You're one of the peeps on this board whose reviews I pay lots of attention to; we often have similar views on things.

Having said that, you just motivated me to go pick this guy up.


















....hey wait, you don't work for Hasbro, do you? lol

 

Like robogeek said its not crazy on the aftermarket if you are patient and bide your time, but make sure he has both of the covers on his feet (often times they are missing) and both laser sword thingies, the one in the pic is my original Takara release, and as with many of my older figures it has been played with to the breaking point, because it is a 6 changer with more fan modes than you can shake a stick at.

Definetly one of my favorite iterations of megatron over the years!

 

Good to know, Thank you!!

LOL..no..But thank you...That was a very nice thing to say. This sure is one FUN toy...I dont think you will be disappointed if you enjoy what I had to say about it. Even after a few weeks, im still picking this one up and having alot of fun chasing kids with the "flying cybershark!" just so damn fun in a world of car and plane TFs these days.

Its one of those I poo-poo'd for a long time..but after seeing many pics of it, and seeing all the detail, and things it does..I think I want one for my shelf. really neat looking Megatron. Thanks!

 

No prob man.

 

I like the shark mode a lot. I think this year was pretty good for beastformers.

 

I just got him and he's a very very nice figure. I'll update my review after I play with him a bit.
EDIT: man, this is a really fun toy! This and Brainstorm are my favorite voyagers, hell the entire Voyager scale for thrilling 30 was perfect. Sky Byte poses well, and has an awesome Head sculpt. Everything tabs together easily in Shark mode and I just love it.
If you find this guy, get him. He looks better than Roadbuster (who I didn't pick up but saw in box).

 

I just got this figure and I have to say he's not as bad in person as he originally looked in photos. I'd like to do some comparisons with the original mold but I have no idea where my RID Sky-Byte is and I'm not going to bother looking for him.

The way the shark mode body is stuck in a permanent curve actually doesn't look too bad. I thought it was going to annoy me but I'm actually liking this much better than the way the original shark mode was molded. He does have a little bit of articulation with the tail being able to wag up and down but I think bending it down is more breaking the transformation than a real point of articulation. (And I think that's why the pictures looked so bad is because the tail wasn't up as far as it could be.) Another thing is a lot of pictures have him with the claw/tail fin closed up which looks a bit odd. With the fins extended it looks a lot better.

The side fins have a little bit of movement. I seem to remember the original having a lot better range with these but they don't actually need to move that much so the loss here really doesn't bother me.

My favorite thing about the shark mode is unlike the original this one is actually capable of closing his mouth. The joints seem a little tight on mine so it's a bit of a pain to actually get his mouth moving but a moving jaw is better than being stuck constantly open.

The transformation is kind of a pain but so was the original. And I managed to do this one without popping any parts off. That's not to say that the original was a parts-former just that parts had a tendency to fall off when they weren't suppose to. I will say the transformation from shark to robot was a lot easier than robot to shark. It's not quite as bad as getting Generations Rattrap into his rat mode but you still have to make sure everything is lined up correctly or you won't be able to get the shark mode tabbed together.

The robot mode.... actually kind of looks better in pictures than it does in person. I know the original had a shark head hanging off his aft but I still remember him being more solid than this guy is.

I know I said I wasn't going to make comparisons to the original but just to clarify I meant that I can't really do it properly because I'm working off memory. Can't really do a proper size comparison between the two figures. I think the new one is bigger because even though the original is basically the same size class, Mega's back then weren't much bigger than a Deluxe. Also not really sure about articulation comparisons in robot mode. I know the original being a beast wars figure had a lot of Ball joints but that's about it.

There are a few joints on this guy which don't appear to have anything at all to do with articulation or transformation. Like what is that hinge on the wings for when they're in the same position in both modes. It's incredibly difficult to even mode that hing at all because parts get in the way. So there's just incredibly useless hinges.

He looks ok from the front but is just a total mess in the back. I think I preferred his shark head on his butt than the hollow legs.

