NEWS: ROM The Spaceknight to Return?

It may come to nothing, or it could be one of the most exciting bits of news we've heard for a while but there's a rumor that the awesome 70s electronic action figure ROM The Spaceknight may be making a comeback.

Released in 1979, ROM the Spaceknight was a hybrid electronic toy and action figure. Although his light-up weapons, electronic sound effects and other high-tech play features were a lot of fun (setting him in Respirator mode - with its Vader-esque breathing sounds - and then hiding it in your sister's bedroom at night was always a popular one) the figure's articulation was somewhat hampered due to the bulk of the digital components, battery pack and the cost-cutting forced upon the manufacturers to include the then cutting-edge (and expensive) electronics.

Parker Brothers - more famous for their board games than toys - took the plunge to release ROM and partnered with Marvel Comics to produce a tie-in publication in an attempt to broaden the toy's appeal. Although the comic - penned by Micronauts scribe Bill Mantlo - was a success the action figure was met with less-than-stellar sales, only shifting around a quarter of a million units in the US. Yet despite its commercial failure, ROM The Spaceknight is a fondly-remembered character and the comicbook continued for a number of years after the toy's demise.

The ToyArk now bring us the news that Hasbro has filed a new ''ROM The Spaceknight''  trademark with the US Trademarks and Patents Office - but before everybody gets too excited, keep in mind that (A) companies often renew trademarks to keep their Intellectual Property out of the public domain and (B) even if there's an internal attempt to revive the Spaceknight, that doesn't guarantee it will get any further than that. Still though, given today's advances in figure tooling and just how compact modern electronics are, the thought of a long-overdue update to ROM The Spaceknight holds a lot of promise.

Source: The ToyArk