Animated Crime Syndicate

[Tomato]

So I've been thinking about expanding my crime syndicate shelf a bit (mostly due to the DCC n52 figures, which look amazing) and while I'm in no rush to make any sort of decision on it, I have been musing about which animated version to go with if I decide to take it that far.

The way I see it, there are 3 options. I could get the Justice Lords from the JL cartoon, I could take the 3 pack of CSA members from the JLU line and round out a team of those, or I could do a set of Crisis on Earth 2 figures in the JLU style.

[spydermann93]

So I've been thinking about expanding my crime syndicate shelf a bit (mostly due to the DCC n52 figures, which look amazing) and while I'm in no rush to make any sort of decision on it, I have been musing about which animated version to go with if I decide to take it that far.

The way I see it, there are 3 options. I could get the Justice Lords from the JL cartoon, I could take the 3 pack of CSA members from the JLU line and round out a team of those, or I could do a set of Crisis on Earth 2 figures in the JLU style.

I vote for the third option.

To me, the Justice Lords weren't the Crime Syndicate. They just enforced the law more harshly than the League did.  Same goals, just stricter means of obtaining said goals.  The Crime Syndicate had totally opposite goals from the Justice League.  They killed innocents who stood in their way or just for fun and wanted to rule the world.

I feel that you could get some really clever ideas if you stick with the third option.  A Syndicate that you dreamt up rather than having to "stick" to what was already offered through other mediums.

[Podmark]

I went with Justice Lords, but they'd all make great sets. I just choose them because they were actually from the show.

[Tomato]

Before this goes too far, I want to make a better case for the three options because I was at work when I typed the original post and I was kind of rushing it.

1. Justice Lords: While I agree that they aren't technically the same thing as the Crime Syndicate, if I've gotten to the point where I am collecting animated figures (again, this is a ways off) chances are I'll have a full set of DCC scale n52 figures as well as the DCUC Morrison ones already. The Justice Lords did appear in JLU, and I LOVE the original "A Better World"  storyline. Plus, the canon characters (and the fake JLord Flash) all have figures, so I'd only have to make the ones I want.

2. Mattel CSA: Along with the Justice Lords, Mattel also made a 3 pack (Ultraman, Superwoman, and Power Ring) of JLU style CSA figures wearing their then-current costumes. I'm lukewarm to this one only because I have a set of Morrison figures already, and if I went this route it would likely be to replace those figures. I'm not thrilled with that idea, but a lot depends on how the shelf looks with both the DCC and DCUC figures.

3. Crisis on Earth 2 CSA: I'm of two minds on this. I really do like the Co2E movie, and there are some concepts in it I wish the Morrison era team had adopted, but many of the designs just... fall really flat, I'm sorry to say. Johnny and Ultraman in particular just don't thrill me, and it doesn't help that I'm already using the J'edd J'arkus design for my DCUC figures. On the other hand, this is the most canon Crime Syndicate to see animation, and despite a few bad eggs there's a lot of cool designs and third tier characters to do.

[spydermann93]

Oh, I mixed up options 2 and 3, and thought that was what you were going to do with option 3

I thought you were going to adapt Morrison's Crime Syndicate from Earth 2 to a JLU design.

Then yeah, I'd probably go with the Justice Lords option instead.

[Cyber Burn]

I'd go with the Justice Lords myself. Personally, like you, while I really liked the Co2E movie, other than Super Woman and Owl Man, I really didn't care for the other designs. The Justice Lords, while technically not "CSA" characters, would, in my opinion, fill their own niche in your collection.