Cyberverse Hammerbyte

Prelude: The Cyberverse series brought back a lot of obscure (meaning: non-G1-cartoon) characters, among them the shark robot Hammerbyte. Now there has never before been a Transformer with that name (be it with or without the ‘y’ to turn the verb ‘bite’ sufficiently robot-y), but the figure’s color scheme and shark mode are a clear homage to the Beast Wars character Cybershark. Now given that he already had ‘cyber’ in his name, I don’t know why he couldn’t be called by that name in Cyberverse (too much cyber, maybe?), but whatever. We are here to look at Hammerbyte. Let’s say go!

Robot Mode: In the beginning the Cyberverse series was rather infamous for dialing back its figures’ articulation to near zero, including the near-constant lack of knee joints. Thankfully by the time Hammerbyte came out, that had improved. He’s not a marvel of articulation, but he does have what I consider the minimum amount of joints in a modern Transformers figure and can move quite well. Probably wouldn’t have bought the figure otherwise.

Now Hammerbyte’s entire design is pretty simplified, showing that he belongs to a more kid-oriented line, but still manages to look quite good, in my opinion. Sure, he’s got those open forearms and legs that some people dread, but I can live with those. Sadly the head can’t turn, which is a bit of a bummer, but overall I really like Hammerbyte’s look and, as I said, he can move well enough. The crown/trident thing on his head is a real eye-catcher, too.

Hammerbyte’s sole weapon is his Rip Thrash gimmick, where his shark head snaps forward to cover his robot head. Well, weapon might be overstating it a bit, but it looks pretty good. So overall, a pretty good robot mode. Simplified, sure, but a nice kid-oriented toy figure.

Alternate Mode: Unsurprisingly Hammerbyte transforms into a robotic hammerhead shark. The transformation isn’t terribly complicated, he basically just lies down on his belly and tugs in his arms. The resulting robot shark still manages to look pretty good and is a great match with Beast Wars Cybershark (one robotic, one organic). Not really that much more I can write here, the robot shark looks great. Not the greatest shark in town (for that shall always be Sky Byte), but pretty good.

Remarks: Hammerbyte appeared in the Cyberverse cartoon episode “Dweller in the Depths”, where he was the (rather ineffective) guardian of a subsea Titan called The Dweller. Hammerbyte didn’t really do much expect get possessed and attack his fellow Autobots (yet another reason why he will never be the greatest shark in town).

As a toy Hammerbyte is fun. No more than that, but fun. Which is all you really want from a toy aimed towards kids, so that’s fully okay. I do like beastformers and there are still too few Transformers with aquatic or naval alternate modes, so when I saw Hammerbyte in store, I wanted him. He’s probably not for everyone, but if you are looking for a fun figure (either for yourself or your kid) and you’re a fan of sharks, go get Hammerbyte (but only if you’ve already gotten Sky Byte, who is still the greatest shark in town!)

Rating: B-