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Hi folks,
Right now, the 8466 SUV is only $69.77 at Costcos here in Toronto. Allen
Road and 401 (Downsview, across from Yorkdale) has 38 as of this morning,
400 and 7 (Vaughn?) has 22. Queensway and Islington has none. There's also
like 10 in some place in Nepean IIRC.
I got one myself just to see what it was all about. Go! Expedite! Tallyho!
Calum
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G'Day
Any stock and/or cost on silver champions.
Cheers
Oliver
"Calum Tsang" <tsangc@mie.utoronto.ca> wrote in message
news:GorAGr.1p1@lugnet.com...
> Hi folks,
>
> Right now, the 8466 SUV is only $69.77 at Costcos here in Toronto. Allen
> Road and 401 (Downsview, across from Yorkdale) has 38 as of this morning,
> 400 and 7 (Vaughn?) has 22. Queensway and Islington has none. There's • also
> like 10 in some place in Nepean IIRC.
>
> I got one myself just to see what it was all about. Go! Expedite! • Tallyho!
>
> Calum
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In lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto, Oliver Giesen writes:
> G'Day
> Any stock and/or cost on silver champions.
There is no Lego whatsoever at the Etobicoke store, and no Silver Champions
at 401 and Allen Road. The only place I've seen the Silver Champion set was
at 400 and 7, though they were $130 (John posted the correction later) and
this was like...four weeks ago? There weren't that many around.
I started building the 8466 and it's...hard. I've got the first "module"
together and I couldn't figure out why a 16t and a diff weren't meshing
right and it was because I had the diff mounted backwards. It took more
time to build the first module of the 8466 than 2/3rds of the Metroliner.
Calum
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Damn, this got to be the biggest sale since $45 Vision Commands!
I just bought two 8466s from 401 and Allen – they still had about 20-25 left.
To tell the truth I’m pretty scared of the 243 paged demon called the
assembly instructions =)) Any one for 8466 assembly race?
BTW, does any one know the part # and/or item name for those big unmarked
balloon tires?
Ivan
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In lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto, Ivan Louch writes:
> Damn, this got to be the biggest sale since $45 Vision Commands!
>
> I just bought two 8466s from 401 and Allen – they still had about 20-25 left.
>
> To tell the truth I’m pretty scared of the 243 paged demon called the
> assembly instructions =)) Any one for 8466 assembly race?
I'm at Module 4 so far. It's taken me about 90-120 minutes total or, Good
Eats, Robotica, Battlebots and half of a Junkyard Wars episode.
But I tend to take my time with it, just to enjoy the set. It's pretty
cool. Those tires are so large?! They're larger than a grapefruit! The
steering column is a little too stiff I think, it's the sharp angle.
Calum
PS-thanks to Mario for pointing out this sale the other day.
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> I'm at Module 4 so far. It's taken me about 90-120 minutes total or, Good
> Eats, Robotica, Battlebots and half of a Junkyard Wars episode.
Did you see Razor crush Shunt's front shovel in half couple of minutes ago
on Robotwars? That was spectacular! It is really the first time a challenger
did any serious damage to a house robot! That's 8 tons of pressure for you
- 'jaws 'o' life on wheels'.
That would make a nice challenge – Lego bolt cutter!
Ivan
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In lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto, Ivan Louch writes:
> > I'm at Module 4 so far. It's taken me about 90-120 minutes total or, Good
> > Eats, Robotica, Battlebots and half of a Junkyard Wars episode.
>
> Did you see Razor crush Shunt's front shovel in half couple of minutes ago
> on Robotwars? That was spectacular! It is really the first time a challenger
> did any serious damage to a house robot! That's 8 tons of pressure for you
> - 'jaws 'o' life on wheels'.
Robotwars is on on Saturday? Is this the American one on TNN or the UK one
on PBS? So far this is what I can tell about Robot Fightin on TV:
Monday
12:00AM TNN (32 Rogers) RobotWars Extreme Warriors
Wednesday
8:00PM TLC (34 Rogers) Robotica (plus rerun at 11PM)
Thursday
12:00AM TNN (32 Rogers) RobotWars Extreme Warriors
Friday
8:30PM Comedy Channel (44 Rogers) Battlebots
12:30AM PBS (18 Rogers) RobotWars UK
Saturday
2:00PM? TLC (34 Rogers) Robotica
5:00PM Discovery Canada (42 Rogers) Battlebots
8:00PM Discovery Canada (42 Rogers) Battlebots
I have seen that bit with Razor before. That's one of the more novel
designs-grip and fling/drive your opponent around.
