Sky-Byte
(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 Cybershark Transmetal 2. For a review on the mold itself, read the review of Cybershark Transmetal 2 here.)
Wow. Sky-Byte proves
how much a mold can be improved upon while still not really changing anything
about the mold itself. Sky-Byte's shark mode is, too put it simply, awesome.
It is the most detailed Transformer mode I've ever seen, with all the "tears"
in the shark skin filled in with a nice silver, and painted buttons, switches,
and dials everywhere. Compare this with Cybershark Transmetal 2's beast
mode color scheme, which pretty much just consisted of metallic grey with
a blue fade along the top, and Sky-Byte's excellent detailing and color
scheme win out easily. The inside of the bottom jaw is also painted pink
too, to make it more obvious that they're "gums". An interesting note is
that Sky-Byte's seemingly "solid" dark blue plastic is actually slightly
transparent, if you hold it up to the light. Sky-Byte still has that dopey-looking
vehicle mode, although at least he doesn't use it on the show.
Although Sky-Byte's
robot mode isn't quite as detailied as the beast and vehicle modes, it's
still very well-detailed and well done. I especially like how the chest
is painted, with a color (shiny aqua blue) that is used nowhere else on
the toy. It's also painted asymmetrically, which adds to the "Transmetal
2-ness" that Sky-Byte has going for him as well. However, Sky-Byte has
too much yellow in this mode, which really doesn't fit with the rest of
his color scheme as much as I'd like. I also like the transmetal dark blue
fade on some of Sky-Byte's transmetal silver pieces- it adds a real nice
effect.
As for mold changes,
Sky-Byte has none at a first look, but he actually has some slight joint
mold changes. The ball joints were made slightly tighter, so the large
shoulder pads don't snap off so easily during transformation, making the
transformation MUCH less frustrating. They still snap off a bit easier
than I'd like, though. Sky-Byte's front fins are made of a harder plastic,
but this isn't really a good change. Because of this, it's hard to get
him to stay on his fins in beast mode (he usually ends up flopping onto
his belly, with his panels pushed out partially). Other than that, Sky-Byte
retains all the flaws and features mold-wise of his predecessor.
With the wonderful color
scheme, Sky-Byte is definitely a sight to see, and a major improvement
over Cybershark Transmetal 2. Highly recommended.
Review by Beastbot