The Rancor Monster

I'll be honest.  I didn't know what a Rancor Monster was until I "googled" it a second ago and then the above picture popped up.  Pshaw, I had one of those figures when I was a kid!

Here's the newest version of the Rancor Monster.  It's amazing how things evolve over time.  I can barely see the resemblance:

The answer will be posted at the bottom.

Yep.  Wes, the notorious JBF, has dropped another huge package on me, which he has dubbed The Rancor Monster.  Let's dissect this beast!  Hold on folks, it's going to be picture heavy!

 Woot, woot!  A Ryno rookie!  A Sandberg super collector can never have enough rookie cards!

Somehow I already had the 4-in-1 card of Sandberg from the 1992 Classic set, but I was missing the base card.  Thanks, Wes!  That's my 698th different Ryno!


Other cards for my player collections!  Kyuji Fujikawa and Kid K.  Nice.

 The 2000 Topps Golden Moments card is brilliant.  I still remember that exact look on Kerry's face after he struck out the 20th batter to end the game.  It's as though he couldn't fathom what he had just accomplished.

Hey, another Brooks Kieschnick card and a couple of Dunstons!  I sure do have a bunch of mini-player collections!

 Vintage?  Why of course!  And all are new to me!

I just showed off some '82 Topps yesterday, and here's a couple more of my faves.

Step back a few years in time and here's some '79 Topps.  I think most know Davey Johnson, Dave Kingman, and Bruce Sutter.  I threw Mick Kelleher into the picture because even though I know better, I want to believe he is the owner of a local watering hole I like to frequent.

Hack Wilson sure is getting a bunch of love on my blog lately.  The Joe Niekro card, well, that's odd.

I sent this card, at least I think it's this card, to Wes to help with his 1969 set.  Now it's in my possession again.  I guess he already one!

I'm not sure if 1983 Donruss counts as vintage, but Lee Smith is one of my favorite pitchers.  I've paired him with Greg Maddux, because they are two of the best to pitch for the Cubs during my timeline and I love how different their pitching styles were.

Here's a trio of Maddux shots from Bowman.  They're all pretty similar; '89 on the left, '91 in the middle, and '92 on the right.  For what it's worth, the 1990 Bowman card of Maddux is not a view of him pitching like the other three.

1990 Donruss! The Girardi is from the Opening Day subset, thus the blue border.  I think most of you recognize the red bordered ones on the right, like the Dwight Smith.

Here's two of the sweetest swinging first basemen in Cubs history.  One was a well-groomed lady killer (at least my grandmother thought so) and the other one possessed some of the bushiest facial hair in Major League history.  Bushiest ever, perhaps?  I suppose it's debatable.  But, that's my stance.

Minis!  The Hawk, another Grace, and . . .  Marlon Byrd?  Well, two-out-of-three isn't bad.

Topps Finest once put out a green set?  Huh. That's... um... different.

A couple more of my favorites, but neither of them really ever caught on in Chicago.  Although, Fukudome did earn an All-Star appearance.

I'll be taking these with me to Arizona for spring training next month.  I wonder if Villanueva will be sporting the mustache again this spring?

 And what about the hits?  Sure!  Here's a Luis Montanez, a former #1 draft pick, on card autograph! 

Man, that is a nice design.  Well done, Topps.

Oh, and one more big score!  My second one-of-one card and my first printing plate to add to my collection!

Jose Ceda pitched for the Chiefs in 2007 and wound up being the closer at the tail end of the season.  He was pretty dominant and struck out 12.8 batters per 9 innings.  The Chiefs' ballpark staff picked up on his success and when he would enter the game the scoreboard would flash "It's Ceda Time!!"  He quickly became a fan favorite.  It's pretty cool to have a printing plate of a player who actually has meaning to me and my fandom. 

Wes, that was quite a package!  Thank you my friend!

Whoops, I almost forgot!  Here's the answer to riddle from above:

Darn straight he does anything he wants.  He's a Rancor Monster!