Thruster

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For when Screw Head is too subtle a name

The Thrusters serve as warships and headquarters for the Renegade fleet. Through the use of their Stealth Device, they can fly completely silent and invisible to both sensors and the naked eye. This device gives the Renegades their greatest advantage in the war with the Guardians.

Fiction[edit | edit source]

Challenge of the GoBots cartoon[edit | edit source]

MissionGoBotron045.jpg

The Thruster was produced in large numbers by the Renegades, though it was rare for more than one to be deployed at the time. While the Thruster has the range to fly from GoBotron to Earth Battle for GoBotron it is more normally used as a shorter-range shuttle from the flagship Roguestar. Its' built-in Stealth Device makes it ideal for the various underhand machinations of Cy-Kill, usually with Crasher and Cop-Tur joining him, as it could easily sneak onto Earth without detection. The ship can travel in hyperspace, land vertically Target Earth, has numerous scanning devices and is well-armed. When it comes to combat it is a fair match for the Command Center, though with the ace of being able to slip away invisibly when the battle turns against it. However, many of its' secrets are known to the Guardians, to the extent that a highly convincing simulator is in use at the Guardian Academy. "Guardian Academy"

TargetEarth transformed thruster.jpg

On occasion a large number of Thrusters were deployed, such as when the Master Renegade's Transgressor gave the Renegades the advantage they needed to take control of GoBotron The Fall of GoBotron, for a massed attack to humiliate Leader-1 (though most of the fleet was wiped out after being led into a trap) Mission: GoBotron and for a smash-and-grab raid to kidnap Solitaire in order to gain control of the Ultra Scepter Battle of the Rock Rocks. Like its' opposite number Thruster can be piloted by a single Renegade if required Mission: GoBotron. Thruster also has the ability to land end-up and convert to a base Target Earth, though it was rarely deployed in this configuration. Some can project video from the underside for propaganda reasons. The Fall of GoBotron Thrusters also have cells onboard Wolf in the Fold, and a Brainstormer. The Gift

Go-Bots[edit | edit source]

IDWThruster.jpg

After the Command Center escaped the combined might of an army of Renegade Go-Bots and Zod, Cy-Kill produced the Thruster, loading the Renegades onboard. The ship was able to overhaul the Guardian craft before converting to a robotic configuration, grabbing the Command Center with its' massive arms. However, its' prey unleashed its' full afterburners on Thruster it moved clear and was able to escape into hyperspace, before doubling back to the far side of Gobotron.Go-Bots #3 However, Thruster was able to track it as it travelled to the organic core of the planet—the long-forgotten Earth. After dropping off Zod and the other Renegades, Thruster played no further part in the battle.Go-Bots #4

Toys[edit | edit source]

Thruster toy.jpg

GoBots[edit | edit source]

  • Thruster (GoBots Vehicle/Playset, 1984)
    • Renegade GoBot Headquarters
    • Go from Robot to Space Ship to Enemy Battle Station!
    • Accessories: Instruction manual, label sheet
One of several toy concepts designed by Tonka exclusively for the GoBots toyline, Thruster serves as a vehicle, playset, and gigantic Renegade soldier. In ship mode, Thruster rolls freely on four plastic wheels and is decorated with the title "THRUSTER 1" (possibly alluding to the presence of multiple Thrusters in Challenge of the GoBots) and the seldom-seen Renegade faction symbol. In its robot mode, Thruster gains a spring-loaded "gripper hand" which can hold most basic-sized GoBot figures. Standing Thruster on its thrusters and opening the front panel converts it to battle station mode. Like the Command Center, most of Thruster's interior details are represented by paper labels.
Inside, Thruster features three levels.
  • The lowest level is taken up mostly by a battery compartment and a switch for Thruster's electronic sounds. The switch activates the "Motion Detector Wave" feature, which sounds an (awful, horrible) alarm noise when anything moves in front of Thruster. A hole in the front panel allows access to this feature in robot and ship modes.
  • Level 2 features an "Ion Vapor Cell" and several control panels.
  • An elevator can transport Renegades from Level 2 to Level 3, which features a command chair, "Zod control," and a lever-activated trap door that dumps foes back to Level 2. The command chair can only comfortably seat Cy-Kill — few other GoBots figure have the articulation and proportion to sit in it.
The craft featured in its' own toy commercial.
  • Thruster was first made available in the second series in its' own assortment (#7245) and remained available for the rest of the line's life on toy shelves.
  • For bilingual Canadian packaging the alternate name Trotteur was used.

Notes[edit | edit source]

ThrusterBaseModeModel.jpg
  • Thruster was only seen to once deploy as a base in the cartoon, during the episode "Target Earth". While the head was visible the transformation was only partial, and the arms were not shown in fiction until the 2018 IDW comic series. It also landed end-on during GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords, but then only the gun was seen.
  • While it does not appear to have been released as part of Robo Machine or Machine Men, there is strong evidence that Thruster was released in at least some stores in the UK (where it was advertised in Argos chain catalogues) and Australia (where it was sighted on K-Mart shelves in American GoBots packaging). These may have been 'grey imports' of GoBots overstock.