Starting 2013 with a bang....Our News :-)

Starting 2013 with a bang....Robot Wars is back !!

So it's been a long time coming, but finally the time is here to announce our news!

Over the last two years we have been in negotiations with Robot Wars LLC, yes the TV show about joining forces. It has always been my dream to be in this position so as you can imagine its such a great opportunity to be get.

Although we are still not finished with paperwork which I had hoped to have finished by the start of the 2013 events, we have initiated the transition period... so I can now announce that the Roaming Robots / Robots: Extreme Wars Live brand will soon be disappearing from the public eye.

In replacement will be the brand ... Robot Wars. !!!!

We have a signed a franchise deal which means we will be working closely with Robot Wars LLC and promoting the Robot Wars brand as our show and hopefully this means the future looks very bright for our hobby!

Not only will we become Robot Wars, but with it come the rights to use the House Robots if we can find them. Or even make replicas if needed.

Maybe you will see Sir Killalot working with Major Damage in the arena and then you need to be scared !!

Hopefully you will join us in 2013 and help us show TV world what they are missing out on, believe me eyes will be watching all of our events this year so it is important that you help yourselves secure a better future by helping us make the events the best we can !!! We all want it back on TV, and this is hopefully a positive step towards it.

Over the next few events you will see things changing as our current brand disappears and we take over the Robot Wars brand, its going to be a slow process as we fit everything in with my current work load. House Robots, Arena Changes, New YouTube, Facebook and Website.... I have all sorts of new and exciting things planned in 2013 to fit in with our new direction. Watch this space !

Once we get the paper work finalised which hopefully will be very soon I will be in touch with some more info about the future and specifically what it means to robot world.

You won€™t notice much changing for Barnsley apart from some subtle branding change, if you have any questions catch me while i have a few minutes and I will do my best to answer them.

John
Roaming Robots

This is awesome news!

Fantastic news! Good luck and I hope everything turns out well :)

Who are Robotwars LLC? I googled them and all I get is some Legal argument and addresses in New York.

But its awesome news either way!

I would so love to restore Dead Metal or SGT Bash!

Good news jonno well done, you getting philipa Forrester aswell ;-)

:D yay bring back shunt and growler

Actually I can see one problem... Where are we going to get the money for a Heavyweight Spinner proof arena? Or will we just not go there?

But it would be awesome if I could take Conker and Binky to 100kg!

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Originally Posted by Eventorizon

Who are Robotwars LLC? I googled them and all I get is some legal argument and addresses in New York.

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Robot Wars Limited Liability Company is the rights holding company for Robot Wars, created by the judge in the legal case between Mark Thorpe & his commercial partner. They have an office in New York & a subsidary in London.

To be quite frank, about time Robot Wars LLC got off their backsides, using their trademarks and started doing something!

Excellent news though. Looking forward to seeing the new Robot Wars. Don't forget to get Craig Charles to record some links.

One problem I can see though - The logo belongs to Mentorn...

This is excellent news, I know Jonno'll do very well with this and having a more recognisable brand on the shows can only increase audiences :)

(I would kind of like the old logo back too, but can't have everything XD)

great news! a descent step forward!

Brilliant!

We will be going to the event in Colchester, and we just acquired quite a fancy camera (Nikon D3200). I intend to - if I have the time between rumbles - make a professional video, with permission of course. Perhaps that could be of use. The camera genuinely makes everything look like television!

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Originally Posted by Ellis

Brilliant!

We will be going to the event in Colchester, and we just acquired quite a fancy camera (Nikon D3200). I intend to - if I have the time between rumbles - make a professional video, with permission of course. Perhaps that could be of use. The camera genuinely makes everything look like television!

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Thats mah job! :lol:

Congratulations John.
A real achievement taking the Fighting robot movement closer to greater public exposure, this has to be good for everyone in the community.
Looking forward to Barnsley :D

Well done Jonno. If there is anything we can do to support this from this side of the water, let us know.

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Originally Posted by MicroGravity100

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Originally Posted by Ellis

Brilliant!

We will be going to the event in Colchester, and we just acquired quite a fancy camera (Nikon D3200). I intend to - if I have the time between rumbles - make a professional video, with permission of course. Perhaps that could be of use. The camera genuinely makes everything look like television!

