One man’s 12-ton, 16-foot tall fighting robot is another man’s treasure.
Eagle Prime, the crown jewel of MegaBots Inc.’s fleet of sci-fi-inspired piloted robots, is being sold on eBay for a single dollar. Founded by Gui Cavalcanti, Matt Oehrlein and Andrew Stroup, the company is shuttering operations amid money trouble. Their latest high jinks, a futuristic bot battle between the US and Canada, drew thin crowds online.
“It was meant to be monster trucks meets UFC with a hint of WWE,” Oehrlein tells The Post. “The goal was to build a multibillion-dollar sports league of robots fighting in stadiums.”
MegaBot Inc. spent all of its $2.4 million seed funding from May 2016 plus another $100,000 to build Eagle Prime. Now, the giant mech — that’s the technical term for the hydraulic humanoid — can be yours for a buck.
“I think it’s time to pass the torch to whoever will do it next and wants to take on the responsibility of the mission,” Oehrlein says. The auction, for which there is no reserve or minimum bid, starts Monday night and will last 10 days.
If you’re in the market for a military-grade, real-life Transformer, it’s quite the bang for the buck. However, Eagle Prime costs about $2,500 per day to run, says Oehrlein. “Things break on it, and you have to pay a technician to come in and service it, and maybe replace an air filter or radiator,” he explains.
The heavy robot has a massive wingspan of 40 feet and can pulverize normal rubber tank treads if you take it for a spin. Oehrlein suggests replacing Eagle Prime’s high-density plastic pads on its wheels every two to three years. Specs for the coding and hardware come with the purchase, but as with other military vehicles sold on the auction site, delivery is not free.
For local buyers, Eagle Prime is currently housed in a warehouse in Oakland, Calif. Oehrlein estimates it will cost $2,000 to $3,000 dollars to drive it to Los Angeles on a double drop flatbed truck chained to the deck because it’s not street legal, he says. To get it across the country, expect to dole out closer to $17,000 plus the cost of storage. International robot enthusiasts will be looking at double that for shipping across waters.
But save the logistics, Oehrlein insists Eagle Prime is relatively low- maintenance. “If you’ve worked on cars or tractors, you’ll be a natural at servicing this beast,” he says. “It’s sort of like taking care of a big piece of construction equipment, except it can throw cars down the street.”
Eagle Prime comes with a storage locker of arm attachments, including a claw, a drill, a 5-foot car-cutting chainsaw, five 100-pound steel knives and a 6-inch double-barrel pneumatic cannon. A few more Easter eggs: a stereo system, cup holders for both the pilot and gunner, who controls the warlike armatures from the two-person cockpit, and a corvette engine. Not included: a viable business plan.
Oehrlein, a 33-year-old electrical engineer, estimates that too much cash was spent on high-production-value YouTube videos. While ticket revenue from appearances, both high-profile like the battle against Japan’s “Kuratas” bot which garnered 8 million views, and low-budget backyard exhibitions — plus merchandise sales — recouped some costs, the company “wasn’t on an upward trajectory.” He plans on using any profits to pay off loans and back due paychecks to himself.
He hopes someone else might figure out a way to monetize his fantasy, or else donate the metal man to a museum or gallery. Still, he can think of a few potential buyers who might find a use for Eagle Prime in the coming months. “Maybe a politician. Andrew Yang is sort of the former Silicon Valley tech guy, so he might be into it,” says Oehrlein.
“But on the other hand, Trump is the showman.”
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