Tombstone at BattleBots Faceoffs first look

[@azmax623]

I was there both days. I'm the guy who got your autograph in the lobby on the second day. Look for my signs throughout the faceoffs. I'll be back for Championship 8!

[@NUUvs4kt]

I can't wait! Some of my favorite robots going head to head. Can't wait to see how the changes fared!

[@darthgbc363]

Loved seeing the fans as you all entered the arena. Hope you have more footage of fan interactions. Good luck.

[@BotvacProductions469]

as soon as i saw this in my notifications i was like "OH MY GOD!" im not even kidding 🤩

[@StevenStyczinski-sy8cj]

Can’t wait for the videos. I absolutely love the compromise between weight, weapon, armor, ease of implementation, time and money. Sorry if I missed something. Oh yeah, time and place to practice!

[@JeffHendricks]

Again, so good to see Justin getting some exposure. I know he does a lot behind the scenes. We see you, man!

[@ray9368]

All of the team work super hard, and they all deserve some credit. But yes, it was good to have Justin drive this time around.

[@JeffHendricks]

@ray9368 You're right... Maybe you could highlight the hard work they do! I know Hardcore isn't a one-man show. Keep up the great work!

[@PrimalGoat]

It was super heartwarming seeing everyone cheering for Tombstone. It's awesome seeing how well loved of a robot it is

[@ray9368]

It really is impossible to overstate this. We have the absolute best fans!

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 you should put that quote on a shirt

[@tigerrocks503chase8]

8:14 I can tell the fans were so happy to see the grim reaper make his long awaited return back to the Battlebox. :)

[@BotvacProductions469]

very happy!

[@ray9368]

This sport really has the absolute best fans!

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 i wish i cpulda been there. i'd have been screaming my head off XD

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 youve said it once and you said it again! :)

[@GelatinCoffee]

what an amazing birthday gift, battlebots videos. couldn't ask for anything better

[@randybull01]

Hi Ray. I live pretty close to you, assuming you are still in Placerville, and I once competed in Robot Wars in London. If ever need an extra hand, I'm available.

[@nodsib]

Heck yeah, Battlebots just isn’t the same without Tombstone, can’t wait to see this!

[@CyberDunk2077]

If there was ever a zombie apocalypse, this robot would be great if you had a hoard coming at you. Still the coolest robot in BB, kind of scary hearing it spin up without all the crowd noises and commentary. I would say good luck for your upcoming fights but you don’t need it, your opponents do!

[@Nonpain]

would love to see what tombstone can to a ballistic dummy .

[@ritesoffirefliers]

So how did it feel rolling Tombstone out to the BattleBox for the first time in 2 years, and the standing ovation and chants that you got?

[@ray9368]

I've always said this sport has the best fans, and they find ways to remind me of that all the time! It was a special moment for sure

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 now we know tombstone isnt going anywhere. that part of the video has gotta be my favorite. it just shows how much of a fan favorite it is!

[@Bhampton444413]

What happened to the show on Discovery? I always had tombstone in my final 4 when making my bracket. I miss it

[@ray9368]

We don't have any new information on filming another season right now. I know everybody involved wants to do it again, so I'm sure that eventually it will happen. There just isn't any news to tell though

[@ruvimsemenyuk8224]

Can’t wait to see this one , best of luck Ray

[@BotvacProductions469]

it already happened

[@Kualinar]

Ray Billings, or a sweet and caring grandfather outside the battle box, and a ruthless opponent in the battle box.

[@PyroBear1776]

Man it is good to see Tombstone back in the box! Justin does a pretty awesome job driving mortician, and can’t wait to see him drive the big boy, the reaper. You turned one of my favorite bars into a curvy Susan. 😂 I know you’re still a ways off but any big plans for 100K subs?

[@ray9368]

I would absolutely love to get to 100k. Probably do some sort of giveaway. We'd have to do something, since that is a pretty big milestone!

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 you dont deserve 100k. you deserve 100 million!

[@BotvacProductions469]

curvy susan? also, that bar is also my favorite too!

[@Teamdestro]

Can't wait for the king of kinetic energy to return!

[@dana5865]

Zach in a tombstone jacket

[@BotvacProductions469]

nice to see the red and black bar being used for the first time since world championship five

[@mikedski9698]

Ray And Justin Billings, GO FOR IT!

[@BellyLover06]

One thing's for sure. Someone turned the tires of Tombstone into cinnamon buns.

[@garymccrohan7247]

I love BattleBots, but it's hard to watch it here in Australia, as no one broadcasts it, we only get bits and pieces I stumble across on KZbin.

[@ray9368]

This new Faceoffs series will be KZbin only, so you should be able to see all of it!

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 heck yea!

[@BotvacProductions469]

ive always wanted to see if youd make more of those tombstone reaper banners like the one you have up on the back of the garage and sell them. i want one!

[@FunGuyTheGOAT2006]

Orbiton feels like it's getting jumped XD

[@ray9368]

Orbitron was absolutely a peer level robot here. They are building something pretty special!

