Dirtbag

Dirtbag is a Decepticon Auto Roller from the Generation 2 portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

He likes to move it move it.

When the Decepticons are entrenched in battle against the Autobots, Dirtbag is the one tasked with carrying loads of munitions to his fellow troops. This job is what requires the titanium/steel composite armor that both protects him and, should he have to engage the enemy himself, hinders him. If the battle begins to favor the Autobots, Dirtbag will transform into robot mode and aid his comrades more directly, though his thick armor prevents him from doing much.

Fiction

Wings Universe

Dirtbag was one of the new Decepticons created on Earth during the 21st century. Although designed by human scientists to be a new, factionless generation of Transformers, Dirtbag and his compatriots soon took up the old banners, with many of them uniting under Clench as the Decepticon Syndicate. During a raid on the Large Hadron Collider facility in Switzerland, Dirtbag helped Staxx and Breakdown disarm and secure the captured Autobot leader, Pyro. Generation 2: Redux

Regeneration One

Yeah, trust the guy named "Dirtbag".

After bumping into Hot Rod at the Scramble City Complex, Dirtbag contacted Soundwave and told him that Optimus Prime and many Autobots had left Cybertron under-protected, creating a perfect opportunity for Bludgeon's forces to recover the remains of Thunderwing from the Hall of Silence. Loose Ends, Part 3

Games

Transformers: Battle Tactics

YOU GREEDY DIRTBAG

Dirtbag (G2) participated in battles against a variety of opponents, both Autobots and Decepticons. Sometimes there were many of him! He was an Epic character who first appeared in the "Divide and Conquer" medium events, and could be recruited by collecting 650 units of Cybermetal, 350 units of Transmetal, 150 exclusive cores, and 50 cores of this character. Transformers: Battle Tactics

Transformers: Earth Wars

Dirtbag is a member of the Decepticon Justice Division. Enter the DJD

Toys

Generation 2

"Feel my fury, Autobots!
Hnnggh... HNNGGH!
Guh, stupid heavy armor and fused legs..."

• Dirtbag (Auto Roller, 1995)

• Accessories: 4 missiles
• Known designers: Takio Ejima (TakaraTomy), Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

Part of the first (and ultimately only) assortment of Generation 2 Auto Rollers, Dirtbag transforms into an "earth mover" mining dumper/haul truck. He has an auto-transforming gimmick activated by rolling his rear wheels; roll forward to go to robot mode, and back to dump truck. A switch on his back end separates the gears of the gimmick, allowing him to roll freely in either mode.

In robot mode, he has a twin spring-loaded missile launcher in his right arm, and a clamping "stun gun" claw on the left. In vehicle mode, his missiles can peg onto the front end of the dump-bed for storage.

This mold was also intended to be used for "General Optimus Prime" later in Generation 2, but that release was canceled. He was later redecoed into Beast Wars II's Autostinger and the Korean Car Bot toyline's Scoutstinger.

• More information on Dirtbag at TFU.info

Notes

This is no Zaku, boy! No Zaku!

• Dirtbag and his fellow Auto Roller Roadblock were the first Generation 2 toys to have the "Pop-Ups" bonus "3-D" cards.
• Dirtbag and Roadblock were originally designed with different color schemes, which served as the basis for their packaging artwork colors. These unused decos were depicted in Hasbro's Pre-Toy Fair 1995 catalog and on the backs of their own packaging, suggesting the change came relatively late.
• During early planning for Beast Wars, Hasbro conceived a vehicular Auto Roller toy of Rumble as a dump truck.^[1] It is unclear if this toy concept had any relationship to the mold used for Dirtbag/General Optimus Prime/Autostinger.
• In "Generation 2: Redux", Rapido was said to have been created in 1993. Assuming DB was created around the same time, in that issue he was just a teenage Dirtbag, baby.

Foreign names

• Japanese: Dirtbag (ダートバグ Dātobagu)^[2]
• French: Chantier ("Worksite")
• Italian: Rollo ("Roll")

References