PRICE POINT/SIZE: Mega. FUNCTION: PREDACON SHARK MOTTO: "I’ll tear my enemies to shreads.” “He is one of the most feared and respected Predacon warriors. His intelligence and love of poetry fools friends and enemies into letting down their guard – only to witness his terrifying change into a merciless warrior. The anchor arm on his left side can crush even the thickest, strongest wall like a microchip in the jaws of a shark.”

Strength:  Intelligence: Speed: Endurance: Rank: Courage: Fireblast: Skill:

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Sky-Byte is another repaint form the Beast Wars: Transmetals 2 line. Originally this mould was released as Transmetal 2 Cybershark. Nothing has changed from that mould save for the colour scheme, which I am pleased to say, is a vast improvement over the original.

BEAST MODE:
As always (most of the time at least) this review will start with the mode the figure is packaged in; which in the case of Sky-Byte is his beast mode. If you can't guess by the name of his predecessor (and if you can't then come here so I can smack you), Sky-Byte is a very fine looking transmetal Shark. There is far too much detail on this toy for my words or indeed the photos on the sidebar to do it any sort of justice, but if I didn't at least try then this would be a very short review indeed.

To start with Sky-Byte's main colour scheme is a metallic purple intermitted with silver airbrushing and vac metal silver. his fins and the purple part of his anchor arm (or caudal fin in this mode) are translucent plastic - the former has white on the underside which provides a nice effect. There are some white and yellow details on his underside and on his caudal fin. All along his back are mechanical and metallic details such as piping and circuitry, all of which is incredibly well painted to show off as much detail as possible.

If there is one sore point about this toy - and there must always be one to show that I am, at least, impartial - it is that the toy is permanently moulded as if turning. I don't so much care, but I know there are a lot of people who do, and to be fair I have always hated when articulation in an action figure or toy is sacrificed so that the designers can be creative with pose. Nevertheless it's hard to imagine this figure having much in the way of body articulation anyway, and so I shrug it off and get back to appreciating its beautiful paint job. Sky-Byte has only two points of articulation; his mouth can be opened and closed, and his caudal fin can be rotated by hand or by use of the wheel exposed on his left side.

TRANSFORMATION (ROBOT MODE):
If describing his colour scheme was a hassle, describing his transformation is a nightmare, but I'll give it a shot. Fold the fins on both sides up so that the panels on his sides separate from his body. Open his mouth so that his legs extend and remove his weapon (assuming, of course, it's there), set it aside and separate his jaw down the middle to form the feet. Split the two halves of the back of his body and try to spin them around without them popping off (no mean feat). Detach his dorsal fin from the rest of his body, fold that section down a little then fold out his arms and lock them in place on either side of his chest. Twist his chest and head down and attach it to his pelvis. rotate the sides of his shark mode body down to form something akin to shoulder pads. fold the yellow parts on his caudal fin out so they're 90° away from the other bits. stand and insert the missile launcher into his hand. You now have a robot Sky-byte.

ROBOT MODE:
Sky-Byte's robot mode is very nearly as nice as his beast mode, but not quite. A lot more yellow, white and flat grey is introduced on his arms, legs and chest. His face is yellow with pink eyes, white with purple airbrushing dons his crown where, right in the middle, is his dorsal fin in silver. He has a very menacing expression moulded on his face which is added to by the size of the fin on his head for some reason. He looks very predatory. His chest is moulded in the visage of a shark and looks very effective, down to the teeth on his sides that resemble lateral obliques and the spark crystal in his chest.

Sky-Byte isn't the most well balanced of bots, his feet have ankle supports but they serve no real purpose as they're too high to offer any significant support. That is; if he was going to fall, he would anyway. He's fairly top heavy too, owing to the monstrous head on his backside, his anchor arm and the panels on his shoulders. however he is mighty posable, with 12 points of articulation including the ankles, knees, hips, shoulders elbows, anchor arm 'wrist' (which can swivel around 360) and neck, and will stand in a wide variety of action shots.

OVERALL:
Sky-Byte is most probably the best Predacon in the line. It's a pity that he was never released in Australia cause he truly was a joy to behold and a fun toy to boot - though with a mildly frustrating transformation. I would recommend him if you can get him at cost or maybe just a bit over, certainly don't go too far, after all, he is a repaint; all be it a very, VERY good one.