I find that most of the damage done is using kinetic energy through speed
and smashing with mass, versus some sort of stupid weapon. These guys with
pneumatic spikes and hammers are really wasting their time, because it it's
relative ratios of mass at play: You're not going to damage a robot with
some little spike even if it's powered by HPA, when you could do much more
damage by slamming an opponent with the full force of your robot's weight
(and theirs if too if you hit a wall).
Some of the spinners are pretty effective-that Ziggo one is pretty cool-but
it's pretty obvious a lot of these robots are built by pasty Linux geeks*
who don't have a clue about building anything beyond an overclocked Athlon
chassis.
A lot of the robots that do well are consistent-I suspect their builders
have gone through a lot of testing to make sure their systems are
repeatable/reliable. That Mark Setrakian guy who builds those cool looking
robots obviously does not test enough. Which is a shame, because he has
such great ideas that are really rather beautiful in design. I also figure
the winners probably have done a lot of practice. The two arrogant guys
from Robotica last season actually did a very smart thing and laid out the
courses in a warehouse and practiced. Same with the guys behind Vlad the
Impaler. It's very evident that these guys are actively engaging and
driving as fighters versus letting the technology (ie, a big hammer, a
special weapon) set the strategy for them.
> That would make a nice challenge – Lego bolt cutter!
Trust me, the idea of all carnage, all destruction Lego Robot Wars has been
proposed, and I think Chris and Dave Koudys are big on it. The only
question is when and rules. I believe Dave already didn't mind sacrificing
an RCX in the name of Lego bloodsport. I'll draw my line at a Scout :)
Calum
* - Admittedly, I haven't built anything remotely mechanical either, but at
least I'm smart enough not to show up to Battlebots with a robot that looks
like it was made largely with tin foil and an XT clone case with a saw they
found on sale at Home Depot tacked on with pop rivets. Which is what some
dumb kid did on Robotica last season. Oh, and I stopped using Linux at
0.99pl14.
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> Robotwars is on on Saturday? Is this the American one on TNN or the UK one
> on PBS?
Here is a complete schedule of robotic combat for the next two weeks:
Sunday 12/23/01
1:00am 32 TNN Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors
42 DSCC Battlebots
12:00pm 50 SPACE Robot Wars
Monday 12/24/01
3:00pm 42 DSCC Battlebots
Tuesday 12/25/01
12:00am 32 TNN Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors
Wednesday 12/26/01
8:00pm 34 TLC Robotica
11:00pm 34 TLC Robotica
Saturday 12/29/01
12:00am 18 WNED Robot Wars
2:00pm 34 TLC Robotica
5:00pm 42 DSCC Battlebots
7:00pm 50 SPACE Robot Wars
8:00pm 42 DSCC Battlebots
9:00pm 32 TNN Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors
Sunday 12/30/01
1:00am 32 TNN Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors
42 DSCC Battlebots
12:00pm 50 SPACE Robot Wars
Monday 12/31/01
3:00pm 42 DSCC Battlebots
Tuesday 1/1/02
12:00am 32 TNN Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors - War of Independence
Wednesday 1/2/02
8:00pm 34 TLC Robotica
11:00pm 34 TLC Robotica
Friday 1/4/02
8:30pm 44 COMNET Battlebots
Saturday 1/5/02
12:00am 18 WNED Robot Wars
2:00pm 34 TLC Robotica
5:00pm 42 DSCC Battlebots
7:00pm 50 SPACE Robot Wars
8:00pm 42 DSCC Battlebots
9:00pm 32 TNN Robot Wars: Grand Champions
9:30pm 32 TNN Robot Wars: Grand Champions
> I find that most of the damage done is using kinetic energy through speed
> and smashing with mass, versus some sort of stupid weapon. These guys with
> pneumatic spikes and hammers are really wasting their time, because it it's
> relative ratios of mass at play: You're not going to damage a robot with
> some little spike even if it's powered by HPA, when you could do much more
> damage by slamming an opponent with the full force of your robot's weight
> (and theirs if too if you hit a wall).
I agree that if the best you can do is a Tonka chainsaw powered by a
windshield wiper motor, then you better off with a plain wedge design.
Although if you manage to come up with a weapon design that’s powerful yet
allows your bot to remain as maneuverable as any wedge-bot - you’re on the
easy street.
Take the two most destructive robots from BattleBots – Backlash and
Nightmare, both rely on a vertically spinning flywheel with a pair of steel
teeth. Ever saw those two toss opponents 2-3 metes in the air, ripping off
lexan shields and tearing apart the internal components? That’s a weapon to
be reckoned with! Needless to say many bots don’t survive the first couple
of hits. I doubt that “smashing with mass” comes even close. I can come up
with another two dozen of similar examples where a simple yet effective
weapon proves to be by a long shot more damaging than any ram-bot could ever
be. I would most definitely feel more secure with a weapon-bot, rather than
another wheel-chair with a ramp.
