Not to date myself, but it was, oh, 40 years ago or so when I first watched the now mostly forgotten TV show Voyagers! as a kid. A time-travel romp with an occasionally steampunk vibe, the short-lived series featured a kid as one half of its time-hopping duo, so the self-identification factor was built into the show for the young’uns like me who were watching. On top of that, the kid (Jeffrey, played by Meeno Peluce) was kind of a nerd – big on history and basically the “smart one” in his pairing with the “Voyager” Phineas Bogg (the late Jon-Erik Hexum). Hey, I knew about the Wright brothers too – maybe I could also be a time-traveller!
But the real appeal of Voyagers! for me was in the time-travel mechanism that the Voyagers like Bogg used: the Omni. For whatever reason, this thing really hit me where I lived.
The real appeal of Voyagers! for me was in the time-travel mechanism that the Voyagers used: the Omni.“
The Omni was a handheld device that, while sci-fi by its very nature, was very much centered in that steampunk design realm. Seemingly cast in brass and complete with mechanical dials and a tiny globe that allowed its user to zero in on a specific time and place to travel to, the Omni also had rivets and a hinge that its cover hung from, red and green lights, and a push-button mechanism to activate it. The prop’s very design also told a story about the Voyagers (a group of time-travellers whose mission is to make sure the timeline stays on track) that the short-lived show never quite got the chance to do: These people were advanced enough to invent time travel, yet they preferred their tech to be more Jules Verne than Gene Roddenberry in style.
So anyway, I became fixated on this hunk of metal. And you know, this was of course way before the internet, so it wasn’t like you could just google “voyagers omni” to learn more about the device, or the show, or how the prop was made. It also didn’t help that Voyagers! was cancelled after its first season and basically consigned to TV oblivion for decades, so all a kid like me had was my memories of the Omni to keep this particular bit of fandom going. (My fixation on the watch-like Omni was certainly tied to my interest in the even-more-forgotten TV movie The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything, which was about a gold pocket watch which could stop time. Which is without a doubt why I got a pocket watch as my First Communion gift!)
The thing is, eventually I did google “voyagers omni” and I realized that there were various fans out there who’ve attempted to build their own Omnis over the years. And some of them have looked pretty amazing, too. But they always seemed hard to find and/or very expensive. Still, that changed for me recently when I discovered a (mostly) 3D-printed version of the Omni on Etsy. At like $250, it was a steal, and so I finally got my own. Check it out:
Voyagers! Omni Prop Replica Photos
Is it perfect? No. Is it an affordable chance to have a semi-forgotten piece of TV history displayed on my book shelf? Heck yeah, it is. While the prop replica is mostly made of resin, unlike the more expensive version currently available which is brass (and runs over $1000 now), the dials on this piece are actually brass and do in fact rotate. The lid flips open as well, and there’s a belt clip if you plan on cosplaying as Bogg (or Jeffrey). The lights don’t blink and it doesn’t emit any sounds either, but again… for me this is a display piece that falls right in my price range.
But hey, if they ever add an actual time-travel chip to it, maybe I’ll eventually spring for the more expensive version that’s floating around out there. Until then… as Bogg used to say, green light, kid. We did it!
Talk to Scott Collura @scottcollura.bsky.social, or listen to his Star Trek podcast, Transporter Room 3. Or do both!