Dr. Inferno Jr. was one of eight BattleBots competitors which featured in the RC Custom Series range of toys released in 2001 by Tiger Electronics and Hasbro.
Like other robots in the series, Dr. Inferno Jr. featured the same chassis and built in impact sensors allowed "virtual damage" to be shown on the robot. Flashing LEDs on top of each toy displayed exactly how much damage it had taken, and the robot would cease to function once its light was no longer illuminated. A prototype version was made under the Season 2.0 appearance but was never released. However, the final product was released during the "Tournament Edition" part of the toy range. This version was based on the real robot's Season 3.0 design and was released on its own and with Blendo.
The toy was fairly accurate but lacked any effective way to get underneath the other toys, was much taller than the real robot due to the chassis design and came with additional attachments that the real robot never used. Its pill shaped eyes are also red instead of purple. This was done to avoid copying the appearance of TOMY's Omnibot.
Dr. Inferno Jr. written in Freak font plus the Infernolab Flaming Gear logos, and the classic BattleBots logo are already stickered on the wedge skirts. The toy came with additional weapons such as a pitchfork which fit over the reciprocating spike and four sawblades that fit into slots of its wedge skirts. Unfortunately, the saw blade attachment that attaches to the right "shoulder" on the toy does not spin 360 degrees. Instead, it oscillates back and forth as the toy moves.
As of August 2023, Youtube user Robin Ward has uploaded a demo of Dr. Inferno Jr. in action.
Trivia[]
- Much like Donald Hutson with Tazbot and Diesector, builder Jason Bardis would feature this toy with the actual robot during the robot's introductions, then have it nearby while he was fighting.
- Dr. Inferno Jr. was the only Lightweight to be released as an RC toy.
- Apart from the real robot, its yellow antennae is removed from both versions.
- To make it appear realistic like the actual bot, its sponsor logos can be printed and stickered on the wedge skirts.
- Jason still owns 3 copies of the RC toy, where it made appearances at an elementary school presentation and even on the judge's desk during BattleBots Season 5.