Robot Wars 1997 bonus video: Blendo withdrawing from the competition

After defeating its first two opponents, Blendo was determined to be too dangerous for the Robot Wars arena to contain, and was asked to withdraw from the competition.

[@burntmarshwigglestudio597]

Bad news: you're disqualified because you are too good. Good news: the consolation prize is syndicated tv show that lasts 10 years where you get to build a rocket car, blow up a cement truck, and put a fork in the microwave

[@bombud1]

they also were given 1st prize in lieu of competition.

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

Not so much disqualified as much as over-qualified, really.

[@FR-sky]

i though it was because Blendo can't be controlled after they lauch it, in the footage i looked, Blendo " driving " very randomly and bounces everywhere while opponents just wait...

[@juliadagnall5816]

@@FR-skyJamie was asked to remove Blendo from competition because it kept throwing pieces of the other bots over the barrier they had at the time. No one was hurt thankfully but the insurance company was not happy.

[@SeguroOffroad]

@@FR-sky Blendos attack was to spin and wait for other bots to attack. Concept was there bot was trash.

[@scowell]

"You win! Please don't start your monster, just take your trophy and go home!"

[@jarooosa]

Sadly Blendo was withdrawn before he had a chance to fling large pieces of metal into the crowd at hundreds of miles an hour. Jamie Hyneman is a genius and the simplicity of a flywheel made the robot wars concept redundant very quickly.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

not just Jamie…some young modelmaker helped him: a guy named Adam Savage. Unless my eyes are deceiving me, that’s Adam in the stetson on the left

[@Dusto9]

@@bostonrailfan2427 It certainly is! At 2:52 his name is called out :)

[@SupercatTheBazingalinga]

Hypno disc

[@PRiMETECHAU]

@@Dusto9 Interesting; I remember interviews with Adam and Jamie after myth-buster where they basically didn't like working together, were not friends. I guess that was something that developed over time...

[@vokhshed1886]

@@PRiMETECHAU I think years of co-producing the same show will do that to almost any friendship

[@Blink_____]

Imagine being penalized because the organizers of a destructive competition couldn't foresee the legitimate need for a fully enclosed combat arena

[@littlesnowflakepunk855]

They got co-championship, it wasn't that they were penalized.

[@notfeedynotlazy]

They weren't penalised. They were given the 1st place in exchange for not competing. Basically, a "we surrender" white flag. The _exact oppossite_ of penalising them.

[@Totalballa41]

​@@notfeedynotlazyNo honor in that. Thats penalized

[@notfeedynotlazy]

@@Totalballa41 Everyone involved seems to disagree with you. For some weird reason, they seem to think that "scaring your foes SO shitless that they yield to you, kneel and concede victory at the mere mention of your name" IS a a GOOD thing in the warrior's way of thinking. And I have a hard time arguing against that.

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

​@@Totalballa41wrong. It's literally an honorary victory, so it is honorable by definition. They literally told them they did so well they honored them with first place.

[@tannerlewis8862]

Just blows my mind that this is what they did FOR FUN. They built a machine of mass destruction FOR FUN. And then went on to have even more fun blowing shit up and causing chaos. Will forever love this duo.

[@sinisterthoughts2896]

This is not mass destruction.

[@Francis-rs7zu]

You should look up Survival Research Labs, Predated this by 20 years, and is still going on

[@JAKOB1977]

Blendo is a combat robot designed and built by Jamie Hyneman. Adam Savage wired the electronics and control systems. Blendo had the first effective implementation of the full-body kinetic energy spinner weapon that became common in BattleBots and it had even a message to the audience "learn to duck, quack quack" but the judges, did not think that was realistic, and the audience had enough time if something came flying..

[@donaldduck4867]

Future MYTHBUSTERS right there! 😎 Best show on Science Channel! RIP Grant.

[@theusher2893]

RIP Grant

[@maikelfeskens9322]

Grant made Deadblow, not Blendo....

[@ShimrraJamaane]

@@maikelfeskens9322 Grant was on Mythbusters.

[@peterw1534]

Announcer: Blendo is disqualified due to safety concerns for the audience. Crowd: Boo saftey! Lol!

[@NightRanger77]

Well it was arguably one of the most fun and exciting robots ever built at the time. People wanted to see the destruction it caused, rightfully so

[@juliadagnall5816]

Blendo really started an arms race. Other builders had to modify their designs to survive getting creamed by that kind of kinetic energy and the show runners had to build themselves a better box.

[@rrrandommman]

It was at this moment, Blendo became an elder god of Robot wars.

[@MicrowavedAlastair5390]

Is that Joel? Joel Hodgson?