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Thats mah job! :lol:

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Multiple angles = more complete production! We could collaborate. ;)

wow ... great news ... !

Well done, I thought house robots are with chris Reynolds?


http://www.alleffects.com/about-us/

John spoke to me a while back about this, and it's certainly great news and a great step forward. However I would say one thing....

... we need to be VERY careful to manage expectation around this. This is NOT Robot Wars 'coming back', this is a licence deal that Roaming Robots has done with the owners of the Robot Wars brand in the US to allow him to rebrand the Roaming Robots show as Robot Wars.

Reading on the Roaming Robots Facebook page it's already clear that the biggest fear (and the reason that we didn't licence the Robot Wars name which we could have done some years ago) is that once you call the show Robot Wars a level of expectation is set with the audience/fans as to what to expect. Already there are people asking questions about what changes to the Robot Wars arena there will be when it comes back, if it will be Craig Charles presenting the show... Jayne... Phillipa etc etc.

This is clearly a great step forward in the recognition of the brand that propelled this sport into the public mind - but we all have a duty to keep our feet on the ground.

It is VERY clear that people are doing exactly what we feared some time ago, expecting that something called 'Robot Wars' will be the format they have always understood Robot Wars to be - and anything that we can do to manage the expectation of our audience and fans reduces that risk of disappointment.

Managing that will be tough for Jonno to do, we're not going to help him if we disappear into our own little cloud of hysteria.

Great steps forward, but feet on ground time for us all !

Well said, I think the main dissapointment is if u couldn't get your hands on the house robots, arena wise as you are a travelling show u could get away with that.

The question I always here from audiance members is where is razer, hypnodisc etc....

The only problem with the house robot's as far as I'm aware is that Robot Wars LLC don't have the rights to use them in the UK so I don't think it's legal to use them at an event. Remember Robot Wars LLC are the brand, not a TV company.

The house robots are trademarks and designs of the BBC in the UK and are used under licence by Mentorn in the television series. The house robots are trademarks of Robot Wars LLC throughout the world excluding the UK.

It's one of those things that's so difficult to find the facts but unless it's changed recently I think the above sums it up for the UK. Many people have tried locating the House robot's but no idea if they still exist.

As Ed said above, it could be very good if the expectations of famous TV presenter's, the main RW robots and house robots aren't there, but it's going to be a tricky one. Are there any contracts for robot's attending that stop them from attending other EO's event's etc?

The only problem with the house robot's as far as I'm aware is that Robot Wars LLC don't have the rights to use them in the UK so I don't think it's legal to use them at an event. Remember Robot Wars LLC are the brand, not a TV company.

The house robots are trademarks and designs of the BBC in the UK and are used under licence by Mentorn in the television series. The house robots are trademarks of Robot Wars LLC throughout the world excluding the UK. All pictures of house robots (except for toy pictures) on this page are Robot Wars.

It's one of those things that's so difficult to find the facts but unless it's changed recently I think the above sums it up for the UK. Many people have tried locating the House robot's but no idea if they still exist.

As Ed said above, it could be very good if the expectations of famous TV presenter's, the main RW robots and house robots aren't there, but it's going to be a tricky one. Are there any contracts for robot's attending that stop them from attending other EO's event's etc?

Yes the house robot issue is a complex one. John can by all means licence the part of the house robots that Robot Wars LLC (not so much a brand as a limited company that owns a brand it can licence) owns, but both Mentorn and BBC Worldwide own other 'bits' of what goes into the House Robots (name rights, image rights etc).

In order to use them legally and above board, you would need rights agreements with Robot Wars LLC, Mentorn and BBC Worldwide - which is where the problem comes, once you pay your rights fees to all three, any financial benefit you might see gets eaten away. This is often an issue where you have multiple rights-holders for something, it makes them almost un-usable.

One for John to be aware of I guess, just because Robot Wars LLC has licenced John the right to use them, he still has to do his due diligence and get agreement from BBC Worldwide and Mentorn. In my view - not worth the hassle.

Well I don't need to have a public debate about the ins and outs of our contracts and what we can and can't do, that's for our legal team and the house robots contract including image rights to Major Damage is a complex thing.

I've said what's happening, and it's cost a lot of money in legal fees and it will hopefully be worth the effort its taken to get where we are !! No one else is doing anything.