[@grantcatdone3417]

Someone posted a damage photo of tombstone where the rear had a large chunk missing and all i could think of when you were explaining the weight reduction was a potential repeat of copperhead vs triton😭. Also if Justin is driving next season get him a scalar kit or something so he can practice driving in the off season.

[@mrsonic134]

I can't find this damage photo. Where did you see it?

[@BotvacProductions469]

8:10 thats gotta be one of the best parts of being a fan favorite! 9:00 there they go again

[@BotvacProductions469]

5:06 thats the one i was talking about! it looks so cool!

[@BotvacProductions469]

9:40 this kinda reminds me of that edit someone made when you fought biteforce in wc4.

[@Calwing999]

notice at the end of the video one of tombstone's wheels looks a little "off"

[@teamtsunami7035]

This was a question I meant to ask when the initial waves were shown, but you mentioned that the winners would possibly all come back and fight later. However, there's only seven waves... is there some secret eighth wave or a secret bot as a wildcard or just picking one of the runner up's from the past to fill that gap?

[@ray9368]

When the idea was put forth (to me at least) for Faceoffs, that was what they had in mind. But like most things in the combat robot world, I'm sure the ideas are adjusting as we go along. They will need the viewership on the series to do really well before committing to much else, or that would be my guess anyway.

[@adamwright9741]

Ray, you probably know this, but I'm going to say this vitally important tactic anyway, for you and your son: no one has ever mentioned yet how, if your blade is spinning clockwise, It will virtually always behoove you to hit your opponent with your left side facing it. If you wind up hitting your opponent, with more your right side facing it, It will most likely shoot Tombstone across the arena after impact, rather than dig in all its energy and weight Into the bite. Be careful with this and you've got more than a fighting chance!

[@Isle0fRed]

I would love to see a video on Perfect Phoenix, if you ever decide to ever work on it again

[@ray9368]

We had a lot of fun with that robot for sure, but right now there are no plans to do anything more with it. I do have enough parts to make one working version, but would need multiple to make to a BB event again.

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 why not have some fun with one like with brimstone?

[@BotvacProductions469]

8:04 what did that guy say before everyone started cheering and chanting?

[@thisladsamystery]

8:52 that person in the white shirt and glasses...Also, nooo...my favourite bar of Tombstone had 5 pound cut off of it...Also, does the camera get counted towards the weight limit? Hope Tombstone did well.

[@BotvacProductions469]

im sure they did. tombstone is a beast!

[@thecars570]

Ray, Why didn’t you weigh both Tombstones, before leaving for the tournament?

[@ray9368]

Uh, I did weigh them at home. Which is how I knew they were over. And why I had to work like crazy to show up with robots that were exactly 250 pounds :)

[@BotvacProductions469]

5:13 i was looking forward to you using it again but only the 2nd time you use it you turn it into something else

[@forceofwillgaming8475]

I’ve heard that the current set up in Vegas has a lot less space than previous world championships have been able to utilize. Do you think this could cause issues for future seasons of the show

[@ray9368]

The current space issues are directly related to the Las Vegas F1 race coming up. So the biggest issue from this is scheduling any events around the F1 usage. It's really more of a scheduling issue than a space issue

[@ruvimsemenyuk8224]

Was the remarks event filmed before the new version of tombstone was made?

[@ray9368]

Yes and no. The new style frames were used at re:MARS, and we had a few issues. Most of the updates I have been posting on this channel resulted from trying to address those issues for this event.

[@ruvimsemenyuk8224]

@ glad to hear that , I will be getting some merch here soon

[@classiclyricsofyourfaves5734]

I’d like to see a vintage Tombstone for World Championship 8, one of the reasons that made your robot the best was durability, being able to withstand huge hits and flopping around the battlebox hence the name “king of kinetic energy”, often times lately Tombstone has been taking hits it starts crabwalking or goes up in flames, what happened to the old and more durable Tombstone from World Championship 1-3??? This isn’t the Tombstone we all remember!!!! That was the best era in my opinion, the new Tombstone basically just became Fusion. I wish you the best of luck and hope you can fix the durability issues

[@ray9368]

As power levels move up, things that used to work fine suddenly start to not work fine. This is the nature of the sport really. So of course we are always trying to improve, and it is a constant ongoing effort that never stops. It just isn't easy, with so many top level competitors we are up against!

[@TheRocco96]

I think that one reason why Tombstone is now less effective than it used to be, is that the other teams have come up with new shapes and angles for their defensive wedges. Tombstone's blade now often is deflected when it touches the opponent instead of causing damage.

[@classiclyricsofyourfaves5734]

@@ray9368 I wish you the best of luck then, hopefully things can work out for you, another thing that is a little off topic about durability, back in Comedy Central there used to be a spinner bot called M.O.E. Built but Neal Muzzy, apparently according to Battlebots Fandom they tried applying to World Championship 2 (2016) but never got selected for being “too similar to Tombstone” I’m aware it’s the past but do you think they should’ve been selected, if anything the design of Tombstone must’ve took some inspiration from the Season 5.0 M.O.E.

