ROBOT WARS
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ROBOT WARS HISTORY (cont'd)
THE FIRST EVENT: 1994
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The first event was a raging success. I knew that the bigger robots would be exciting to watch but I was concerned about the viability of the little ones . . . and without them there weren't enough for an event.
When the first featherweight match began and I heard the excitement of the crowd, I knew at that moment that my idea was indeed as good as I had envisioned it to be.
FIRST COMPETITORS
 Among the first competitors was Mark Setrakian (pictured, right), who had worked with me at ILM. I knew he would be interested in something like this "mechanical sport," as I called it. After his appearance with The Master at RW94, it was clear to everyone who was there how exciting this sport could be.
There was also Caleb Cheung, who was later to invent the very successful toy, Furby. And Mike Winter, who became a close friend over the phone before we even met. He built the X1. His daughter Lisa Winter is now a famous robot builder. There was also Charlie Tilford, a mechanical engineer with a wild joyous flamboyance and a winning robot called The Mauler. And there was the very young Scott LaValley with his exquisitely beautiful robot called DooLittle, which was prophetically named. Later incarnations by Scott were appropriately named DooMore and DooAll. Also, there was the quiet genius, Will Wright, legendary for creating the very successful games, Sim City and now the Sims. His robot was called JulieBot.
We all look back with nostalgia and amazement at that first event. . . it was charmed. . . for one thing, the arena had a mere 2 ft. high railing for protection and no one got hurt.
Each year's event proved to be even more exciting than the last. And, each year after an unbelievable amount of work to produce the events I would be rewarded by seeing people come in with these incredible creations on weight-in day.
I was very happy in those days in spite of sixteen hour days -- seven days a week.
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Poster © Marc Gabbana
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The above is a partial history of Robot Wars. I no longer have an ownership interest in Robot Wars, but I remain available to promote Robot Wars. Watch this space for further installments of the history.
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