General Information:
Release Date: February 2020
Price Point: $14.99 (Varies by retailer)
Retailer: General Release (Amazon, Entertainment Earth, Target, Walmart etc.)
Accessories: None
*Images and text below from Amazon.com:
- 5.4-INCH HAMMERBYTE FIGURE Warrior Class Hammerbyte figure is 5 4-inches tall
- REPEATABLE ATTACK MOVE Convert the heroic Hammerbyte to activate his signature Rip Thrash move Fun attack move can be repeated through easy reactivation steps
- 2-IN-1 CONVERTING TOY Easy Transformers conversion for kids 6 years old and up! Convert Hammerbyte toy from shark to robot mode in 8 steps Makes a great gift for kids!
- TRANSFORMERS CYBERVERSE CHARACTER Hammerbyte toy robot inspired by the guardian of the Argon Sea from the Transformers Bumblebee Cyberverse Adventures cartoon as seen on Cartoon Network and YouTube
- INSPIRED BY CARTOON NETWORK SHOW In the G1-inspired Cyberverse series giant Transformers robots from the planet Cybertron engage in epic battles activating signature abilities known as Action Attacks! Kids can imagine unleashing this special power with this Action Attackers figure!
Convert to Activate Signature Action Attack Move Easily convert and attack with Transformers Bumblebee Cyberverse Adventures Action Attackers toys! Simply convert Hammerbyte figure from shark to robot mode in 8 steps. The last step of conversion activates the figure’s Rip Thrash move! Once converted, move can be repeated through easy reactivation steps.
Discover Other Signature Attack Moves Imagine recreating awesome Cyberverse battles with Warrior Class figures that perform the attack moves featured on the animated series! Explore the unique powers and skills of each character while bringing the epic adventures of Cyberverse to life. Look for other Action Attackers figures, each sold separately, to discover the signature attack moves of favorite Cyberverse characters!
Heroic Autobot Hammerbyte Hammerbyte is one hammerhead shark-bot that no one wants to mess with. He protects all those within the Argon Sea and both Autobots and Decepticons need to think twice before invading his territory. The Depths of the Argon Sea are a perfect hunting ground for Hammerbyte and he patrols them relentlessly looking to capture intruders in his mighty jaws. His bite is lethal, but he is also known to use his head to ram enemies into the coral reefs in order to win the battle.
Hammerbyte is one of the new characters introduced in Season 3 of Cyberverse. This character was the guardian of the Argon Sea where he watched over a sleeping Titan, making sure he did not wake up. His appearance was brief, but memorable partly thanks to his beast mode!
Packaging:
Like previous Cyberverse Warrior Class figures Hammerbyte is inside a bubble attached to a card. The packaging colors use the design for the (very long) series title: "Transformers Bumblebee Cyberverse Adventures", a sub-line of figures that appear to be devoted to one of the story arcs in the third season of the Cyberverse cartoon. Hammerbyte's character art actually shows him in beast mode. On the back of the card he is featured in both modes along with character art of Bumblebee. I like the purple/yellow combination of colors that makes up most of this packaging. It really pops on store pegs.
Robot Mode:
Hammerbyte's design may seem a bit average at first. He has some blocky parts, some angular parts and he is symmetrical. However, dig a bit deeper into the finer details of this sculpt and a whole new world of interesting design ideas presents itself (almost like he's more than meeets...well, you know)!
It is first important to keep in mind that Hammerbyte is a sea based character not only with his alt-form but also where the Autobots meet him in the series. To link him further with the sea, key design elements on this figure call back to the sea itself:
- The "crown" on Hammerbyte's head has a three pronged piece, no doubt inspired by the Greek deity Poseidon, who wielded a trident weapon.
- The lower legs have distinct ridges on them that resemble shark gills down to having an almost organic shape.
- There is a "necklace" of shark teeth on Hammerbyte's chest. This may be a reference to the story of Ohav-Lai who was the Guardian of the Oceans in Hawaiian mythology and is associated with shark tooth necklaces. This fits with the Cyberverse story where Hammerbyte acts as a guardian over a Titan inside the Argon sea!
Given all this, I absolutely love the design of this character. He looks cool and his design elements have some fantastic callbacks to Earth "sea culture".
Hammerbyte is made up of light blue, dark grey and dark blue plastic. Paint colors on the figure include yellow, grey, dark grey and metallic blue. The colors are distributed nicely, especially the head where the "crown" is painted yellow. An Autobot symbol is tampographed on his chest. The deco is clean and looks great. I appreciate the contrast of colors and the nautical theme behind them.
There are eight points of articulation on this figure, which is not great but it is also not terrible thanks to six of these points being ball joints. Each of his fists features a 5mm port allowing him to hold weapons from other figures. To activate his "Rip Thrash" feature, move the left arm up then pull it down (not too hard). This will cause the chest panel with the shark teeth to spring up and the beast mode head to swing up and over the robot head! With this feature activated Hammerbyte winds up looking like a robotic version of the DC Comics character King Shark! It is a cool feature and fun "third mode" for the character. The only down side is that whenever you move his left shoulder joint the feature tends to activate so you have to reset it.
Transformation to Beast Mode:
- Straighten out the arms and legs.
- Swing out the shark tail from the left lower leg.
- Push the lower legs together.
- Swing the torso forward.
- Swing the robot legs back.
- Swing the torso/beast mode head section up.
- Swing the arms down and tab the forearms into the slots on the thighs.
- Swing the panels from the lower arms forward.
Beast Mode:
Hammerbyte's beast mode is a mechanical hammerhead shark. Like the Earth-creature, the front has a distinctive shape featuring a horizontal panel with eyes on either end. This leads to a thick body with a dorsal fin and a pectoral fin on either side. He also features a rear dorsal fin and a distinctive "V shaped" tail with the top being longer than the bottom. Mechanical details include thrusters on the sides over each pectoral fin and vent-like designs on the rear dorsal fin. There are some really nice line cuts on the sides and head that look like armor panels. I love the way this mode looks.
All the same colors fromt he robot mode carry over to this one, but the head is mostly dark metallic blue and it looks great! There is an Autobot symbol tampographed on the left side.
Hammerbyte only has one point of articulation in this mode: his lower jaw. This piece is a different lower jaw piece than the one on his chest. While it would have been cool to have the body be able to bend at the middle or something I really do not expect much movement from a shark alt-mode so it's fine by me.
Final Thoughts:
Hammerbyte is a fantastic example of the Warrior Class in Cyberverse. He looks great in both modes and while he does have a gimmick, it does not detract from the aesthetics or functionality of the figure. Highly recommended!
Pros:
- Fantastic sculpt in both modes that incorporates interesting mythology elements.
- Good deco.
- Good articulation for the class.
Cons:
- The action feature slightly interferes with the left arm articulation but only in that you have to "reset" the shark head back into place.
- No accessories.
- Limited articulation in beast mode (I'm being generous by saying "limited", I know).
