General Information:
Release Date: May 2009
Price Point: $7.99 (varies depending on retailer)
Retailer: General (Toys R Us, Target, Wal-Mart etc.)
Accessories: None

Images:

• On Card*
• Official Photo (Vehicle Mode)*
• Official Photo (Robot Mode)*
• Card Scan
• Vehicle Mode
• Vehicle Mode (Side)
• Vehicle Mode (Back)
• Vehicle Mode (Forward view)
• Vehicle Mode (Angle view)
• Robot Mode
• Robot Mode (Side)
• Robot Mode (Back)
• Robot Mode (Close up)
• Robot Mode (Posed)

*Images and text from Hasbrotoyshop.com:
Though he is usually occupied acting as a servant to larger, more powerful DECEPTICONS, DIRT BOSS has big plans. He constantly schemes to acquire more power, laying plans to betray or discredit his competitors and superiors in the hope of taking their positions. In combat, his body is as surprisingly agile as his mind. It’s not uncommon to see him leaping through the air towards the enemy, with all his weapons blazing.

Add this dirt-loving DECEPTICON defender to your collection! Convert from robot mode to forklift in vehicle mode and recreate exciting movie scenes – or stage new battles of your own – right there in your living room!

Super-cool robot-to-vehicle figure converts from robot mode to forklift in vehicle mode!
Ages 5 and up.

In "Revenge of the Fallen", the Constructicons play a large role towards the climax of the movie. This group of construction vehicle based Transformers illustrates how destructive Transformers can take on the ironic forms of constructive machines. Dirt Boss takes off from this concept by taking on the vehicle form of a forklift, a vehicle rarely seen in the pantheon of transforming robot toys. There was a forklift Transformer in the video game for the first "Transformers" movie that resembles Dirt Boss (including having forklift blades on his arms and a circle on his chest). In the recent "Animated" series, there was a forklift Constructicon, but that character has little to do with this one other than sharing colors and vehicle modes.

Robot Mode:
When looking at Dirt Boss, it becomes obvious that the Scout Class figures in the "Revenge of the Fallen" line were developed independent of the film, meant to be able to blend into almost any Transformers toy line as needed. His overall form is rather blocky for the most part, and lacks a lot of the crazy jagged lines of armor found on so many of the robot designs in the Transformers film universe. His torso section is rectangular with a large circle in the center and the cover for the driver's section of the vehicle mode splits into shoulder armor that extends high above the level of his head. Each of his arms and legs have hints of curved parts and tube shaped sections but there are clear, distinctive panels of armor that make up these sections. Perhaps his most intimidating body part are his arms, which each have a blade from the vehicle mode's forklift mechanism. These are each mounted onto the halves of the lifting mechanism from the vehicle mode and look like very dangerous close quarters weapons.

While he may lack the "jagged armor panels slapped on top of machinery" look of many larger scale movie figures, Dirt Boss does have some nice detail sculpted into the figure. His head design is interesting, with very smooth and almost organic looking sections on the helmet area over two rather beady eyes and a mouth. This gives him a rather blank looking expression that I find borderline comical (this is a good thing). The aforementioned large circle on his chest is connected to three lines of detail, two that angle outwards on top and one on the bottom, creating what looks like straps forming a "Y" shape on his body (and for some reason, reminds this reviewer of the Flux Capacitor from "Back to the Future"). The arms and legs each have very distinctive sections of flat armor layered over parts that look like hinges, wires or tubes. He's not what I could call choc full of details, but for this particular design aesthetic it works well.

Dirt Boss is cast in two primary plastic colors, grey and neon green. The neon green harkens back to the bright colors of the original G1 Constructicons, but the shade is a bit more bright and flat. The grey is a flat color as well. Paint decos are done up in red, neon yellow and gold. The gold is the most prominant color, found on his torso, lower legs and face. Red is used for his eyes, the circle on the center of his chest and discs on the sides of his legs. Neon yellow is found on the sides of his head, giving som ecolor continuity with the rest of his body. While this is a perfectly functional (and somewhat unusual) color scheme, part of me wonders how cool it would look for a future redeco to have all sorts of spray ops showing wear and tear on top of a bright color, which is the state most forklifts I've seen in real life in.

Dirt Boss has a fourteen points of articulation in this form. I'm stretching it a bit as a I'm counting the ability for his forklift blades to swing down and his wrists to swing up (which is really part of the transformation). Sadly, because of the way his transformation works, he doesn't have head or waist articulation, however a couple of his joints including the shoulders and hips are ball joints, allowing for a good range of motion.

Transformation to Vehicle Mode:

1. Swing each robot foot back and straighten out the legs.
2. Holding on to the arm panels, push down to move the robot head into the chest.
3. Swing each forklift blade down.
4. Move each robot arm straight back.
5. Swing the panels that the arms attach to forward but do not connect them together yet.
6. Swing the panel on the back with the steering wheel forward and lay it over the robot arms.
7. Connect the two halves of the driver section cover and the forklift mechanism together.
8. Swing the robot legs up and connect them to the tabs on the robot arms.

Vehicle Mode:
Dirt Boss transforms into a forklift in vehicle mode. While I can't find exactly what real life forklift he may be based on, he does have several of the features common to most forklifts. The blade and mast sections have two parallel rails with a panel on the bottom right above the blades. The steering wheel has a distinct design with a handle on the edge. Also, the wheels in the front of the vehicle are slightly larger than the ones in the back, another common forklift feature. the rear section which houses the engine and counterweight is curved and there is a canopy cover held up by four poles.

Dirt Boss also has a lot of smaller details sculpted into the figure as well. Inside the middle is a chair with lines indicating the creases of the cushions. The sides have cross hatch patterns towards the bottom. The sides of the lifting mechanism have cables sculpted into the side. The counterweight/engine section in the back has a cover with vent lines over the curve. The top of the canopy cover has some raised line detail and the wheels are all ridged. I really love the smaller details such as the cables and the handle on the steering wheel. It really adds to the sense of this being a "real world" vehicle.

This mode has a good mix of dark grey and bright green. The blades, canopy cover, wheels and some panels such as the one on the back are grey. The rest is cast in bright green. A Decepticon symbol can be found on the left side towards the front. Gold paint is found on the rails in the front, the side panels and the vents on the back. Bright green paint is used on the steering wheel. Part of me wishes there was a bit of purple to give him more of a Constructicon connection, but the bright green does that trick well.

The vehicle rolls on all four wheels and the lifting mechanism can angle up and down slightly.

Final Thoughts:
Dirt Boss is a neat little toy that plays on the concept of using real life vehicles as part of the Transformers live action movie universe. If he was able to move the lifting mechanism or had a bit more articulation I would classify this as highly recommended. But don't take my grade of "recommended" as a bad thing. it's a cool figure and a worthy addition to your Decepticon forces.