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There have been several characters named "Thrust" over the course of Transformers history, but arguably the most famous is a character who is part of a group known by fans as the "coneheads" for their distinctive look in the animated series. Thrust from this series was further distinguished from his brethren by his distinctive wings. For the 2007 Botcon convention, the organizers decided to create a new version of this classic character based on a sculpt used for the 2006 Classics series. However, the decision to make Thrust and several other characters convention exclusives and thus out of range of the typical collector and those who lived outside the convention's US location. This review will focus on the changes between Thrust and Ramjet. For more information, see the Ramjet review.

Like his comrades Ramjet and Dirge, Thrust's jet mode is best described as that of a modified F-15, even more fanciful than Ramjet's modifications. His wings are less delta-shaped than those of either Starscream or Ramjet and fitted with a set of turbofans in their center. He has a set of horizontal tail fins with square-like vertical stabilizers at the tips. Thrust is primarily maroon in color with bits of black on the wings and tail. Silver has been used on the intakes, with blue in the center and red and white on wing roots and tail. There's a large heat sticker on the left side of his center fuselage. There's also bright orange on the inside of his landing gear wheels.

Thrust is a retool of the mold used for the Classics figure Ramjet, himself a resculpt of Classics Starscream. The biggest change is in the wings and tail; unlike Ramjet's triangular wings, Thrust's are straighter and distinct from his tail fins. Each wing is fitted with a pod with fans at the center of each. As with Ramjet, one has to wonder at the feasibility of the design, but then, realism was not the designers' intent; they just needed him to look distinctive from the original Seeker figures.

Like the other Classics Seekers, Thrust is probably closer to his G1 predecessor than other figures that bore his name. He is also the one figure from the 2007 Botcon who's had the most extensive modifications. According to Benson Yee, one of the organizers for the convention, Thrust's distinctive wings made it almost necessary for them to resculpt him to match his original form, which explains (along with budget considerations) why fellow conehead Dirge was simply a repaint. Most of the issues mentioned with Ramjet are still here; a visible face, the intake brace, and odd landing gear placement.

If one is already in the possession of any of Thrust's predecessors - Starscream, Skywarp, or Ramjet - then there should be no trouble in converting Thrust between his two forms. This is especially true if one has Ramjet, as the instructions aren't really all that different. He does come with a set of grayscale-colored instructions should one be bereft of the aforementioned characters and it's always recommended that one read those before attempting to transform him.

Thrust stands about six inches tall from the bottom of his "boots" to the tip of his cone-like helmet. His primary colors are still maroon and black, though this time he's more black than maroon. He's got more silver showing on his chest, waist, and feet with little specs of red on his waist, feet, and inside the intakes on his shoulders. His face is painted black with bright orange optics and has a small blue square on his crotch.

Aside from the wings on his back and fins on his feet, Thrust is structurally no different than Ramjet. His body shares the same points of articulation and structure as his more widely available counterpart. He also shares the same problems; tightly fitted head, close spaces between the head and intakes, and somewhat loose hip joints. While it's understood the Botcon planning team only had a limited number of funds, it would have been nice if they had addressed these problems on the mold. He also has the added problem that his wings are extremely close to his shoulders and arms, an issue common to Starscream and Skywarp; the next section will deal with that in more detail.

Thrust comes with a pair of launchers and missiles, which are not that much different than what came with Ramjet. They are colored differently, however; the missiles have been molded in black plastic while the launchers are constructed with a black plastic base and maroon barrels and triggers. Just like on his more accessible counterparts, the launchers can be mounted under his wings, in his fists, or on his shoulders. In the final mentioned configuration, however, Thrust's wings are in way of his launchers, and so can be pushed back when trying to hold his arm straight out with the blaster on his shoulder.

Thrust is an excellent figure in his own right and would be a great addition to anyone's collection; availability, however, will be the problem. Since he was created as a convention exclusive, his numbers are rather low, meaning that anyone lucky to find him will have to dole out a significant amount of cash to procure him, even as an individual release. As one might imagine, this has generated a fair bit of controversy among fans, many of whom felt that Thrust - along with fellow exclusives Thundercracker and Dirge - deserved a more general release and production. This is unlikely to happen as Hasbro has stated that they would not release these characters in a general run, so as not to decrease the value of the exclusives. Still, Thrust is an excellent buy, provided one is willing to spend time and money procuring him.

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