Sky-Byte
(Botcon 2010 Exclusive)
(NOTE: Because this is a repaint, this is not a full-blown review. This mainly covers any changes made to the mold and the color scheme, and merely compares it to Energon Sharkticon. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Energon Sharkticon here.)
Sky-Byte is definitely
the odd 'bot out among the core boxset, being a character homage from Robots
in Disguise rather than Generation 2. Still, apparently Fun Publications
had access to this mold and decided to take advantage of it, Sky-Byte being
the logical choice. The color choices for this new version of Sky-Byte
are pretty dead-on when compared to the original, with white, yellow, and
a really nice shade of dark blue being the main colors. It works for a
nautical Transformer, though personally I'm not fond of white and yellow
used together in almost any situation. The milky gray plastic used for
his hands and the bulk of his shark body is rather dull-looking but in
the case of the latter it's almost completely covered with that delicious
metallic dark blue paint. And, just like on the original Sky-Byte, the
front of his "shark" mode is covered with a RIDICULOUS amount of paint
applications, with little "light" and "button" details everywhere. Basically,
everything that CAN be painted IS painted when it comes to that part of
his chassis. I'm not too fond of the eyes painted near the front, though--
that's a bit too much, given that he's not an actual shark in this form.
Also like the original toy, he has slightly asymmetrical paint detailing
in robot mode on his chest, which looks quite good overall and helps make
him look a bit more individualistic.
Sadly, my main complaint
with Sky-Byte is one of the most important changes done to him-- his new
head mold. I appreciate that they tried to replicate the asymmetrical sculpting
of the original Sky-Byte here, but it just doesn't work. At all. One of
his eyes is definitely off-center and odd-looking, as is some of the detailing
surrounding his face. His characteristic "mohawk" shark-fin is also all
but gone, though I can't blame that last bit on Fun Pub-- due to space
constraints in vehicle mode, a full-blown mohawk wouldn't have fit in there.
Botcon 2010 Sky-Byte
is a decent update to the character, with great color choices and EXCELLENT
paint detailing. Unfortunately, the bad head mold puts a bit of a damper
on an otherwise stellar homage, but if you're a Sky-Byte fan and have the
money to buy convention exclusives, it's hard not to recommend this guy.
Plus, he's one of the few exclusives from the year that doesn't have an
extraordinarily loud color scheme, due to his origins, which of course,
can attract some potential buyers that otherwise wouldn't be into this
year's set.
Review by Beastbot