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Marc Thorpe, Robot Wars founder, has died

marcthorpe.com

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Re: Marc Thorpe, Robot Wars founder, has died

#11

Post by aaron695 »

Denote6737 wrote: post #9
aaron695 wrote: post #8

Myth Busters wouldn't've existed as we know it without Robot Wars. Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage worked on Blendo and were interviewed on Robot Wars which lead to Myth Busters. BattleBots was started among some Robot Wars competitors after a legal issue - https://battlebots.fandom.com/wiki/Marc_Thorpe "Following legal pressure, Marc Thorpe ultimately relinquished ownership of the Robot Wars name to Profile Records co…

Blendo was just a beast of a fighting robot. It was more powerful than anyone expected. And was given an honourable medal and banned from competition.

Blendo (1995) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKbE7ocZBHI How Lethal Was Blendo REALLY? - Adam Savage’s Tested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKbE7ocZBHI

My favorite Robot Wars bot would be SPS 2 who was lighter than air - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26Y-ERX9kyI (1995)

The original videos had more of the Bloodsport feeling than the later more commercial products - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Robot+Wars+1995... (Includes footage with Marc Thorpe)

We hoped for Bladerunner, instead they decimated global poverty and disease. Maybe there are underground tournaments out there somewhere....

Re: Marc Thorpe, Robot Wars founder, has died

#12

Post by toomuchtodo »

MrJagil wrote: post #7

Here’s the battlebots reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/1833d56/marc_th... The book looks interesting but i especially enjoy the linked video with the vacuum-bot that started it all.

> For those who don't know, Marc Thorpe was a brilliant special effects artist and inventor who was the original creative visionary organized the first Robot Wars events starting in 1994, created the concept of robot combat as we know it, and brought together the community of builders that makes the sport what it is. Battlebots and all other robot combat events picked up where Marc left off when he was sadly forced out of direct involvement with Robot Wars. We are all here because of Marc.

> You can read more about his life and the tumultuous early history of the sport in Gearheads, considered the definitive history of the early years of robot combat.

https://www.amazon.com/Gearheads-Turbulent-Rise-Robotic-Spor...

> Here is some footage of a watch party hosted at Marc's workshop in 2019, featuring the original robotic vacuum cleaner that inspired the concept.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3020390768032429

(stickied comment from thread to preserve)

Re: Marc Thorpe, Robot Wars founder, has died

#13

Post by JKCalhoun »

aaron695 wrote: post #11
Denote6737 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blendo was just a beast of a fighting robot. It was more powerful than anyone expected. And was given an honourable medal and banned from competition.

Blendo (1995) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKbE7ocZBHI How Lethal Was Blendo REALLY? - Adam Savage’s Tested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKbE7ocZBHI My favorite Robot Wars bot would be SPS 2 who was lighter than air - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26Y-ERX9kyI (1995) The original videos had more of the Bloodsport feeling than the later more commercial products - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Rob…

I didn't hear about Robot Wars until 1996 (when I hastily put together a robot for Robots Wars III). What a fun and cool time when it was still "punk".

Re: Marc Thorpe, Robot Wars founder, has died

#14

Post by martincmartin »

aaron695 wrote: post #11
Denote6737 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blendo was just a beast of a fighting robot. It was more powerful than anyone expected. And was given an honourable medal and banned from competition.

Blendo (1995) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKbE7ocZBHI How Lethal Was Blendo REALLY? - Adam Savage’s Tested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKbE7ocZBHI My favorite Robot Wars bot would be SPS 2 who was lighter than air - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26Y-ERX9kyI (1995) The original videos had more of the Bloodsport feeling than the later more commercial products - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Rob…

Your Adam Savage Tested link is wrong, it's the same as the Belndo (1995) link.

Re: Marc Thorpe, Robot Wars founder, has died

#15

Post by kneel »

I met Marc randomly a few years back. He was having difficulty walking while at a shop in downtown Berkeley, the shop owner needed to close and he couldn't leave. He had taken his medication for Parkinson's but it hadn't set in.

He gave me the keys to his car and drove it up to the storefront and helped him in. I drove him to a parking spot where he could wait for his legs to start moving again. Ended up chatting for a few about neuroscience and the lab I was working in at the time. He gave me his card and told me to look him up sometime.

I looked him up a few days later and was amazed that he was was intimately involved in star wars, indiana jones and robot wars.

Re: Marc Thorpe, Robot Wars founder, has died

#17

Post by beAbU »

kneel wrote: post #15

I met Marc randomly a few years back. He was having difficulty walking while at a shop in downtown Berkeley, the shop owner needed to close and he couldn't leave. He had taken his medication for Parkinson's but it hadn't set in. He gave me the keys to his car and drove it up to the storefront and helped him in. I drove him to a parking spot where he could wait for his legs to start moving again. Ended up chatting for…

The cast of Mythbusters were also heavily involved in the things you list.

I wonder what other interesting circles we can add to this venn diagram.

Re: Marc Thorpe, Robot Wars founder, has died

#18

Post by CharlesW »

martincmartin wrote: post #14
aaron695 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blendo (1995) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKbE7ocZBHI How Lethal Was Blendo REALLY? - Adam Savage’s Tested https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKbE7ocZBHI My favorite Robot Wars bot would be SPS 2 who was lighter than air - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26Y-ERX9kyI (1995) The original videos had more of the Bloodsport feeling than the later more commercial products - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Rob…

Your Adam Savage Tested link is wrong, it's the same as the Belndo (1995) link.

Correct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i4dkb5w2Lg

Re: Marc Thorpe, Robot Wars founder, has died

#19

Post by leotravis10 »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #12
MrJagil wrote: post #7

Here’s the battlebots reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/battlebots/comments/1833d56/marc_th... The book looks interesting but i especially enjoy the linked video with the vacuum-bot that started it all.

> For those who don't know, Marc Thorpe was a brilliant special effects artist and inventor who was the original creative visionary organized the first Robot Wars events starting in 1994, created the concept of robot combat as we know it, and brought together the community of builders that makes the sport what it is. Battlebots and all other robot combat events picked up where Marc left off when he was sadly forced o…

Here's a Bookshop link for folks like myself that refuse to pick up a book from Amazon: https://bookshop.org/p/books/gearheads-the-turbulent-rise-of...
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