Buried Treasure Review - Cybertron Dirt Boss
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 8:55PM CDT
Categories: Site News, Toy News, Reviews, Site ArticlesPosted by: Skowl Views: 97,155
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The year 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the Transformers franchise. To celebrate this incredible milestone, Seibertron.com will look back at a quarter-century of great Transformers toys, bringing back into the limelight some brilliant figures that have fallen through the cracks over the years. Once a week, a fan (be it a member of the staff or a user on the site) will have the opportunity to write about one of their favourite "hidden gems" of the Transformers Universe, and have their review posted on the site's front page.
We hope this feature will be a great success, and that many of you will be encouraged to look back at the last 25 years of Transformers and perhaps take a worthwhile second-look at some real unsung classics of the Transformers universe.
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Buried Treasure - Dirt Boss (Cybertron series - 2005)
By Skowl
For me, one of the best post-Beast Wars Transformers toylines was the Cybertron series, and one of the best figures of the line (or any line for that matter) was the deluxe-class Decepticon Dirt Boss, a futuristic monster-truck from the Planet Speedia (or was it Velocitron?).
Originally released under the ackward name "Inch Up" (stop giggling!) in the Japanese Galaxy Force series, Dirt Boss was released as part of the first wave of Cybertron figures to hit stores - but as the line gained in popularity, the mold fell behind. Dirt Boss was never re-released in any subsequent wave of figures and as of today has never been repainted or remolded, though anyone who owns this toy will surely agree that the mold has great potential.
As I mentioned in the inaugural review of Cybertron Cannonball, one of the greatest things about the Cybertron line was its brilliant package design. As you can see, the card backing takes the shape of the Decepticon insignia and Dirt Boss's mainly purple colour scheme meshes very well with the packaging, creating a great look overall. The boxart features an angry-looking Dirt Boss, and it's a great interpretation of the character - better than in the cartoon anyway.
The back of the card gives us a glimpse at Dirt Boss's gimmicks (I'll get to those in a minute), as well as his bio and tech specs. Everything is very crisp, clear & uncluttered. A very nice piece for MOC collectors.
But leaving Dirt Boss in his plastic prison isn't doing this great figure justice, let's take him out and see what he can do!
Dirt Boss's vehicle mode is a wicked-looking futuristic monster truck. As far as TF vehicles go, this one is really unique and is unlike any monster truck you'll see on this planet (and I'm assuming your reading this from planet Earth). His colours here are mainly purple with green as a strong secondary colour and nice silver detailing on the hood, on the roof (with molded spotlights) and on the side of the truck. There are also some green exhaust pipes in the back and some green tubes on the hood, next to the truck's exposed engine-thing, while four green headlights decorate the grey bumper in the front. The colours are very reminiscent of classic G1 Decepticons, making this cool TF even better for having a sense of history.
The wheels and suspension take up about half of the entire truck mode. Everything here is mostly green and while the wheels may look black, they are actually a slightly transluscent dark red. What is most bizarre is how the wheels are attached to the truck - instead of having each wheel attached to the vehicle's main body, the wheels are attached to each other on each side with a connection to the truck's main body in the middle of the wheel segment. Those big wheels of his roll very nicely on carpeted surfaces, giving him great play value for the kiddies. It really looks like he's driving on two giant lollipops, but I think it looks hardcore awesome.
Just sayin'.
So there, soak it in - this really is an awesome looking truck. It looks aggressive, dangerous and it just screams "King of the Road" - oh, and while you're at it, pop in that Cyber Key, and see how Dirt Boss is "King of the Offroad" as well...
One great thing about Dirt Boss is how his Cyber Key gimmick works in vehicle mode. The line was full of hit-or-miss key gimmicks, but Dirt Boss's really shines and is possibly the most unique (and the most fun) of the entire series! Pop in the key and the suspension of the truck buckles and lowers, giving Dirt Boss a sleeker "race car" look. The play value in the vehicle mode is amazing, all it takes is a Cyber Key up the rear-end and you've got a whole different vehicle!
Transforming Dirt Boss to robot mode is easy, and great fun as well. The truck's hood unfolds into two halves, revealing both his legs. Fold out the headlights and bumper to make the feet and pull down the sides for his arms. The back end of the truck folds down and a compartment opens to reveal his head - but this can't be done if the wheels are up in "monster truck" mode as there isn't enough room to fold the piece down. Not to worry, as the designers found an ingenious way to solve this problem - simply rotate the hips around (which needs to be done anyway) and the wheels will automatically spread out as if the Cyber Key was inserted! No key needed! An Automorph gimmick years ahead of the '07 Movie line! Very clever engineering - another thing to love about this toy!
