Poetry.

Sky-Byte is about the only thing I remember about the RID 2001 line. The other things I can recall are that Omega Prime was awesome and Megatron turned into a hand. Sky Byte was an idiot and he was hilarious in the show apparently. He’s so popular he made it into the IDW comics and is getting new toys in the Cyberverse line.

This is the first update to character since 2001. Voyager Sky-Byte was part of the 2014 Generations line. Let’s take a look at the Shakespearean shark himself!

Alternate mode

Sky-Byte is a shark. A shark that is curved like a banana and coloured like a multi flavoured popsicle. He’s a freaky one. He doesn’t look quite like a robot shark or an organic one. He looks like a cyborg shark. That’s metal. It’s really impressive that there’s almost no robot mode kibble visible in shark mode. Only the robot feet kind of stick out on the underside but even that is negligible.

Sky-Byte’s can open his mouth in this mode. He can also waggle his tail and fins a bit. That’s it. But what more do you expect from a giant killer fish? Oh yeah, you can activate the drill gimmick and firing missile in this mode too. But they’re on his tail facing backwards so that’s kind of weird.

Transformation

Sky-Byte has an interesting transformation but it’s kinda complex. It’s not very intuitive but it’s still quite clever. I think that it’s fun to do back and forth though. It kinda has to be since his alt mode is a shark and his robot mode is so unique.

Robot mode

Now Sky-Byte was always a Decepticon/Predacon but he gave off friendly feelings. This Sky-Byte is giving off none of those good vibes. He looks tough, mean and ready to pick a fight. Even his normal, “friendly” arm has a gun on it! He did get into a bar brawl in the IDW comics if I’m remembering correctly. Maybe this is that Sky-Byte. Drunk and angry shark boi.

Sky-Byte’s got lots of molded detail and lots of paint. The amount of paint and different colours of plastic make Sky-Byte a rainbow of a robot.

Sky-Byte’s got good posability. Not great though. Just good. His head can swivel. His arms rotate as well as go in and out. He has bicep swivels and elbow bends. His one normal hand can go in and out. The thumb moves separately. His legs rotate as well as go in and out. He has thigh swivels and knee bends. His feet move forward and back.

Gimmicks

Ooh, he has a few. They’re all in his gun/sword/murder arm. Pressing down the big grey plunger spins the grey part with the claws and missile like a drill. Imagine getting mauled by that? Nasty. Next, pressing the smaller grey button fires the yellow missile. It fires pretty strong too. Sky-Byte has multiple ways to kill you!

Toy or collectible?

Sky-Byte’s an adult collectible. I feel as though he’s too complex to transform to be fun for kids. His two modes though are barrels of fun. Use your own judgement for this guy when giving him to kids.

Adult collectors definitely need him. He’s a very whimsical figure that will bring some garish fun to your collection even though he looks like a slaughterhouse fighter.

Closing

A running theme with some of these CHUG figures is that people just straight up forget about them. Look at Brainstorm and Laser Optimus Prime. Sky-Byte’s the same unfortunately. He’s a great figure that seems to be almost always completely overlooked.

You should go out and get yourself a Voyager Sky-Byte! He’s not common anymore but he’s still available for less than his original retail price new if you look hard enough. He’s definitely gonna be cheaper than a Siege Voyager though.