On another note – just motorized my 8466 with a classy “V8” of gear-motors,
only to find out that the gear-box isn’t strong enough for the amount of
torque required to move this monstrosity... Even on the 1st and Rev gears
the diffs and 12t bevel joints start falling apart – not a pretty sight =((
Ivan
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"Ivan Louch" <ivn@idirect.ca> wrote in message news:GotL7p.9Dw@lugnet.com...
> On another note - just motorized my 8466 with a classy "V8" of • gear-motors,
> only to find out that the gear-box isn't strong enough for the amount of
> torque required to move this monstrosity... Even on the 1st and Rev gears
> the diffs and 12t bevel joints start falling apart - not a pretty sight
=((
I wanted to try doing this too. I was thinking, maybe I have to rip out the
transmission and the diffs and just put a gearmotor directly on every wheel.
Or 3:1 reduction at each wheel. It wsa just an idea though, I haven't
actaully done anyhting on it :)
Iain
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In lugnet.org.ca.rtltoronto, Ivan Louch writes:
> Here is a complete schedule of robotic combat for the next two weeks:
Thanks for that list! I don't think I can handle that much robotic combat a
week :) By far my favourite is Battlebots. I like the two hosts, though
they replaced Sean Salisbury and the new one isn't as funny in the dialogue.
BTW, what is Comnet?
> Take the two most destructive robots from BattleBots – Backlash and
> Nightmare, both rely on a vertically spinning flywheel with a pair of steel
> teeth. Ever saw those two toss opponents 2-3 metes in the air, ripping off
> lexan shields and tearing apart the internal components? That’s a weapon to
> be reckoned with! Needless to say many bots don’t survive the first couple
> of hits. I doubt that “smashing with mass” comes even close. I can come up
I'll agree that the vertical blade is quite impressive when it tears
something up real good. I think I saw Nightmare do one up real bad last
week- but neither is particularily maneuverable-and prone to attacks on the
side. It looks like the thing might tip over at any minute.
I'd rather use a wedge/slam bot with a novel twist (ie, a lifting fork:
Alpha/Beta/Gamma Raptor, Sallad or Vlad). Sallad and Vlad have done
relatively well, though the raptor team seems to get the short end of the stick.
> with another two dozen of similar examples where a simple yet effective
> weapon proves to be by a long shot more damaging than any ram-bot could ever
> be. I would most definitely feel more secure with a weapon-bot, rather than
> another wheel-chair with a ramp.
Yup, wheelchair with a ramp defintely won't do it. That's far too common.
But wheelchair with a random pickaxe won't do it either. Maybe when I'm
getting at is, you just can't show up with something like the Scrapdaddy LW55:
http://www.robotcombat.com/images/bblv00-large/scrapdaddylw.jpg
Or this:
http://www.robotcombat.com/images/bblv00-large/zugwang.JPG
> On another note – just motorized my 8466 with a classy “V8” of gear-motors,
> only to find out that the gear-box isn’t strong enough for the amount of
> torque required to move this monstrosity... Even on the 1st and Rev gears
> the diffs and 12t bevel joints start falling apart – not a pretty sight =((
I'm surprised Lego.com doesn't have a motorization plan for it online. They
had one for the 8448 Supercar II. IIRC the 8880 couldn't be moved by a
single gear motor easily either-the chain drive gave too much friction.
Calum
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I just read something that didn't really dawn on me before from the guy who
built some of the robots mentioned before:
http://www.robotcombat.com/tips.html
"Cutting weapons (chainsaws, circular saws, drills, etc), while they usually
don't do much damage (they require the target to stand pretty still to be
effective), they DO give the bonus of perceived damage (SPARKS), and the
audience and judges love it. "
I keep forgetting the bouts are judged...
Calum
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"Ivan Louch" <ivn@idirect.ca> wrote in message news:GornGG.540@lugnet.com...
> To tell the truth I'm pretty scared of the 243 paged demon called the
> assembly instructions =)) Any one for 8466 assembly race?
YES!!!!! I couldn't believe how thick it is! I thought I was going to make
it a two-night affair, but I had a disc with Chicane's live set at Ministry
of Sound in the carousel (along with other assorted lovely things such as
Bjork Homogenic and Vespertine), and I was finished by the time Bjork had
just done singing Unison to me :)
> BTW, does any one know the part # and/or item name for those big unmarked
> balloon tires?
I don't know, but aren't they great?! I still like the Recycle Truck tyres
the best.
Iain
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