There's too much to say about how great a toy Dirt Boss is in robot mode. His truck mode is brilliant, but his bot mode is one of the coolest-looking Decepticons I've ever seen. The green and purple colour scheme continues in bot mode, with some added purple on the legs and black on the arms. My only complaint is that there is no paint detailing on the inside of his legs, and the purple panel for his head rests on green plastic, not purple, which looks rather strange. It is worth noting that this is not the case with his Galaxy Force counterpart Inch-Up (I said stop giggling!), who has solid purple throughout the robot's body and detaling on both sides of his legs, making for a much more unified look in bot mode. Dirt Boss is also very tall for a Deluxe-class figure, so that's great as well.
In this mode, the truck's giant wheels stick out on both sides - not only do they look cool, but they also have a practical use as they help balance out the toy, allowing for many great poses. And as far as poseability goes, Dirt Boss has it made. His head can swivel almost 360 degrees and his arms can move up or down, swivel at the elbows and even rotate complete around where the arms meets the shoulders.
His lower body is even more flexible (stop giggling! I didn't even say "Inch-Up" that time!) as his waist can rotate 360 degrees, his legs can rotate completely at the hip-joint and his knees can bend up or down and rotate 360 degrees as well. His long feet and "bell-bottom" legs give him just the support he needs. Getting this guy in awesome action-poses is a breeze, and there is no struggling and random toppling-over like with many other modern TF figures.
One of my favourite things about Dirt Boss is his head sculpt. The designers created a head as unique as the rest of the toy, abandoning the old symmetrical faces and giving Dirt Boss a targeting rectacle eye-patch (with three different lenses! Check out the attention to detail!) as well as an asymmetrical head crest. The silver on his face really brings out the "don't mess with me" expression, and I love the little green goatee thing.
Something else that sets Dirt Boss apart from the rest is how his Cyber Key gimmick works in robot mode. Instead of unlocking the same mechanism in both modes, Dirt Boss's gimmick is entirely different in his robot form. Instead of lowering the truck's wheels, the Cyber Key flips out two shoulder-mounted cannons - which is great since Dirt Boss, sadly, does not come packaged with any weapons.
All in all, Dirt Boss is one hell of a great toy - and one of my all time personal favourites. He is a one-of-a-kind figure with great play value all around, great looking vehicle mode with a unique gimmick, an awesome robot with amazing poseability and great engineering. All that at the Deluxe-class price-point - you really get your money's worth, and then some! I would personally recommend Galaxy Force "Inch-Up" (ha! I get it now!) if only for the better paint application, but if you can get your hands on any version of Dirt Boss, do it! This is one amazing figure that every fan should own, and love as much as I do! Thanks for reading!
Links:
Visit the Cybertron Dirt Boss gallery by clicking here
...Or find your own buried treasures by visiting all the toy galleries here!
* If you would like to write a review for our "Buried Treasures" feature, please send a private message to Skowl on the Seibertron.com forums!
Previous Buried Treasure Reviews:
Cannonball by Skowl
Snapdragon by Jeep
Cybertron Downshift by Chuckdawg1999
Frostbite by Duke of Luns
Octopunch by Jeep
Emergency Mini-Con Team by Nekoman
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Posted by Mkall on March 11th, 2009 @ 9:25pm CDT
Posted by cheeser82 on March 11th, 2009 @ 9:33pm CDT
Posted by Skowl on March 11th, 2009 @ 9:45pm CDT
cheeser82 wrote:Great review Skowl! I agree completely, this figure was great in almost every aspect, and I'm completely glad I bought him first, if I remember right. The only problem I've had is I can't get the head to say straight with the Cyber Key part. It's stuck at an angle for some reason.
Another reason to pick up the GF Inch-Up version instead, as he doesn't seem to have that problem that plague so many of the Cybertron versions...
Posted by Omega Charge on March 11th, 2009 @ 9:46pm CDT
You can get Inch-Up for a good price right now, so it's a good chance for anyone who doesn't have him.
Posted by dasbear on March 11th, 2009 @ 10:20pm CDT
Posted by Emperor Galvatron on March 11th, 2009 @ 10:46pm CDT
Posted by Mkall on March 11th, 2009 @ 11:55pm CDT
Emperor Galvatron wrote:I still think this would make a great Universe Trailbreaker (with obligatory head remold of course).
Personally I'm going with Shattered Glass kup until some better mold comes along.
Posted by TFBuyer on March 12th, 2009 @ 8:20am CDT
Thanks!
Posted by Flashback77 on March 12th, 2009 @ 9:25am CDT
I'd like to write a Buried Treasure review, is there someone I need to contact?
Posted by Counterpunch on March 12th, 2009 @ 9:36am CDT
It never really worked for me outside of alt mode.
