to Jacob's first mini-mite bait on the right. All three of these baits have been to a US Supreme Court in a patent battle. And I , with the Jacob's designs, prevailed.
The original mini-mite body is 1 1/2" in length, has 13 fine ribs and a tail button that resembles an inverted funnel....it looks much like a miniature funnel with a long neck for adding oil to hard to reach places on a car. That tail button is circular if viewed from the end. The jig is an original that is in the plastic when purchased and is a long shanked size 10 hook which is great for sunfish and crappies if you can keep the hooks from snapping off or the eyes from doing like-wise. This issue, along with the tail buttons being ripped off too easily are a real problem for the bait's success.
The first, or center, Jacobs design was 1 3/8" in length and the body consisted of 7 round segments, a "grub type" body if you will. The tail button while funnel-shaped is as flat as a pancake. His second style is identical to the first in every aspect except for the tail button which is round, not triangular. Both of these baits are a world apart from the mini-mite as far as productivity goes. The flat aspect of each style means that the baits can be put on a jig with the tail buttons vertical or horizontal to tailor the drop rate and action on the drop. Plastic can be used that means tougher tails and no bite-offs. Of course the amount of color variations we can make is a shadow over the commercial bait.
When Jacobs came out with the first mold I bought the first one. Several others were bought by others too. The holding company in Chicago that owns Cubby Tackle, aka mini-mite, saw pictures of the baits they wrote nasty letters to Rick threatening legal action if he didn't destroy his cnc program and hand over any and all molds he'd produced. Rick complied and then cut a mold with a different tail design, the round one. I can still get my mold to use when I want to make some of the first generation baits as I prefer the triangular shape. I have the round bait mold and make many of those baits as well. The round tailed baits are what will be made in the Jacobs mold I included in the other post with the link. The triangular bait is not available thru Jacobs Baits as far as I know.
As mentioned in several posts here, there are better baits one can make than this mini-mite. Better plastic, better colors, better action in the alternatives make this an "old bait".