Thrilling 30 Sky-Byte

Robot Mode: Sky-Byte is, of course, a homage to RID Sky-Byte and the two figures share quite a few similarities. Big spinning claw weapon for a left arm? Check. Shell-former parts hanging off the back? Check. Bad-ass grin and big fin on top of the head? Check and check. The main differences between the figures are a slightly different transformation scheme, causing Generations Sky-Byte to have his beast mode’s head on the chest instead of hanging off his ass, and that RID Sky-Byte had a separate missile launcher, while this newer version has integrated that launcher into the spinning claw. Still, this figure is clearly Sky-Byte, no doubt about it.

Overall Generations Sky-Byte is less of a shell-former than his predecessor, but he still has a few parts hanging off his back which you can arrange various configurations (up, down, folded, unfolded, etc.), whichever way you like it best. And while his predecessor was just as nicely articulated as he is, the fact that Generations SB has far less kibble allows him a greater range of movement. The only thing I’m not too fond of are his lower legs, which are pretty much hollow. It doesn’t impede his movements or anything, just looks a bit strange when looked at from the rear. Apart from that, though: an excellent robot mode.

Beast Mode: To no one’s surprise Sky-Byte transforms into a robotic shark. Now the original Sky-Byte became a Great White Shark, this one here’s a bit harder to classify. Let’s just go with a general shark and be done with it. The transformation is similar to that of the original except for a few details, such as Sky-Byte’s knee pads becoming the shark’s jaw instead of the feet. Also, the resulting shark is posed a bit differently, looking like he’s about to dive down, while RID Sky-Byte was more in a shooting-upwards-to-munch-surfer-dudes pose.

Generations Sky-Byte lacks the in-mouth missile launcher of his predecessor, but I don’t really mind that. The beast mode looks pretty cool, everything holds together quite well, and the gimmick of spinning the claw (now the tail) still works in this mode as well. So bottom line: a cool beast mode for the greatest shark in town. No complaints at all.

Remarks: The original Robots in Disguise cartoon from 2001 was little more than a filler series, bridging the gap between the end of Beast Machines and the beginning of Armada. Even the Japanese original Car Robots was little more than an experimental attempt to see whether fans would – after the lengthy beast era of Transformers – be interested in vehicle Transformers again. In terms of characters and stories little is remembered of RID these days except for two things: One being the first in-story evil clone of Optimus Prime – Scourge aka Black Convoy – and, of course, the greatest shark in town, Sky-Byte.

This toy is actually the first time Sky-Byte has received a mold of his own, both his previous incarnations (the RID figure and the Botcon version) being mere repaints of pre-existing figures. Its appearance ties the figure to Sky-Byte’s role in the G1-based IDW Robots in Disguise comic book, where Sky-Byte is a former Decepticon turned neutral who is sick of the war and does a weird musical-poetry number with Jazz (no joke).

Anyway, the figure is pretty great and I love Sky-Byte as a character, so I have very little to complain here. The hollow legs are just about the only thing I’m not one hundred percent on board with and seeing as they don’t actually hinder the figure in any way, it’s not much of a thing. So bottom line: an excellent figure. Recommended to everyone unless you’re totally against non-vehicular alternate modes.

Rating: A-