Rom isn’t as much a forgotten hero as an abandoned one. After being out of the media spotlight for nearly thirty years, the noble Galadorian became little more than footnote grist for Internet snark and nostalgia lists. Although time and copyright law conspire to keep Rom trapped in Limbo, a dedicated group of collectors (and one toy company) are determined to keep his memory alive. So what’s so special about an action figure that didn’t even last a year at retail? Well, it’s funny you should ask…
Rom’s journey was a strange one. Originally named “COBOL,” the toy’s concept was independently developed and then later sold to gaming giant Parker Brothers. By the late 1970s the board game manufacturer was looking to break into the burgeoning home electronics market and decided Rom had what it took to be their Point Man. The figure would stand over a foot tall, boast multiple light and sound features and be available in time for Christmas. Factories were put into production, print ads were taken out, and kids were put on alert: Rom was here!
Rom would have been an ambitious experiment for a well-established toy manufacturer: considering Parker Bros. had built its fortunes on cardboard and not electronics, the sleek Spaceknight was a serious gamble. Looking to hedge their bets, the company cut some corners, compromising the product’s quality and delivering a toy that ultimately fell somewhere between being a game and an action figure.
At 13 inches, Rom was a big boy — he had to be to fit all of the electronics inside. Yet in spite of his impressive height, Rom lacked the requisite action hero mass. I’m not sure why anyone would manufacture a bow-legged cyborg with drainpipes for arms, but hey, the 1970s was a weird time Even Pulsar was ripped next to Rom, and Pulsar was a senior citizen!
Fortunately, Rom was provided with a few tools to meet his mysterious goals. A single 9-volt battery powered all of the sound and light features, giving Rom the juice to use his array of exotic weaponry.
The Translator and Analyzer are cool, but the Neutralizer was what eventually wore the battery down. While the package leaves both the use and effects of the weapon vague, the Marvel comic helpfully elaborated on it:
I know it looks like our hero is just indiscriminately killing people here, but there’s more to it than that: it turns out he’s indiscriminately killing monsters, which is a completely different thing. But we’ll get back to that in a minute.
Parker Bros. had never designed an action figure before and it shows. In spite of the advertised six points of articulation, Rom can barely move. That’s okay, though — where he doesn’t move, he lights up. Seriously. With seven separate light sources, the figure was brighter than Christmas morning as the Osmond’s house.
Rom’s iconic flashing eyes were originally meant to be a more neutral green, but red LEDs were cheaper, so Parker Brothers went with those instead. Little cost-saving measures like that may have seemed wise to the company bean counters, but they show a clear lack of commitment to the final product.
To balance out all of the flashing lights, Rom could also generate a series of nerve-wracking electronic noises. Are you beginning to see why Rom crashed and burned at retail? Thrill to the sound of the Energy Analyzer! Feel excitement gird your loins as Rom breathes! In many parent’s eyes, this was nothing more than an over-priced, epilepsy-inducing headache machine, but the kids loved Rom. No other toy did (or at least promised to do) as much as the Spaceknight. Granted, Rom didn’t have any other knights to team up with, or enemies to battle… but he did have a comic book:
Marvel’s Rom, Spaceknight comic debuted in December 1979 and lasted an impressive 75 issues. In that time readers learned of Rom’s interstellar origin, the conflict between his people and their deadly shape-changing enemies (the Dire Wraiths), but mostly they enjoyed Rom interactions with other Marvel heroes.
You know, Logan, just because someone’s head is made of metal doesn’t mean you automatically have to start clawing at it. Seriously, reign it in — you’d be surprised how tolerant people can be of mutants when they’re not being assaulted by your razor-sharp claws. At any rate, Rom the Comic outlasted Rom the Toy by several years. It was clear from the beginning Parker Brothers lacked the commitment to develop such an ambitious toy line, allowing Marvel to basically treat the property as its own. And therein lies the problem.
The rights to Rom eventually reverted back to Parker Brothers and subsequent copyright issues have led to Marvel removing Rom’s name and likeness from it’s reprint editions. It’s like the Dire Wraith’s greatest plot come to fruition, systematically removing all trace of the brave Spaceknight and his victories. Too bad, as this image should be mandatory viewing for all Marvel readers:
While Rom never saw a plastic update, his arch-foe the Dire Wraith came close to getting a figure of its own. Sculpted by 1990s superstar Clayburn Moore, the Dire Wraith was originally slated to appear in ToyBiz’s Silver Surfer line, but this imposing-looking beastie never made it past the prototype stage. It’s a shame, as the sculpt is top-notch. Considering that the figures were a 7-inch scale, the Wraith would have fit right in on our Marvel Legends shelves.
In an interesting wrinkle to this story, Hasbro recently filed for the Rom trademark. The fact that the company also currently produces Marvel Legends is not lost on this Fwoosher. With all of the excitement over a certain cosmic comic book’s big screen debut later this summer, one wonders if we’re poised on the edge of an interstellar Marvel renaissance. Could more space-faring characters like Rom be far behind? Only time will tell. Until then, keep your Neutralizer and plenty of 9-volt batteries on hand — you know, just in case.
Discuss this article on the Fwoosh forums!
Jason R Mink is the Man in the Anthill!
