On the Mark-akis

Nick Markakis has been one of my favorite players since he made his debut with the Orioles 10 years ago. I was thrilled when he signed with the Braves in December of 2014 for four seasons, despite him coming off a surgery for a herniated disk by his neck. He has two gold-glove awards for his career and it seems wrong that he doesn't have an All-Star game appearance.

Markakis is off to a strong start to 2016, one of the lone bright spots in the Braves lineup so far. He's leading the majors with 9 doubles through 12 games. In a game my wife and I attended last weekend against the Cardinals he smashed three doubles and was robbed of a fourth. It seems like he is as healthy as ever based on these early games.

With that said, I've been eager to pick up cards of Markakis in a Braves uniform. I picked up a few from 2015 but recently added a handful from 2016. My #1 want for 2016 is the Opening Day blue parallel. Those things are awesome.

I'll start it off with a trio from 2016 Topps. We've got the Opening Day version, the regular Topps and the Topps Gold version /2016. Foil cards do not scan well for me but fortunately you can see the foiled out parts with the regular version right next to it. How many design differences can you spot in the Opening Day version? Answers at the bottom in white. Highlight over to see. I'll have to do this more maybe with some photoshop work.

Other recent Markakis additions from 2015 and 2016. I love a good Heritage card. One card showing my favorite two current Braves might make my top cards of 2016.

Differences between opening day and the regular version (highlight below to see):
1. The Opening Day log, of course. 2. The Topps logo is in gray on the Opening day and on the right side, silver foil on the left side on the others. 3. The Braves logos and associated text are flip-flopped. 4. Atlanta Braves text is in gray as well on Opening day. 5. White sections flip-flopped.  6. More of the bat showing on Opening Day version. 7. Is it just me or is the image slightly zoomed out more on the Opening Day version? This was fun, but would be more fun if the differences weren't so obvious. Maybe the attempt was amusing if nothing else.