[@juggieboy]

what is the battlebot officieal site ?

[@BotvacProductions469]

2:29 the 2nd one on the right has my favorite weapon bar

[@thisladsamystery]

Same here, but the sides are cut...

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@thisladsamystery well, the corners, and well yeah but still, its still my favorite

[@thisladsamystery]

@@BotvacProductions469 Yeah I guess it is still my favourite too. It's funny because when I first saw it I thought the entire black sections on it were steel but when I looked at the close up of the cut blade I realised only the teeth were steel.

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@thisladsamystery i like it because of how the red fuses with the black in a way its... artistic, perhaps

[@thisladsamystery]

@@BotvacProductions469 It does look good and mean. Well, the Reaper's gotta have a scary weapon right?

[@BotvacProductions469]

i wonder why tombstone doesnt hum when up to full speed in the arena

[@ray9368]

Spinners with smaller diameter spin circle have much higher rpms, which can cause a lot of the hum sound you refer to. And the high rpm stuff needs to use bearings, whereas I use bushings instead, and bearings also have a bit of hum to them as well when spun up.

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 why do you prefer bushings to bearing?

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 tombstone with a hum would make it even scarier

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 do you think that there is a hum, but not high pitched enough to hear?

[@king_br0k]

that safety pin dose not look that substantial, have you tested to make sure it can stop the weapon?

[@ray9368]

The weapon lock pin, if that is what you are referring to, is a 1/2 inch cold rolled steel bar, and is fitted into machined holes top and bottom. The weapon motor does not have enough torque to cut through it from a dead stop. Obviously up to speed is another story, but we don't put the pin in while it's spinning ;)

[@king_br0k]

@@ray9368 it is hard to get the scale in videos, the bots always look smaller than they are

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 why would you pin it while it was spinning anyway?

[@kevinbelanger4134]

The battle bots you tube channel has things posted from Vegas

[@ray9368]

That is from the re:MARS event for Amazon, which was filmed a couple of years ago.

[@BotvacProductions469]

this whole evernt was a wc8 qualifier? tombstone is definitely gonna be invited!

[@ray9368]

Eh, yes and no. There isn't any WC8 scheduled, so nothing is a "qualifier". But if you have a new robot and want to make sure they know your robot works, events like this can help you get noticed. In our weekend, Hypershock, Valkyrie, and Tombstone are all brand names for BattleBots, so we really had nothing to prove here. For Orbitron however, this was a great opportunity to show how well they stack up against top opponents, so for them this was clearly an important test.

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 ah, i see. thanks, ray :)

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 well, you wanted your revenge against hypershock, (sportmanship like of course) so thats something going for you. however i think someone decided to take some of the fun out of the fights and spoil one of the matches you were in :(

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 like you said in a reply to someone "some poeplem are hardwired to have no fun"

[@BotvacProductions469]

9:42 bring the quote back button here 👇

[@Landrew0]

I think your rotator would be less breakable and more destructive if it took a slightly smaller bite.

[@BotvacProductions469]

kevin stop putting aftershave on if it make syou scream XD

[@bami2]

No mercy for Orbitron lol

[@RoadHead62]

Wouldn't have removing the material from the center of mass on the aluminum weapon have lightened the entire robot but left more of the kinetic energy stores available than removing the mass at the business end? Seems milling those pockets more towards the center hub, and maybe thinning the web or replacing the flat web with an open lattice to maintain structural strength would have kept the mass where you wanted it without sacrificing too much energy. Like a baseball bat... Plus it would probably howl like a Banshee. The perfect thing for a Graveyard occupant.☠

[@BotvacProductions469]

lmao

[@ray9368]

You can see how the bar already had a fair amount of material removed that way. The pockets you see on top are also on the bottom, leaving a thinner web of material in between. Cutting that all the way through wouldn't have cut enough weight to help here.

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 in my opinion, it gives it a coo,l look!

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 what are ypou going to do with the material you removed?

[@andywasson8873]

Hypershock is complete trash

[@01mustang05]

hypocrite much?

[@BotvacProductions469]

no. im a little dissapointed they beat tombstone, but they deserve tremendous respect. you try working for 20 years to make a 250 pound combat robot only to face hypershock and have it completely destroyed

[@BellyLover06]

Hardly trash. They wouldn't have won re-mars if it wasn't any good.

[@ray9368]

Hypershock is a very solid top level robot, and the team is really well run and fun to hang out with. And, they use their position in the sport to do plenty to support educational goals, like I and many other teams do. Honestly, we're lucky to have them involved.

[@BotvacProductions469]

@@ray9368 and lucky to fight them too. sportsmanship is what one of the biggest part of any sport is, and you and will show plenty of it

[@patrickspangler2566]

Hacksmith team needs a good introduction to tombstone

[@davidtube79]

There are lots of people who wanted to see tombstone paired up against orbitron.

[@PlagueDoctorscp049]

BIG FAN OF TOMBSTONE! 🪦 rip to all the other bots who dare to take it on!! Go Ray!