Thrust is one of the figures in the second assortment of Beast Machines deluxe toys. Thrust shows a movement towards toys that look more like their show counterparts, and keeps with the general idea of Beast Machines toys retaining "personality" in both robot and alternate modes.
Vehicle Mode:
In vehicle mode, Thrust is a motorcycle. His primary colors are purple, yellow, black and blue. Translucent green plastic is used for his driver's seat, missile (which doubles as fake exhaust coming out of his tailpipe), his Spark crystal and the eyes on the front of the driver's seat area. Some silver chrome is used on the front of the exhaust pipes as well as the hubcaps of the wheels.
Posability is not an issue with most vehicles, but Thrust can lower his robot arms down and support himself (with a bit of hand support) to take on the "ramp" position seen in many episodes of Beast Machines. The two wheels in this mode do roll, but there is an additional third wheel which also rolls and makes the "head" move from side to side, a very nice touch which adds personality to the vehicle mode.
The detailing in this mode is nicely done. Aside from actually looking like his television show self, the exhaust pipes have wires and grill details. The front of the motorcycle mode has detailing resembling hydraulics connecting to the front wheels. A very nice vehicle mode overall.
Transformation to Robot Mode:
Begin Thrust's transformation by removing the motorcycle "head piece". Take the exhaust pipe sections on the sides and swing them out and around to form the robot arms. Now split the rear wheel down the middle. Move the wheel halves to the sides so you may fold back the rear of the motorcycle. Split the halves of the rear section and move them downward. Push in the front wheel cover and move the center of the motorcycle upwards and swing back the robot head. Reattach the motorcycle head piece onto Thrust's chest. Now split the front wheel down the middle and flip out his feet. If you wish to have him look more like his television show model, keep the two wheel halves together.
Robot Mode:
In robot mode, Thrust shows a lot more yellow coloring than his motorcycle mode. Most of this is attributed to his head and neck area. Other than that, his color scheme remains the same. The details from the cycle mode are added on to by the detail of his robot head including a neck with nice detailing and a mean looking face.
In this form, Thrust has twenty one points of articulation. Please note that six of these points are the claws that serve as his hands. His head has three points of articulation. The neck can be positioned low or high, and the head itself can look up or down. He also has a piece on his head which resembles a lower jaw which can move up and down. His right arm has a small tab that you push to extend his grappling claws out and to make the claws grasp. The left arm has a missile firing mechanism which fires a translucent green missile designed to look more like exhaust fumes.
Two additions/adjustments to this mold would have made it perfect. The rear motorcycle wheels split up and then basically hang to the sides, serving no purpose other than looking odd. An extra hinge or two, allowing the wheel halves to swing to the back and out of site would have been nice. The other feature that could have been improved are his feet, which are on wheel joints, so they tend to spin around a lot, making footing a bit uncertain every time you pick him up. A locking mechanism of some sort may have been better. These are small complaints however. Overall, this robot mode is cool.
If you wish to make him look a bit more like his CGI model, detach the motorcycle "head piece" from his chest in robot mode. This reveals the smooth upper body area which looks more like what the TV Show presents.
Transformation to Tri-wheel mode:
Begin with Thrust in robot mode. Flip the feet pieces back into the wheel and put the halves back together. Move the front section forward. Now swing the arm sections forward and swing down the rear wheel halves. Swing the arm pieces back in place. Thrust is now in his tri-wheel mode.
Tri-Wheel Mode:
This mode is merely a slight alteration on the robot mode. It looks rather odd, but it does provide a "wheeled" robot mode that can stand on its own. I prefer the uni-wheel robot mode, but that mode needs hand support.
Overall, Thrust is a very nice toy. Not as up to par as his predecessor, Jetstorm, but still cool in his own right. Recommended. B+
Updated Thoughts (January 19, 2022):
While not "show accurate", Thrust is a really cool toy. Both his robot and vehicle forms are very different than the typical G1-esque figures that serve as the current modern focus of the Transformers toy line. While transforming the figure for the new photos in this review, I was reminded that there was a "piston" like section where a metal rod moves into a plastic tube, giving this figure more a feel of a "living machine". I also love the color palette. This specific combination of colors is not used very often in the Transformers toy line overall so it is very cool to see here. This is a fun and very unique figure.
