Confusion over where the hybrid and the old toasters fit into all this

By hybrid I mean that one in this movie, not all of the hybrids in general. As this particular one seems to be different than the one's who run the Basestars. For starters I'm fairly sure he's the first (successful) one. And he's managed to be coherent at times, while the others babble.

I really can't figure out where he and the old toasters fit into this. What do we know for sure?

Man created Cylon. By Cylon I think it's safe to say the old toasters.

After the war the Cylons disappeared doing god knows what.

When they returned they looked like humans, the metal toasters got an upgraded look. That's pretty much it.

What do I think happened? I'm not sure entirely, but I'll give it a shot. The old toasters, during the war, started messing around with experimentation. There were apparently many attempts (as evidenced by the labs/experiments left behind). But it would appear there was one successful hybrid. He's apparently so special he's still alive and functioning years later when Kendra and Starbuck attack the ship.

Somewhere along the line while exploring deep space the Cylons figured out how to look human. Who is responsible for this? It has to be the old toasters or the old hybrid.

I think there was also some sort of split between the old toasters and the skinjobs. Why? Because when talking about the old toasters Athena references the databases. That indicates they don't know for sure they even exist.

Why a split though? Or is it a matter of the old toasters controlling everything?