In my eyes this is nothing but a positive step forwards and something I could only have dreamed about to be in this unique position.

Hopefully people will support it, the usual candidates clearly don't, but that goes with the territory of putting your head in front of the firing squad!

Ed you very correct in some of those things you said, We shall see how it works out but I've got nothing to lose. And the community has it all to gain!!

I wouldn't be here 11 years later if I didn't think it was worth the effort !
John

Well done Johno! Brilliant news! it can only mean positive things for the future of the sport in the UK.

Awesome work

Well done John

I don't think anything any of us can say can be useful to be honest, John, his colleagues and legal team are undoubtedly more versed than any of us will ever be on the ins and outs of the deal(s) he has managed to make. All that we should be doing at the moment in my opinion is congratulating him on his achievement in attaining the rights to use the brand which brought us all together.

So to that effect, Congratulations Jonno, I for one will be proud to be part of the first show of the new Robot Wars :)

i thought Craig Charles was owned by the BBC ?? :?

Hey Jonno we might not av always seen eye to eye! But I do mean as per my previous post well done, honestly! Whatever is said u are a good person to the sport and I thank you in the things u do in keeping it going and building a future, your commitment is enough said, and for that u av my respect!
Don't think my previous post was being harsh(I will be the first to admit I speak before I think!) but it was a sincere post trying to give advise,even though your experience is greater than mine and my advice probably means diddly squat ;-)
The work that has got you this far means alot, and I wish you luck for the future on building on your beginnings, so good luck!!

Just coz I'm not best friends with someone it doesn't mean I don't respect them, and I think you have proven that in your own right with what you have done in the robot community

Couldn't even say why we haven't seen eye to eye, probably because I get drawn into other people's arguments on here.

It was my 2013 New Years resolution to not get involved anymore and just do my own thing, and I'm doing ok.

Cheers for the comment, time will tell what happens.

John

house robot wise i heard that either they were happily put into storage by their owner, or that the bbc claimed them back for some reason, which either means they were stored on behalf of the bbc somewhere, or even broke up and scraped for a cash strapped company to get a bit of extra $$$ in these hard times but who knows, im hoping itd be the first option

What do you mean the BBC took them back?

In all the time of Robot Wars, the BBC never actually let them go anywhere without an employee manning them.

The BBC are the original owners of the House robots. Thus it is a good bet that the House robots are in storage gathering dust.

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Originally Posted by roamingrobots

Couldn't even say why we haven't seen eye to eye, probably because I get drawn into other people's arguments on here.

It was my 2013 New Years resolution to not get involved anymore and just do my own thing, and I'm doing ok.

Cheers for the comment, time will tell what happens.

John

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Haha, that was my resolution too!

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Originally Posted by psychostorm

The BBC are the original owners of the House robots. Thus it is a good bet that the House robots are in storage gathering dust.

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The latest 'update' on the state of the house robots was that they're in storage somewhere (presumably the BBC visual effects department) and the chances are that they've been scavenged for parts for other vfx projects. Can never be sure of the validity of statements regarding the house bots but this one was from Mat Irvine, so it's a credible source at least.

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Originally Posted by teamstorm

Already there are people asking questions about what changes to the Robot Wars arena there will be when it comes back, if it will be Craig Charles presenting the show... Jayne... Phillipa etc etc.

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Just to clarify, my main post about Jayne and Philippa on the FB page was made in a tongue-in-cheek manner, in the hope that they'd improve the aesthetics of the pits area :wink:

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Originally Posted by psychostorm

What do you mean the BBC took them back?

In all the time of Robot Wars, the BBC never actually let them go anywhere without an employee manning them.

The BBC are the original owners of the House robots. Thus it is a good bet that the House robots are in storage gathering dust.

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as far as i no......

the bbc visual effects department closed after series 6, then the house robots were then given to chris reynolds who i think ran the visual effects department, who went on to start up 'alleffects'.the end credits of series 7 robot wars say 'house robots-chris reynolds'--- but they were then kept in his workshop untill around 2006 but were then put into storage somewhere in north london by him as they were taking up space (that i do know as i rang him a few years ago asking about special effects jobs etc etc) as far as i no they would still be in storage with him somewhere.
i've heard other things such as the bbc claiming them back off him and all sorts so i don't really no whats what anymore tbh

How did we get on to House robots?
John didn't say anything about them it was about the Robot Wars name he can now use to promote his live events.
for what it's worth the old robots would not last 30 seconds up against the flippers of today.