The ball joints of the original have been replaced with a lot of swivel joints. Not sure if that's good or bad. The only point I know has been slightly improved is that the original had no hand articulation. This one has a bend at the wrist, mostly do to transformation, and a possible thumb. Still no wrist swivel though.

The wings might look better than they did on the original but I think they get in the way of his shoulders a lot more than the original did. I can't really find a good position for them where the shoulders don't bump into them. The originals just naturally moved out of the way. I don't remember ever having a problem with them except during transformation when they would end up popping off... every single time.

Others have mentioned how his missile looks like a microphone but I can't seem to get him to hold it in a way that looks natural. He barely holds it at all considering his hand doesn't really seemed designed to hold anything.

Only really recommend it if you're a big fan of the character or robot sharks in general. Otherwise it's an easy pass. I'll probably be keeping mine in shark mode... if I ever manage to get him transformed again.

 

His left arm doesn't like to stay up due to its weight, but all in all Sky-Byte is a good, solid, fun figure. His transformation scheme is fun and intuitive, his robot mode pays excellent homage to the original character, and his shark mode, while stuck in a permanent curve, is well done and visually appealing. While he initially looked underwhelming in test shots from Hasbro, this is easily one of the most fun molds made in recent years, not to mention a loving rendition of one of the best characters from the oft-neglected RID 2001, as well as one of the funniest comic relief characters in all of Transformers fiction.

 

Just like to update something. I finally got around to switching him back into shark mode. It's not nearly as difficult the second time around once you know how everything is suppose to line up. I was actually surprised at how quickly I did it compared to my first attempt.

Also what I originally thought were useless joints, I just realized do actually move. Not by much which is why I didn't even notice it but they do bend as part of the transformation. There's a double hinge on the wings. The one in the middle I knew had to bend to wrap around the body but the other one close to the base just kind of naturally moves with it. Really easy not to even notice that you're doing it.

It's the kind of transformation that looks a lot more complicated than it actually is which is where I prefer them to be.

I also just saw pictures of the Takara version which looks a hell of a lot better than this one. Being more accurate to the color scheme of the original toy and a lot more coherent. There's a section on the Hasbro version that starts off silver and then just drops off into a mat grey.

Even though this toy still has some issues... mainly in robot mode... I don't really feel quite as bad recommending it as I did originally. The color scheme isn't that bad. I actually didn't even notice till I saw comparisons with the Takara version and the original mold. It's still good enough to recognize that it's Sky-Byte. The silver to grey plastic isn't really noticeable unless you're looking for it.

Because of the Robot mode I can't really say to go out and get the more expensive Takara version even if it does have a better paint job it's still not the best mold. I'm going to say what I said originally which is that you should really only get that one if you're a huge fan of the character because it is more accurate. I still don't feel like this figure is good enough to spend that kind of money on it though. But for the Hasbro price, I think it is worth picking up even if you're not a big Sky-Byte fan.

I also just took a look at some comparisons between the original Cybershark and Sky-Byte. I think this new versions barrows from both figures. The lighter blue, the use of grey instead of white, the fact that his chest is actually painted the same color on both sides. If they gave him a Maximal insignia the Hasbro version actually makes a better Cybershark than Sky-Byte.

 

He's one of those tfs that may not ultimately impress you at first, but down the road you'll be glad you bought him. So much detail and charisma.

 

So I played around with this guy for the first time recently, and I DO like him, but that whacky right arm design is just NOT RIGHT; wish they came up with something better.

 

dear god... i need to sit down

 

I hope Hasbro or the Club repaint him into Maximal Cybershark, and Takara Hellscream or Hellcracker.

 

I hope so, too. I'd actually buy it if they redecoed it as Cybershark.

 

So this figure has been on my radar a bit for while now. Does this figure still stand the test of time today?

 

Yes. Solid engineering, great character interpretation, fun transformation.

 

Yes preferably the Japanese version if you can afford it better color scheme imo.

 

Japanese version?