@Alex, thanks but that robot was all Dan's doing! It just uses the weapon system from BitzaWood.

I don't think there's anyway you can force everyone to make interesting machines (to make sure the spobby doesn't go stale) without alienating people already in the sport and people wishing to join.
Making the Champs some sort of elite event whereby you have to jump through hoops to get involved is a bad idea where what we really need is more people getting involved.

I very much get the impression that the RC guys would rather there were more people participating in the UK FW Champs, it's not like spaces are limited. More people leads to more designs.