Budo (2014 Kre-O)
I’m more than a little surprised that Hasbro dipped into the post-1986 well with the last of their Kre-O line. Considering that the bulk of the minifigures represented the first few years of the 80s (the sweet spot for many Real American Hero era aficionados), those of us who wanted to see a little more variety welcomed characters like this. Of course, with the Retaliation period’s focus on martial arts themes, it’s not a stretch to think that Hasbro would eventually mine all of the sword-toting Joes they could.
Budo isn’t going to win any awards for blending into a team of modern military operatives, bit that’s what I like about him. Why not include a samurai on your highly trained anti-terrorist force? As Kreons go, he’s highly detailed, and features a nicely sculpted helmet. If you were inclined buy the Age of Extinction sets, and also to try to track down the last two series of Transformers Kreons that never made it to the US, you’d recognize the helmet’s reuse for both movie Drift as well as a freaky weird samurai Optimus Prime.
I always liked Budo from the comics. My Kreo figure came with melted and fused legs and torso, very odd.
Budo really had an unexpected character resurgence around that time. I kindof forgot about him with a few others around that vintage, then Hasbro brought out the heavy duty Retaliation Budo followed by this Kreon. At least he fits in a little with all the ninjas, dojos & temples Hasbro gave GIJoe Kre-O.