Revenge of the Fallen Dirt Boss

Prelude: Many thanks to fellow TF-Fan LimeWire for loaning me this little guy here for this review. I know he's your favourite among the first four scouts, so I'll try to write an extra-juicy review.

Robot Mode: Despite the fact that his transformation isn't the most complicated in the world, Dirt Boss doesn't exactly give much of a hint in regards to his alternate mode here. Okay, he has wheels on his legs, but that doesn't narrow it down that much. The only real clue are the halves of the fork lift's roof that sit on his shoulders and I doubt that many would recognise them as such unless they knew what his alt mode is.

Dirt Boss is a very posable robot and that, coupled with the two sword-like weapons on his arms, makes him a natural close quarter fighter. He doesn't have any ranged weapons, so getting up close and personal is pretty much his only hope. He can pose with the best of them, though, and so there's nothing keeping him from dynamic combat poses. Only two tiny limiations here. One, he can't turn his head. And two, he can't fold away those swords. He can fold them upward by 90 degrees, but that really doesn't help him any if he needs to pick something up or anything. Would have been nice if he could fold them back along his forearms.

Detailing is also quite good. Dirt Boss' face kind of reminds me of the Grail Knight from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for some reason. He looks old and mean somehow. The kind of guy who'd stick a sword in your gut while grumbling about those young punks today who think they're warriors or something. An evil Kup , if you will. The only thing that bothers me a little bit here is that the folded-together parts of the fork lift interior that now rest on his back can't be fastened properly, but again. Not a big thing.

So all in all a pretty cool-looking robot without any big, but several tiny flaws. Still, pretty good.

Alternate Mode: I don't think there's ever been a Transformers before who transformed into a fork lift. I can't remember a single one. So unless I'm very much mistaken Dirt Boss is the first TF with this alternate mode. Congratulations, Dirt Boss. It's not easy to find alternate forms that haven't been used before, so props for originality at the very least.

The vehicle itself looks pretty realistic and offers no visible clues as to the robot hidden inside. The fork lift can tilt backwards a bit. The actual forks can't move up or down on the lift, but everything is sculpted pretty nicely, so that isn't much of a problem. The interior of the vehicle is also sculpted, so some details such as a steering wheel are hinted at. The wheels also look pretty nice and for some reason I like the sculpted metal plates on the sides between the wheels. Looks great.

So all in all a pretty good vehicle mode. If they'd managed an actual working fork lift I'd have called it perfect, but even so it looks pretty nice.

Remarks: First off, as far as I know Dirt Boss is not a member of the Constructicons and does not become part of Devastator in the Movie. Look-wise he'd fit into that bunch, though. Anyway, Dirt Boss might just be the most traditional-looking among the first wave of ROTF Scouts, which is kind of ironic seeing as he has the most original vehicle mode I've seen in a long time. He's got an almost humanoid face and somehow manages to look old-school. We'll see if he's part of the actual Movie line-up (which I doubt) or makes an appearance in the comics (which is more likely).

As a toy Dirt Boss is pretty good, though I find myself in a bit of a jam in regards to his final rating. I like him, he has no serious flaws or anything, but the small number of tiny flaws he has drags him down a bit. That, and for some reason I just don't think of him as good as the previous two scouts I've reviewed. Not exactly sure why, he's good, but something about him... I don't know. So decide for yourself whether you like Dirt Boss or not. Me, I'll probably wait until he's out in the stores until I make a final decision on whether or not I'll buy him.

Rating: B

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