Sky-Byte is a chad,
He's one of the best parts in,
R.I.D.01.
His haikus are great,
The Predacon's ways with words,
Made him so unique.
With Megatron though,
He isn't easy to wow,
Which is a huge shame.
Swimming or flying,
He is still one badass threat,
Even as a fool.
Now with all that said,
Sky-Byte shall take the spotlight,
For today's review!
Here we have Sky-Byte in what else but his mechanical shark mode, which is based on a great-white shark commonly found in pop culture. The gradient effect from the navy blue on top to the white on the bottom is applied more organically than on the 2022 Cybershark reissue, and I love seeing not just the chrome match said white on the bottom, but even the little circuitry near the gills and tailfin add a sense of completion to the sculpted details added to remind fans that under the skin lurks a robot within (even if it isn't known if they are technorganic or bio-mechanical like the Beast Era characters). While the shark mode has no articulation beyond the fins rotating on their pegs, the face is at least sculpted to be permanently opening its mouth, and the tail is at least bent to give the impression that it is swimming in the ocean (and is more common for sharks to do that than to curve downwards like a dolphin did even i he homaged Free Willy).
His gun can be used in this mode by hinging the mouth open and using the bottom jaw to launch the missiles. I don't have them, but the seller did have extra fins from Cybershark. I should mention that the shark mode doesn't really lock in place, depending only on the friction of the clips that connect the bottom pieces to the rest of the toy. It's likely due to the age of the toy at this rate, though it is easy to fix with some super glue or clear floor polish.
Transforming Sky-Byte into his robot mode is fairly difficult given how much of a shellformer he is. While you can pop the kibble off and attach everything back on when you're done, it does make the transformation feel worse than it really is. The way I feel about it is that it's annoying to do things when not done in a specific order, yet I don't want this guy to feel comparable to G1 Starscream. As for the robot mode, it is show-accurate given how the animators for the Car Robots/RID01 series aimed to be as close to the toys as possible, especially since said toy was already made years before the show was produced. Like all Transmetal 2 figures, including the Predacon trio within the same line, he features a plethora of asymmetrical details in the sculptwork, from the shoulders to the shins, and it's more noticeable for the forearms and the chest. The left forearm has the shark spike, which is able to rotate via a wheel embedded within the elbow joint. It's also capable of locking in place when not in use. Sky-Byte's overall proportions make him appropriately fitting as both a powerful Predacon and someone who tends to be on a higher tier of Predacon ranking, the shoulder pads and head creat made from the shark fin gives him a sense of superiority. The shark head butt flap is amusing, though. Sadly, he can be difficult to keep standing given how loose his ankles may be, in addition to the lack of pivots.
Sky-Byte's head somewhat asymmetrical in design, mostly with how the left side of the mouth has the teeth more prominently shown a la Two-Face. The yellow face and the red eyes, combined with the white, silver, and blue makes for a color combo that weirdly works. His articulation consists of a neck swivel, ball joints at the shoulders, rotation at the elbows, hinges for the elbows, ball-joints at the hips, double-jointed knees, and ankle hinges. His missile launcher can be held in his right hand, but the lack of a wrist swivel makes it look weird in some poses, not to mention the lack of missiles makes it look like a speedometer.
His fins could be removed as weapons, though only one can be held, and it still looks weird without a wrist swivel.
As far as the one prior use is concerned, this here is Cybershark, who is a lot more gray/silver than blue, combined with an unusual association with the color green that I feel works better for the Green RPM Ranger. The part tolerances are worse here than on Sky-Byte.
Here he is next to the other Predacons, appropriately making him the second-tallest one of the group. Sky-Byte is generally good for the most part, though how well he holds up depends on the age of the tolerances. The figure itself could have used some tabs and perhaps some slightly better articulation, but it does some things better than the Thrilling 30 version and vice versa. Just make sure he's complete when you get him online.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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