Cliffbee.com Classics Thrust Toy Review

Individual Review




Name: Thrust
Series: Convention Exclusives
Allegiance: Decepticon
Function: Warrior
Alternate Mode: Modified F-15 Fighter Jet



JET MODE
Height: 4cm Length: 15.5cm Width: 12.5cm

   A maroon F-15 fighter based on the original toy, Thrust is repaint and retool of Classics Ramjet. The wings are smaller, set further forward and feature VTOL fans, as on the original. Thrust also features stabilisers at the rear with small tailfins at the tips. The colour scheme is very faithful to the original here - there are some red and white lines at the base of his wings along with small red stickers (yes, stickers!) behind these. The top of his air intakes is painted silver, and there's a rubsign on his fuselage. The coliur scheme works well and is a close match to his G1 version.

   The basic Classics seeker is a fairly realistic F-15, and forms the basis for Thrust - the modifications here invariably affect this realism. The wings are vastly different, as mentioned they feature VTOL fans - which are moulded both on top and underneath. His wings are closer to an actual F-15 wings than those of Ramjet or Dirge, although still not accurate. The bombs under his wings are of the thicker variety - which suit Dirge and Ramjet better than Thrust, who carried the thinner missiles of Thundercracker etc. This change, along with a modified nose, is carried over from Ramjet. The nosecone is shorter than an actual F-15's, which is a by-product of the robot mode being designed as a conehead (unlike G1 Thrust).

   The bombs underneath his wings are actually missile launchers, the missiles fire about a metre, and aren't susceptible to popping out the moment you touch the triggers, which I appreciate. The launchers detach for his transformation, but I'm happy to report that the wings and tailfins do not - fuselage-only G1 Seekers are far too common, but this guy won't be ruined by a missing tailfin. There are four pseudo-tyres underneath - moulded lumps rather than wheels, and Thrust sits flat on the table. The missile launchers are the same mould as on the other Classics seekers.

   While the mould was modified for Ramjet - and still carries the scars in the form of his missiles - the subsequent changes to the wings really sell this mode as Thrust, which I appreciate. The changes are remarkable for a limited run toy like this, and make Thrust worthwhile on their own. The colour scheme is well done, along with the retooling they ensure this jet really feels like Thrust. This jet mode is pretty good, although the shorter nose does look a little odd. I like the fact that there are few detachable parts - the bombs do detach but don't fall out as easily as the bombs did in G1. A wonderful jet mode.

TRANSFORMATION TO ROBOT MODE

   Detach the missile launchers, extend the rear to form the boots. Flip over the wings. Fold down the feet and stow away the front wheels. Stand him up, swivel the wings up. Fold out the chestplate, rotate the canopy and pivot down to form the centre of his chest, rotate the nose to reveal his face. Flip out the arms and fold the chestplate back into position. Flip out his fists, give Thrust his weapons, either on the upper arms as traditional arm bombs or as handheld missile launchers.

ROBOT MODE
Height: 14.5cm Width: 11.5cm

   A maroon and black robot with the wings behind his shoulders - again as wings. Thrust has a black face with gold eyes, a silver groin and some red painted details here and there, on a complex paint job. Most of the Classics seekers have been taking cues from the G1 cartoon in robot mode, however Thrust is closer to the G1 toy. His face is black, like Dirge and Ramjet (and the G1 toy), whereas it was light silver in the cartoon. The missiles are black rather than maroon (which suits neither the toy or cartoon), and their shape really stands out now. The black air intakes are now on his shoulders with silver insides, the canopy is integrated into his chest, as on the original. While he represents the greatest divergence from G1 of the four BotCon seekers, this is still clearly Thrust - and he's closer to G1 than Starscream. The colours are good here, the maroon and black are well complimented with silver and red.

   There are several improvements in this design compared with the original seeker design. For starters, this Thrust has thighs. He's also more poseable - the head turns, the shoulder swing and lift out to the sides while the elbows bend. The wings are no longer detachable - and hence can't be lost. The hips are ball jointed and the knees have both hinges and swivels. The waist is fixed - but I don't mind. Adding to the play value of this improved Thrust are the missile launchers, which not only fire missiles but can be held in his hands. The large missiles really bug me - I might see if I can get my hands on a second pair of Skywarp's missiles for this guy. The conehead - which is now by design rather than retro-engineering, looks much better than the (unofficial) conehead of the original, since it's not quite so tall. This does impact on the jet mode, but I'd rather a slightly shorter nose than a Thrust with a dunce hat.

   As with most Classics figures, Thrust lacks any true gimmicks - instead the toy focuses on being a good Transformer. The added poseability, solid build, hand weapon option and thighs are enough for me. The missiles are effective, even if they are too big - so I'd prefer these to nothing. I should also point out that Thrust's wings are too high - they're meant to hang off his hips rather than back as is the case here - I would have liked to see some tweaking of the transformation hinges - but this is a fairly minor gripe. Most exclusives are straight repaints, and while Dirge gets away with carrying Ramjet wings, Thrust would not.

   A great robot mode which clearly portrays Thrust. While it's slightly weaker in G1 tribute terms than Dirge or Thundercracker, this is still a great Thrust robot. The colours are well used, and the conehead actually works. The stabilisers on his ankles make for useful heelspurs - the poseability is really good.

VARIATIONS

   None that I'm aware of. Thrust was only released at BotCon 2007, so was most likely produced in a single production run.

OVERALL

   My least favourite of the BotCon seekers, but the standard here is still very high, and it's fantastic that this toy _has_ retooling. The wings might be a tad high in robot mode and the missiles should really have been swapped out, but this is still quite clearly Thrust in both modes, and is an attractive toy in any case. Great colours, great poseability, a conehead that actually works and retooling above and beyond what we could realistically ask of such a limited exclusive. It's a shame he's so limited, but if you can get your hands on him, I'd recommend Thrust - 9.5/10 (losing 0.5 for the choice of missiles)

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