Sky-Byte [Cyberworld/Cyber Changers]

One of the most exciting figures in the first wave of Cyber Changers is Sky-Byte. Sky-Byte has been a fan favorite character since his introduction in Transformers Car Robots/ Transformers Robots in Disguise. He's a lovable bad guy who writes haiku's and sings little songs whilst getting into mischief. While he hasn't appeared yet in the Cyberworld cartoon (as of this writing), one can only hope this incarnation will retain some of the originals charm.

Seeing as his alt mode is a reference to the episode 'Skid Z's Choice', one can only hope we'll have some poetry being recited while he's participating in some weird challenge. In the episode mentioned, Sky-Byte participates in a race by giving himself car parts. That leaves us with a silly shark car that this new toy transforms into. In robot mode Sky-Byte is the standard Cyberworld figure we discussed earlier this week with Optimus Prime. However, despite that uniformity... he's different. Turning into a sharkcar means his robot mode is pretty beastly. He's normally a Predacon and a bit of a Beast Wars remnant. His original toy, like the majority of the Predacons in Robots in Disguise, was a repaint of a prior Beast Wars toy.

Those beasty designs stuck with all his other incarnations since then. Thanks to the Cyberworld style, there's a Machine Robo flavor to this toy. It's probably unintentional, and maybe just my own take... but he feels like a Devil Invader in so many ways. It's cool. One thing I didn't mention in the Optimus post, these bots have a standard 5mm hole in their hands for holding weapons. Obviously that's great for the Armored Cyber Changers, but give me the hope that something like BattleMasters is on the way. After all, why do bots that don't include weapons have to possibility of holding them? They're unified in design for a reason. Sky-Byte's left hand is his signature claw made from the sharks rear fin. Be careful, this is a separate piece that you have to plug in, it can get lost by accident.

Transformation to sharkcar... damn I love saying that. Sharkcar, sharkcar, sharkcar. *ahem* Transformation to sharkcar (sqweee!) is pretty simple and makes me compare him to a Gobot again. The way he folds in half is very similar to many of those Machine Robo transformation schemes. Not to mention, something like a sharkcar (yay) is so Monster Gobot. Sharkcar (teehee) is a pleasantly satisfying mode. The wheels are nicely large, so you feel like he could easily roll over most obstacles. It's just the right size for such a toy too, just big enough to hold and push around your desk.

Really, this is a great example of how fun Cyberworld looks to be. A solid little Transformers toy that so full of fun that the limited articulation and paint aps are hardly noticeable. Sky-Byte fortunately doesn't have as much of the visible hollowness as Optimus did. It's there, but easy to ignore. I forgot to mention, his claw can be mounted on the sharks head in vehicle mode. Why? I don't know, but there sure is another 5mm port there than could hold a Battlemaster. Maybe something like that is on the way. I keep saying fun in reference to Transformers Cyberworld and Sky-Byte is an ambassador of the brand in that context. He's the greatest shark in town after all.