[@DW-indeed]

"You win. Completely. Now please leave" :D

[@HairySteveUK]

I can see their point though. I look at that arena and wonder how they thought putting a machine like Blendo in there at all was a good idea. The arenas in the UK robot wars scene are extremely sturdy but in the early days they were rather flimsy and had open tops and unprotected driving posts, but again the organisers realised that they needed to make them stronger thanks to robots like Chaos 2 and Hypnodisk. The Renfrew arena weighed over 200 tons and was fully armoured with double layered ballistic shielding, but Apex still tore massive chunks out of it when it self-destructed. I've been to several events where these things are being used and when you have two 100kg killing machines beating the snot out of each other you can feel the ground shake. I watched Bigger Brother fight Hypnodisk live at Elstree, that fight was insane. They were sweeping up chunks of Bigger Brother's armour up off the arena floor at the end. In summation, given the design of the arena and the fact that it was probably only stopping robots physically leaving it, preventing Blendo from continuing to compete was certainly the right thing to do. It's just a shame that they didn't learn from 1995 and completely enclose the arena, then we could have seen Blendo's full potential.

[@ellindsey000]

The old San Francisco Robot Wars event didn't have the kind of budget that they would need to make a fully enclosed arena. This event was run on a shoestring budget, trying to survive purely on the ticket sales from people showing up to see the live event. They did increase the height of the walls after the 1995 event, but it wasn't enough.

[@DeathEgg666]

anyone else come here from the adam savage video today? lol

[@stevendarn2011]

This video is going to get more views lol

[@dazherbert2782]

Yes and it's every bit as cool as I hoped

[@将軍九八.彁]

Tested crew assemble

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

Whoa re the other 2 in the ring with Adam and Jamie? I recognize them but I can't remember their names.

[@danuttall]

Would Blendo be admissible in the modern BattleBox? How well would it do again the more modern bots of today? What could Blendo do to Huge or Duck?

[@ellindsey000]

Blendo was admissible at BattleBots, and competed several times. It lost every fight it was in. The more modern robots were durable enough to not die on the first good hit like the older ones would, and could last long enough to stall Blendo's gas engine or flip it over.

[@notfeedynotlazy]

@@ellindsey000 Yep. Basically, Blendo was the first integral spinner, but there are lots of integral spinners nowadays. Much like a WW2-age Me262 (first jet fighter, in a different league than WW2 prop fighters) or the 1883 "Esmeralda" (first truly modern cruiser) would be shreded to pieces by modern jet fighters or missile cruisers. That doesn't detract from the merit that neither of them (bot, planes or ship) had in their time.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

it came back in BattleBots and got beaten each time…in just two years competition had caught up to it as armor, speed, and weapons strengthened as well as flipping bots overtook the spinner as most dangerous to bots

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@ellindsey000 BattleBots used more flippers, the one thing that Blendo was vulnerable to…even at its lowest height, it was still vulnerable to flips

[@aaronwebster2503]

@@bostonrailfan2427 It won both fights against Namreko and DoMore in 95 and again in 97 against Hercules and Punjar. So, no.

[@SolaceEasy]

Adam Savage playing Pocket Pool

[@bostonrailfan2427]

superior design, defense, speed, and strength…can’t have it upstaging the others now can we!

[@tinkerfabrication]

The creators of the event hadn't imagined something so destructive. It was the first year of it. So they were learning as they went. It had a 5hp brigs and Stratton engine and spun at 500rpm with 250lb mass. So the blades on the outside rim reached speeds of 80mph. Most matches only lasted 30 seconds.

[@heathkill4821]

They could have made the arena more suitable as well to keep pieces from flying out

[@thanatossassin]

Mythbusters and MST3K connected via Robot Wars, who would've thought

[@hudy323]

I was gonna ask if Joel hodgson meant what I thought it did

[@bragr_]

That arena looks flimsy. I went to a local competition recently where I think 5 lbs was the max weight class and the arenas were all fully enclosed and built much more robustly.

[@ellindsey000]

Back then nobody was building proper arenas, they were just bumpers to stop robots from driving into the audience and maybe a polycarb wall to catch debris if you were lucky. Arena design and safety standards have come a long way since then.

[@Jefuslives]

that's a W by default in my book

[@Enders]

Just the legendary mthybusters being normies in a public entry contest.

[@GrandLordGeek]

Wait, is that Joel Hodgeson!?

[@ellindsey000]

Yes, he was an announcer for that year of Robot Wars.

[@DrDuckMD]

blendo was just too good

[@jimmynew3090]

if I had a dollar for every pixel of resolution in this video, I'd have a nickel

[@eltzrothm1]

Eyesight was worse in the 90s.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

1990s VHS for you…

[@ikannunaplays]

@@bostonrailfan2427 Well, 1990's VHS is quite a bit better than this. The channel owner on another video stated this footage was a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy that then sat in storage for 20 years and it was a miracle there was anything left to look at. He also said he had to clean it up in video software before posting it here.

[@harshbarj]

"Blendo withdrawing from the competition" They were kicked out. I'm sure Jamie would have been happy seeing the contest to the end. If only they built the arena as they do now, fully caged in boxes.

[@chrisbabaero5147]

The real technology badly needed here was some decent video and sound equipment 😂

[@ShimrraJamaane]

It’s just degraded thanks to nearly three decades passing.

[@sircull4047]

So blendo wins the fight and loses the war or vice versa?

