| Botopsy Report: This BattleBots article is in need of rewriting to bring it up to a higher standard. You can help the BattleBots Wiki by rewriting/expanding it. Please note that all battle write-ups should be in the past tense. |
Junior was a middleweight robot built by Jim Smentowski of Team Nightmare fame, which competed exclusively at the inaugural BattleBots Long Beach 1999 event.
It was an invertible, two-wheel drive machine armed with multiple weapons, including an actuated lifting arm at the front with three spikes at the tip and a lifting capacity of 200lbs. At the rear, Junior was equipped with a 'shelf' enabling the ability to use interchangeable secondary weapons. These included a 'double-bladed circular saw' inherited from Smentowski's earlier heavyweight Hercules, and a powered spike. Originally, a single circular saw was fitted, but this was later replaced with the interchangeable attachments after its motor failed.[2]
Junior's name derived from its similarities to the original version of Hercules Smentowski built for the 1997 US Robot Wars competition. This extended to the robot re-using Hercules' components including its lifter and twin saw weaponry. Thus, the robot was initially nicknamed Herc Jr., before being shortened simply to Junior.[2]
During its only BattleBots run, Junior enjoyed reasonable success at Long Beach, winning two battles and drawing one against Christian Carlberg's Knee-Breaker. However, it would ultimately be eliminated after being consigned to the Loser's Bracket, and losing the crowd vote for its final battle to Grant Imahara's Deadblow. After this, it was retired from combat, though Smentowski initially stated on the Team Nightmare website that he intended to build an 'all-new' version with major design improvements.[2]
Robot History[]
Long Beach 1999[]
Team Coolrobots' Little Slice was Junior's first opponent. In this fight, Junior was safe from damage as Little Slice's saws didn't spin and Little Slice kept on driving over Junior. Carlberg hoped Little Slice's weight would bust Junior's drive. Though Junior's drive didn't break, Junior could not move with Little Slice's weight on it, meaning the refs had to separate the robots. Junior's drive did not break however and it managed to lift Little Slice a few times before overturning Little Slice completely. Having no way to self-right, Little Slice was counted out and eliminated from the winner's bracket of the tournament.
Junior lifting Little Slice.
Next for Junior was Knee-Breaker, also from Team Coolrobots. Knee-Breaker started spinning as Junior went towards Knee-Breaker. Junior was hit a couple of times before a wheel was knocked off, leaving Junior going in circles. Fortunately for Junior and unfortunately for Knee-Breaker, Knee-Breaker had the same problem. The judges ended the fight, declaring it a draw with the intent of making the robots fight again. For some reason the saws stopped working during this fight.
In Junior's second fight against Knee-Breaker, the wheel was knocked off again and the corner of Junior's body was seriously dented. For Knee-Breaker, it kept drive in both wheels and won by KO.
In Junior's fourth fight and the first fight that was not against Team Coolrobots, it fought Stuffie. Junior went into this fight with saws that didn't work as Jim was busy working on Nightmare. Stuffie was easily lifted by Junior but Junior could not completely topple the jeep. At one point, Stuffie was stuck on Junior, meaning the refs had to separate Junior form its opponent for a second time. Junior managed to remove the Barbie from the front of Stuffie before getting stuck together again at the end of the fight, which Junior won on a crowd vote.
Junior fought Deadblow next. Junior's saws were still not working and the lifting arm was ineffective against Deadblow as it was half-invertible. Deadblow managed to dent Junior a couple of times. Both robots were active at the end of the fight but the crowd voted for Deadblow.
Jim never got a chance to fix Junior, meaning he missed the middleweight rumble.
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 2
- Losses: 2
- Draws: 1
| Competition | Wins | Losses | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach 1999 | Knee-Breaker |