Friday, July 11, 2025

Action Figure Review: Rom from Marvel Legends Series: Rom The Spaceknight by Hasbro

 

   If you think there's nothing exciting left in Hasbro's Marvel Legends Series, let me introduce you to Rom the Spaceknight. This guy is definitely a somewhat out of leftfield release this year that is just a really unqiue and cool figure. He's also been on lots of most wanted lists for at least a decade. I will admit that I'm not terribly familiar with Rom outside of knowing about the vintage toy released by Parker Brothers in 1978/1979. Besides being a large vintage space toy, Rom also received a Marvel tie-in comic book series that ran from 1979 until 1986, outlasting the toy by several years. Rom K'atsema was once a poet on the peaceful Galador but an invasion of Dire Wraiths causes him to volunteer to be changed into a Spaceknight to defend his home world. He also ended up on Earth and met many of the Marvel Universe's greatest heroes and villains. Parker Brothers was acquired by Hasbro in 1991, so Hasbro owns Rom but hasn't done much with him over the years (he received a 1/18th G.I. Joe sized figure and a Mighty Mugg in the past decade or so). He's part of this new Marvel Legends Series now which instead of including a Build-a-Figure, now includes a miniature comic book accessory. It's a neat little trinket, but no substitute for a Build-a-Figure, especially at the standard price. These would have been better inclusions with the Retro Collection figures. Still, Rom is a must buy and seems to be the first figure gone anytime you find this series on shelves. Let's check out Rom the Spaceknight after the break...



The Facts:

Height: 7 1/8ths inches

Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, ball-jointed hips, hinged waist, balljointed mid-torso, swivel/hinge shoulders, swivel biceps, double-hinged elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed neck base, hinged neck, and a ball jointed head.

Accessories: 4 swappable hands, mini comic accessory, neutralizer, translator, and energy beam.

Non-Scalper Price: $25





The Positives:

* Rom is an impressive looking figure. While the vintage toy is supposed to be a robot, the Marvel version is a cyborg clad in plandanium. The plandanium is nice and shiny with a great metallic paintjob. He's one of the nicest looking metallic figures from Marvel Legends. There seem to be lots of unique pieces that feel like both elements of a knight's armor and robotic elements. Rom's chest is large and body, housing his respirator and all kinds of special gear. The vintage toy actually made breathing sounds! There are some red "lights" under the chest armor that can be seen when looking from below or when moving the torso around.





* I love the square, boxy head with the red eyes peering out. They're printed on and look like glowing red LEDs. There's a very nice retro-futuristic feel to Rom, like something out of a 1950s Universal sci-fi film. 










* Rom's rocket pack helps him move through space and is permanently attached to him (though it looks like a separate piece). There are some red "lights" around the rocket pods and a glowing red light paint effect when you view him from below. 










* The tops of Rom's boots also look like a knight's armor. The thigh swivel is actually hidden at the top of these tall boots. Also, his feet look cybernetic with an unusual shape and design, somewhat similar to the vintage toy.








* The articulation is fantastic. No, Rom isn't as articulated as someone like Spider-Man, but he has a quality build and a nice range of motion in most places. His head has a balljointed neck base with a hinged neck and balljointed head combo and he has a hinged waist with balljointed mid-torso. It's chunky, but it moves fairly well. He's a really fun figure to pose and mess around with and everything is solid with pinless joints.  







* Rom's hands are kind of blobby and non-descript when it comes to his cyborg digits, but that does actually seem to be accurate to the Marvel depiction of the character, so it's impressive Hasbro's Legends team didn't just give him standard hands cast in silver plastic. There are four hands: A pair of grips, a right hand fist, and a open left hand. They swap easily, so no worries about breakage.





* Rom comes with two accessories, both of which are based on items the vintage Parker Brothers toy came packaged with. First up is the translator, a device Rom uses to scan and upload information into his memory and to instantly learn any alien languages. The vintage accessory flashed and made noises. This one is just a laser pistol looking accessory with a translucent red tip. It's a neat design, though, and fits the rest of Rom's aesthetic.







* The second accessory is Rom's neutralizer, a powerful weapon that can send Dire Wraiths into another dimension and deliver a powerful energy blast. This is most likely your go-to gadget for Rom. 










* I love the little details on the back. There's even some wiring sculpted on there.



* A laser blast is included as well. It's a neat looking piece that mimics the light up action feature of the original Rom figure and it's just a super cool way to make the figure look more dramatic. Furthermore, it fits over either accessory, so it can be a neutralizer blast or the energy wave of the translator. 