[@notfeedynotlazy]

Wins the fight, and the war surrenders to him

[@emperorhadrian6011]

It's a Amuro and Char transcending mid battle kinda thing.

[@blacklupus]

It was deemed a warcrime under the geneva convention.

[@halofreak1990]

@@notfeedynotlazy Blendo was basically Chuck Norris in robot form

[@thisisdvd8094]

I wonder what would have happened if blendo had continued...

[@BlueBeamProductions]

NASA would find a cheaper way to land robots on Mars

[@bostonrailfan2427]

it would have won and pissed off the others

[@ellindsey000]

It would have come up against Biohazard eventually. Biohazard was capable of beating Blendo, they later fought at BattleBots and Biohazard won. I'm not sure the arena wall would have survived the fight however.

[@lewisb85]

@@ellindsey000 rhino was capable of beating blendo back then as well as it was built for blendo, it had the halon gas (when it was legal) to choke out it's petrol engine which it did to scorpion, and I remember alexander rose saying they went for the pneumatic punch when they banned halon because they could get it in do damage and get it out again without it catching on part of Blendo so damaging Rhino. people were looking at ways of beating it even back then!

[@caelumvaldovinos5318]

I wonder what would happen if Tombstone and a modern Blendo squared off?

[@justins8802]

Tombstone would win, quickly. Like asking who would win in a tank battle between a WW2 Tiger tank and a T-72. Different eras and not really comparable head to head.

[@caelumvaldovinos5318]

@@justins8802, I'm on the fence on that one. Tomstone has firepower, but it's very fragile. Also, Blendo's shape has a good chance of knocking Tombstone's weapon aside which lately sends the robot flying back into the stone age. But, I agree that if Tombstone manages to penetrate the armor, Blendo is buried

[@gatling216]

@@caelumvaldovinos5318 Blendo's dome was a mild steel wok. That was fine for armor back then, but Tombstone likely wouldn't notice it was there.

[@BellyLover06]

Blendo couldn't even beat robots of its own time once BattleBots was on Comedy Central. Tombstone (either version really) would clobber it in seconds.

[@codyj9983]

Jaime immediately puts the trophy on his crotch lmao

[@nermalsturf]

His REAL opinion o/the trophy! Dude's not much for words, but has no difficulty speaking VOLUMES!!

[@tensense5872]

It's fine it wouldn't have done well long term people soon figured out how to deal with spinners/flywheel robots. Stop them spinning asap so they can't build energy to hurt you.

[@tinkerfabrication]

Turns out rubber was their enemy. But man they were awesome to watch.

[@CarputingYT]

nice lmao they gotta be proud

[@Mr12161969]

Blendo = G. O. A. T.

[@tehpanda64]

Maybe if everyone else was better at making more dangerous robots then they would have had designed a better arena and not had to disqualify Blendo.

[@ellindsey000]

It had nothing to do with the quality of everyone else's robots. It was purely a matter of audience safety. The old Robot Wars arena had no roof and kind of flimsy walls, and Blendo was powerful enough to fling debris out of the arena into the audience. So they removed Blendo from the competition, rather than risk an expensive lawsuit that would have shut the entire event down. When Battlebots started up a few years later, they had a properly sturdy arena with a full roof. Blendo went to compete there, and ended up losing every fight. That arena was strong enough to protect it, and the other robots had gotten strong enough to not die on the first good hit.

[@tehpanda64]

@@ellindsey000 well, if the competition was also as dangerous around a crowd they would have designed the arena to accommodate that fact, is what I had meant. My original comment didn't actually reflect what I had intended, I have since edited it. P.S. I didn't meant to say that the other competitors didn't have quality robots, just not designed as powerful/with as much damage potential as Blendo at the time.

[@ellindsey000]

@@tehpanda64 The old San Francisco Robot Wars was run on a shoestring budget. They simply couldn't afford a full box arena. We didn't get that until BattleBots, who put a lot more money into building their arena. If more robots capable of being as destructive as Blendo had shown up at the old San Francisco event, they would also have been asked to leave the event.

[@lewisb85]

I find it quite ironic they asked Blendo to leave the competition yet they had Mark Pauline run his SRL robots during the interlude, SRL have injured people at their shows and I remember mark saying they were 50/50 in the lawsuit results.

[@jacob_90s]

So Blendo was banned because they were too cheap to cover the top of the ring? Love it. Brilliant logic guys.

[@mirdordinii5783]

They ended up modifying the arena the next year, but going through the expense that year on account of one bot was a bit much for them. Blendo walked away with a co-championship though in exchange for the withdrawl.

[@Leatherface123.]

They never put a roof on until nightmare in season 1 of battlebots broke a 5lb tooth and sent it up and into the crowd, Did it again after breaking one and sending it through the Lexan ceiling and into the crowd, I believe it was the only bot to actually get through the lexan and into the crowd

[@littlesnowflakepunk855]

Blendo could have still caused significant, expensive (and possibly lethal) damage to both the arena and the spectators lol

[@JaydenLawson]

Here after hearing Adam Savage describe this (kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpqXlZ6Yatxlgsk). Love the booos haha