Poor Tilly has to heard little Feathers now and gets duffed up in the process!

Major Damage is much better for today's wars. :mrgreen:

Calum, that's perfectly plausible but I would query why the BBC would let hundreds of pounds of machinery.

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Originally Posted by craig_colliass

How did we get on to House robots? John didn't say anything about them

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oh yes, He did. On Facebook:

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it means we are working with the only people who would ever be able to put it back on TV, it means they are impressed with the effort we are
putting in, it means the old house
robots come back out to play, and
we start working towards getting it
back on TV

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Besides, when did we ever need an excuse?

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or what it's worth the old robots would not last 30 seconds up against the flippers of today.

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They didn't back then either :lol:

I think part of the issue here is that in the announcements a number of things were mentioned which were clearly things that capture people's attention -

Over the last two years we have been in negotiations with Robot Wars LLC, yes the TV show about joining

- Robot Wars LLC isn't 'the TV show', they're a Ltd company that licences use of a brand, but straight away people think they're reading something about the TV show, not about just Roaming Robots being a licensee of a brand.

Not only will we become Robot Wars, but with it come the rights to use the House Robots if we can find them. Or even make replicas if needed.

- It will come with the slice of the rights that Robot Wars LLC are able to assign to the House Robots, however to use them John would also need to consult with the other holders (BBC Worldwide and Mentorn) so still some work to do there

Hopefully you will join us in 2013 and help us show TV world what they are missing out on

Which on first glace could lead to you thinking we're going to show what they have been missing out on by bringing it back..... it's made clearer later in the sentence We all want it back on TV, and this is hopefully a positive step towards it.

Let's not die in a ditch here and analyse this all to pieces though. The bottom line is that this is GOOD for roboteering, as anything that reintroduces the Robot Wars brand back into people's minds can only be positive. The only risk I can see is that to many people something called 'Robot Wars' means the format as they are used to it, Craig Charles, Phillipa, House Robots, Arena - and it's clear on Jonno's Facebook page that's been people's initial reaction. They have latched on to the words that they want to see in John's post without reading the detail, or between the lines. This expectation mismatch is the reason that we didn't licence the name some years back, as we couldn't see how we could deliver on that audience expectation which would mean people turn up once, don't get the show they expected, and don't come back.

Any announcement made needed to be big and bold, that's what Jonno did - going forward we need to help him to continue to evolve this and make sure those audiences that do turn up, don't go away disappointed.

Well after our first fantastic event of 2013, and sadly our last Roaming Robots event, things have started moving on the new rebrand ready for Portsmouth.

Just a note to everyone that we will now be called Robot Wars not Roaming Robots and I have asked kane to change the names of all of our shows resepctively.

Very soon we will be launching a new rebranded website under a robot wars domain name, new youtube account, and new facebook group. I will keep you all posted with progress.

John

Well a quick update on progress of the rebrand.

Here's what I can reveal, lots more exciting stuff happening behind the scenes but that's for later in the year.

We have now started to swap our social media over to Robot Wars, and so as sad as it is the RR facebook group will soon be closed.

Come and like the brand new OFFICIAL Robot Wars Page. http://www.facebook.com/officialrobotwars

Come and chat in our group, if you are building a robot and need some personal help from the experts, or want to ask a question they dont bite. http://www.facebook.com/groups/robotwars/

Youtube and Twitter will soon follow.

The new range of Robot Wars merchandise will hopefully arrive before our next event and that will include official Robot Wars T-Shirts, Caps and Pens.

In addition to this we will be launching the first of our range of competitor merchandise, event DVD's and other bits and bobs very soon !

We have commissioned a brand new Robot Wars website which should be completed in the next 2 months, its going to be worth the wait, thats for sure.

New trophies went down well, and again in Colchester roboteers will be competing for one once again in the new format. Make sure you have signed up to the event to be included in the competition draw on Wednesday night.

http://www.123contactform.com/form-5...obot-Wars-Temp

Think thats it for now.

John
www.RobotWars.tv

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Originally Posted by roamingrobots

In addition to this we will be launching the first of our range of competitor merchandise

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Does this mean like the pullback toys that the tv show sold?