* Each figure in this series comes with a mini comic book accessory. It's not an actual comic book; it's just a plastic piece with the cover printed on the front (and the Marvel Legend logo on the back). It's kind of cool and dun for some pictures, but I don't think most collectors are going to go wild over these. If they'd been around since the beginning of the line or maybe had been included with each Retro Series release, I could see them being more popular. Fun, but not really a substitute for a Build-a-Figure. 



     Overall, I did like this series of figures. The classic Banshee was a welcome repaint, I picked up Daken since I didn't have one, and this Adam Warlock was an improvement over the previous figure. I skipped Miles Morales and Ultimate Iron Man, which incidentally are the two easiest figures to find. Rom is without a doubt the star of this series, however, and even without a BAF piece, he's still a very solid pickup. Lots of unique parts, an excellent design, and some fun accessories to use with him. Being able to swap the laser beam accessory is pretty fun, though it does make more sense on the neutralizer. Rom is an Epic figure and definitely one of the best Marvel Legends of 2025 so far. Usually I stick to mutants and X-Men related characters, but I'm not immune to the charms of just good figures of great characters in general, and this guy absolutely piqued my interest.



This is the first figure of Rom the Spaceknight that I've reviewed. For more Marvel Legends Series reviews check out the following:
Marvel Legends Series by Hasbro (2016)

Marvel Legends Series: 85th Anniversary by Hasbro (2024)

Marvel Legends Series: Avengers by Hasbro
Taskmaster
Yelena Belova

Marvel Legends Series: Black Panther by Hasbro (2017)
Black Panther 

Marvel Legends Series: Black Widow by Hasbro (2020)
Black Widow: Deadly Origin
 
Marvel Legends Series: Captain America by Hasbro (2016)
Black Panther
Demolition Man (Mercenaries of Mayhem)
Nick Fury 
Nuke 

Marvel Legends Series: Captain Marvel by Hasbro (2019)
Captain Marvel

Marvel Legends Series: Dark Avengers by Hasbro (2025)
 
Marvel Legends Series: Doctor Strange

Marvel Legends Series: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) 
 
Marvel Legends Series: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)
Baron Zemo

Marvel Legends Series: Fantastic Four (2017)
Mr. Fantastic
Thing  
 
Marvel Legends Series: Gamerverse
Civil Warrior

Marvel Legends Series: Guardians of the Galaxy by Hasbro (2017)
Angela
Groot Evolution
Yondu

Marvel Legends Series: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 by Hasbro (2017)
Drax
Gamora (Daughters of Thanos)
Nebula (Daughters of Thanos)
Rocket Raccoon & Groot
Star-Lord 
Yondu 

Marvel Legends Series: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 by Hasbro (2023)
Mantis
 
Marvel Legends Series: The Infinity Gauntlet by Hasbro (2021)
 
Marvel Legends Series: The Infninity Saga by Hasbro
Captain Marvel & Rescue Armor

Marvel Legends Series: Inhumans by Hasbro (2017)
 
Marvel Legends Series: Ironheart by Hasbro (2021)
 
Marvel Legends Series: Iron Man by Hasbro  
Vault Guardsman

Marvel Legends Series: Marvel Knights (2023)
Blade

Marvel Legends Series: Phoenix by Hasbro (2024)
Jean Grey and Phoenix Force

Marvel Legends Series: The Punisher by Hasbro (2019)
The Punisher (Walgreens Exclusive)
 
Marvel Legends Series: She-Hulk by Hasbro
She-Hulk 

Marvel Legends Series: Silk by Hasbro
Silk and Doc Ock

Marvel Legends Series: Silver Surfer by Hasbro (2018)
Silver Surfer

Marvel Legends Series: Spider-Man by Hasbro
Hallow's Eve
King in Black: Knull and Venom

Marvel Legends Series: Strange Tales (2024)

Marvel Legends Series: Super Villains by Hasbro (2021)
Xemnu

Marvel Legends Series: Thor by Hasbro
Gorr
Ragnarok

Marvel Legends Series: Thor: Love and Thunder by Hasbro (2022)
Mighty Thor

Marvel Legends Series: Typhoid Mary by Hasbro (2018)
Typhoid Mary

Marvel Legends Series: The Unbelievable Gwenpool by Hasbro (2018)
Gwenpool

Marvel Legends Series: Venom by Hasbro (2018)
Carnage  
 
Marvel Legends Series: WandaVision by Hasbro (2021)
 
Marvel Legends Series: What If? by Hasbro (2021)

Marvel Legends Series: Wolverine by Hasbro
Wolverine & Lilandra Neramani
Wolverine & Psylocke

Marvel Legends Series: X-Men by Hasbro (2016)
Angel














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