- "This is my antweight. He's a bit light. He's Razzler, this is, and he's got a terrible three grams of crush underneath here."
- — Ian Lewis introduces Razzler
Razzler was the antweight entry from Team Razer, which was entered by Ian Lewis into the Antweight Melee at the end of the first series of Robot Wars Extreme. Essentially a modified Razer pullback toy with a functioning crusher and self-righting mechanism, it lost the Melee in its only appearance after being pushed into the pit by Little Nipper.
Design[]
A standard Razer pullback
As a conversion of the standard Razer pullback toy, Razzler was considerably smaller than its antweight opponents but had a similar form factor to its heavyweight counterpart. Tiny motors, batteries and a receiver were added to power the toy's wheels, crushing beak and self-righting wings, enabling the finished robot to function in a similar manner. Ian Lewis quoted the beak as having 'three grams' of crushing force, while it took twelve hours for him to modify the pullback so that it could incorporate the motors. The additional components required to convert the pullback into Razzler were worth about £150.[1]
According to a 2020 Robonerd interview, Lewis was inspired to build the machine after seeing similar antweight robots at post-filming social meetings, among these including George Francis' conversion of a Chaos 2 pullback. The internals included three servo motors, three batteries and a single three-channel receiver.[2]
The Team[]
- Main article: Team Razer
Razzler was entered by Team Razer, which usually consisted of Ian Lewis, Simon Scott and Vinnie Blood around this time period. However, antweight robots in Extreme could only feature one team member (aside from clusterbots such as Legion), so team captain Ian Lewis was the sole team member for Razzler in its only appearance.
Robot History[]
Extreme 1[]
Razzler fought in the Antweight Melee, facing Anto, Pants, Combatant, Anty B, Legion and Little Nipper.
- "Very quick, Razzler, as well... there it is! Like a mini Razer, do you see it?"
- — Jonathan Pearce spots Razzler as the Antweight Melee begins
Razzler is pinned against the wall by Little Nipper
At the start, it immediately drove into the middle of the arena and attempted to pursue one half of Legion, but was unable to manoeuver itself away in time before being axed by Pants. Razzler then lingered near the side wall, before being attacked by both Legion and Anty B, the latter lifting Razzler against the wall just as Combatant threw Pants out of the arena.
Razzler is pitted
Later on, it drove into a CPZ and struggled to move away as it sustained hits from Combatant's spinner, opening its wings in an attempt to show signs of mobility. Eventually, it escaped before being bumped by one half of Legion and pushed slowly into the wall by Little Nipper. As it was being pinned, Razzler inadvertently pressed the pit release button with the tail part of its crusher, before driving away to nudge, push and whether more hits from Combatant. While Combatant's spinner continued grinding away at Razzler's weapon and srimech, it caused little damage. Instead, Razzler was pushed by both Little Nipper and Combatant around the partially-open Floor Flipper. Razzler retreated to push the remaining half of Legion away, but was swiftly pushed into the pit by Little Nipper and eliminated from the melee. As a result, it also lost the Antweight Championship to eventual winner Combatant.
- "...and Razzler's gone! Razzler's into the pit, pushed down by Little Nipper! Ian Lewis is out!"
- — Jonathan Pearce as Razzler is pitted by Little Nipper
Results[]
| RAZZLER - RESULTS | ||
| Extreme Series 1 | ||
| Antweight Championship Lost | ||
| Antweight Championship | vs. Anto, Anty B, Combatant, Legion, Little Nipper, Pants | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 1
Series Record[]
| Main Series | Razzler Series Record |
|---|---|
| The First Wars | Did not enter |
| The Second Wars | Entered with Razer |
| The Third Wars | Entered with Razer |
| The Fourth Wars | Entered with Razer |
| The Fifth Wars | Entered with Razer |
| The Sixth Wars | Entered with Razer |
| The Seventh Wars | Did not enter |
| Series 8 | Entered with Razer |
| Series 9 | Did not enter |
| Series 10 | Did not enter |
| Robot Wars Extreme | Appearances |
| Series 1 | Antweight Championship Entered with Razer |
| Series 2 | Entered with Razer |
Outside Robot Wars[]
Razzler overturned in a charity antweight battle
Team Razer appeared with Razer and their antweight Razzler at a Red Nose Day event in 2003. Although Razer did not compete, Razzler fought in a antweight melee against three other antweights, one of which was made by the Corkscrew team. It was overturned at one point but managed to self right afterwards. It is unknown which robot won or if Razzler fought in another battle.
Trivia[]
- Razzler was one of two antweight robots which were not mentioned in Robot Wars Extreme: The Official Guide, despite ultimately fighting in the Extreme 1 Antweight Championship. The other was Anty B.
- As Anty B did appear in a photo, Razzler was the only one not acknowledged in any way by the guide.
- In a 'Shooting Schedule' document issued during filming for later stages of Extreme 1, Series 5 and Dutch Robot Wars: Series 1, Razzler is conspicuously absent from the robot roster for the Antweight Melee. This potentially suggests that it was a late addition to the battle which initially comprised its six eventual opponents.[3]
References[]
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