Head: '93 Bushido
Torso: '87 Fast Draw
Arms: '87 Payload
Waist: '91 Skymate
Legs: '87 Avalanche

Years ago there was a site by a GI Joe fan artist, Brock Lee, that had some pretty clever redesigns for various Joe characters. I know some of his images can still be found today, unfortunately his Budo design which inspired this custom, is not one I've been able to find.

After seeing his update to the character, I knew I wanted to do something similar, and despite not having seen that art for years, this figure had been pieced together within the last several months.

the Budo figure and character has always had a special place in my collection based on the memory of how I received him from my grandmother one year for good grades. However, his use in play was always pretty limited because of how traditional his samurai garb was. I wanted a Budo update that was a lot more tactical while still maintaining his samurai roots.

The only real modification was to the Bushido head, I had lost the center piece off this spare head years ago and had to fill in the gap with putty.
The Skymate waist has the great loop on the side which holds one of his swords. And the Avalanche legs gave him some padding as well as nunchuks.