Posted by GuyIncognito on March 12th, 2009 @ 9:45am CDT
Posted by Skowl on March 12th, 2009 @ 10:11am CDT
Posted by UltraPrimal on March 12th, 2009 @ 10:46am CDT
Posted by Skowl on March 12th, 2009 @ 11:15am CDT
Flashback77 wrote:I'd like to write a Buried Treasure review, is there someone I need to contact?
UltraPrimal wrote:Can anyone submit a "Buried Treasure" review? 'Cause there are some figures I like that I think are overlooked.
Just PM me your choice and if it's approved by the rest of the staff, I'll fit you into the schedule and give you a deadline for the review.
We have two more reviews ready to go, so we'll need some new submissions soon!
Posted by rpetras on March 12th, 2009 @ 12:10pm CDT
Emperor Galvatron wrote:I still think this would make a great Universe Trailbreaker (with obligatory head remold of course).
I was thinking Gears, but I'm not sure you can get the colors to work.
Gears has a lot of red in bot mode.
Posted by Flashback77 on March 12th, 2009 @ 12:17pm CDT
Skowl wrote:Flashback77 wrote:I'd like to write a Buried Treasure review, is there someone I need to contact?
Just PM me your choice and if it's approved by the rest of the staff, I'll fit you into the schedule and give you a deadline for the review.
We have two more reviews ready to go, so we'll need some new submissions soon!
Thanks, I'll think about it and PM you later this week.
I saw a great digibash of this mold as Gears. He'd need a new head obviously, which probably wouldn't happen.
The colors themselves aren't bad, just applied poorly. Overall they make the figure very loud and G2-like. This is part of his charm, but Id like to see the mold get at least one pass in more subdued colors. Even a few apps of black or metallized silver to this figure would help bring the brightness down a shade.
Posted by GuyIncognito on March 12th, 2009 @ 1:38pm CDT
Skowl wrote:I never understood all this hate for Dirt Boss's colours - purple and green are classic Decepticon colours that have been used countless times before, it never seemed to bother people when they were used on the Consctructicons...
I have no problem with purple and green. But Dirt Boss isn't purple; he's fuchsia, which is really closer to pink. It looks like something Barbie should be driving. (For comparison, look at the upper legs of the bot mode - THAT'S purple. Or look at Universe Cyclonus - THAT's purple.) And that bright green is awful.
Posted by Doubledealer93 on March 12th, 2009 @ 2:21pm CDT
Posted by GuyIncognito on March 12th, 2009 @ 3:09pm CDT
Decepticon_25 wrote:i never got him cus i thought his articulation was bad! damn it! now i need to find one
I see Dirt Boss for sale on eBay fairly frequently. You can probably get one for about $20 shipped.
Posted by zimmus prime on March 12th, 2009 @ 3:29pm CDT
Posted by Windsweeper on March 12th, 2009 @ 4:20pm CDT
I think it's the colour scheme that put me off, strange because I'm a huge fan of G2. I've got the 4 European Stormtroopers beside me as I type.
Would love to see this mold or Cybertron Defence Hot Shot repainted as G1 Ruckus. Loved Ruckus in the Marvel comics and his MTMTE profile.
Have to say I really enjoy these Buried Treasure Reviews. Especially since I have Dirt Boss, Snapdragon, Octopunch and Frostbite.
Strangely, I would suddenly like to see this mold repainted as inner robot Stranglehold.
Anyway great review. Look forward to the next.
Posted by i_amtrunks on March 12th, 2009 @ 4:51pm CDT
Posted by Swiftpaw on March 12th, 2009 @ 11:03pm CDT
I've heard people complain about his lack of fancy weapons compared to the rest of the line, but personally I found that to be one of his charms. As I imagine him to be a big burly brute in a fight, the shoulder cannons allow him to remain very 'hands on' in bending Autobot fenders.
Posted by Darth Trader on March 13th, 2009 @ 5:59am CDT
He is actually pretty cool. I kind of agree with people on the color issues. Yes, purple and green ARE 'con colors, but, did they need to go NEON? LOL His articulation really is his saving grace though.
If anybody is interested in picking him up as a loose figure PM me cuz I will most likely be getting rid of him.
Posted by Skowl on March 13th, 2009 @ 9:03am CDT
I still prefer Inch-Up, the paint apps are much better and his head stays down nice and snug - unlike the Cybertron version, so people tell me.
Posted by DISCHARGE on March 13th, 2009 @ 2:08pm CDT
I picked him up a few years ago on the cheap and was surprisingly happy with the articulation. I like to put those 'pop out cannons'
up in vehicle mode, it gives an upright exhaust to the truck mode.
Posted by goshjosh95 on March 23rd, 2009 @ 1:12pm CDT
That's 2 for 2 that you've recommended through "buried treasures" that I ended up going out and purchasing (I also picked up Cannonball). Thanks for the fun suggestions.