I'm long winded and you shouldn't have to slog through it all. Skip down to the bolded portion to get directly to the point.

I'm with the "live and let live" crowd, but one thing we often do in this area is offer up little rants or subjects that we just wish to vent on, see if anyone feels the same way.

Today I'll talk about "vanity plates", license plates on your car or motorcycle that you specifically order to your taste. I'm sure that some folks here have them and if that's your thing, it certainly isn't any of my business. I do a lot of things with my time, money and heart that many would find senseless, but we all seem to get along.

Often I'll see a classic car with a vanity plate that really fits in well with the theme of the vehicle, and I can (especially for those who show their car for prizes) how a license plate like this makes really good sense. "427 Vette" for example, as we have been discussing.

I've also seen businesses that do short or catch phrases to promote their business. My buddy, back when he was a bail bondsman had "BAIL4U" on his truck.

Where am I going with this? Haha, thanks for reading this far. I'm just here to mention this third group of people. There may be many groups with different reasons for their vanity plate, but this group is the one I can't figure out. It's the folks that drop some nugget that seems to have little to do with anything. Seems harmless (it is harmless) but here in Ohio, a vanity plate is $50. That's $50 above an beyond all fees already associated with a plate and registration. And my favorite kicker: it's an annual fee.

To be clear, you pay $50 on top of all your normal fees and you pay it every single year until you finally conclude that you no longer want your funny plate. So yes, if you keep it 5 years, you have a $250 bumper stick issued by the State of Ohio.

Why write this now? Yesterday I'm next to a car at a light. A couple in their 60's, Subaru Outback, their hand-selected and personally authored plate said "WHOPTYDO"

I've spent $50 a year on silly stuff, I'm nobody to talk perhaps, but I just don't see that being of great value, or a smart way to spend $50 each year.

It's amazing what you can think of after just a few shots of quality whiskey while watching an extremely good movie.

Get it, Mustang.......horse. GT Mustang.......fast horse.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

Ah Vanity plates. In NY state they give you 8 spots that you can fill in. Most states have less!

In the peoples republic of NY there not that expensive for what they do. You can send a message, be a member of a group. Another and its a biggie to me is its about the cheapest thing you can do to customize your car. Think about it, everybody changes wheels, hood, adds graphics & spoilers and there are tons of other cars out there with "your things'' on them The most of any plate that will be the same is perhaps fifty. Good chance you come up with sometime unique you will never see another like yours. You get a plate like "57 Chev or dads car, paid4" you will see 50 if you go all over the country.

As for me I for years went to the 4 days of Corvettes at Carlisle ( a good chance on a busy day over 5,000 Vettes there). See some dupes of common vanity plates, but I have never ran into Vettes that had my plate on it. Like said its the cheapest customizing you can do to make your ride special.

At Carlisle and other big shows there are "plate collectors". People that go around and take pictures of unique plates. Seen many people at many shows for years doing this. Talked to many of them at different car shows and looked at their albums!

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

See, both you guys are talking about show cars, collector cars -- killer cars that most people drool over! I see a place for them exactly there.

Not sure I can agree that it's the cheapest or low in cost. Obviously, different states vary. As I detailed, if you keep your car a decade (a smooth Corvette? I'm sure most do keep 'em a decade or more!) but that 10 years is $500 in Ohio. For a show car? Hell, you spend more in car wax and Armor All, I wouldn't question you.

For a 2012 Subaru Outback?

Hahahaha, "Sea Biscuit", that's funny.

This talk about vanity plates reminds me of something. I used to belong to a Mustang club but after about a year or two I left it, in partial disgust.

You see? I never and never will understand why people would spend so much money on a car, only to keep it inside a garage only to bring it out for a couple days each summer just to have people stare at it. So the owner can brag about it, post pictures and get facebook likes. Afraid to even drive it down the street out of fear of a scratch or to put wear on it, hurting it's "value". Never using the vehicle for it's intended purpose and that is the pure rush, the enjoyment of driving down the open road.
Complete waste of money if you ask me. Just like some of the guys out here that would spend thousands on a mint blued Colt Python, only to keep it in a safe and play with it every sunday. Afraid to shoot it because doing so would hurt it's "value"..

Rant over, I need coffee.

Do to nasty weather condition in upper NY state I only get abut 6 months of driving my Vette. It is far from being used only a couple times each summer. Yes I go to shows but it gets driven plenty. Its lots of fun up here in the twisty up and down back roads of the mountains I live in. That and as where so far out a LEO encounter is a rarity!

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

One for the Trekkies, spotted at my local King Sooper’s.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

In a lot of cases it is generally just what the name says. Vanity.

Some people just feel that they have to be s-o-o-o-o-o unique. And flaunt it at any expense. Just screams LOOK AT ME!

I'd rather spend that $50 a year on a couple of boxes of ammo - or better yet enough bullets, powder, and primers to reload 300 rounds or so.

To each his own. You got the dough and that's how you want to spend it, more power to ya'.

I prefer the term "Personalized Plate" rather than "Vanity Plate". They actually cost $58 in North Carolina. But that's just a moot point.

I'm not the slightest bit concerned about whether or not I'm getting some sort of "great value" from the license plate on my old truck.

My truck, my money...I do what I want with both.

Back in the day, I had some buddies that I used to ride mountain bikes with. My nickname was "Poser". They jokingly called me that because I custom built my bike out of high quality components.


I'd wear a jersey and shorts that matched my bike. Called it my Poser Suit.

And 'bout 20 years later they fit again!

My car at the time was an '86 Toyota Tercel 4wd station wagon with a Yakima double bike rack and bike stickers in the back windows. The license plate said "POSER 1" and I called it the "Posermobile."

The oil slick's from my old car.

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Keep on Chooglin'

Not only does it fit again, but through the miracle of modern science, the letters and logos are no longer reversed, and your watch has migrated back to the correct arm.

Having lived in California where one out of four cars has vanity plates, I’ve seen my share of them. Some I could not figure out what the message was, some were silly, and a few were downright FUNNY. Three of these come to mind. One- on a V.W. Rabbit - Hoppon. Two- on a new 911 Turbo - 4 plantv, and on a big dollar Benz – frstpick.
1-Hopping on
2-For plaintive
3 First pick.

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Always Stay Strong!

As in a legal judgement? Wouldn't that be for plaintiff?
Or is there another meaning I'm not getting? (I can be kind of slow sometimes )

There's something wrong with being unique?

People customize cars, trucks, and boats, just to name a few things. And, oh yes...guns. Fancy engraving, custom stocks, non-factory finishes, custom sights and custom action jobs. Flaunt it? Sure are a bunch of forum members "flaunting" their pretty guns, or how much ammo they've hoarded, aren't there?

Thank goodness for those of us (I include myself) who are unique in many different ways. God forbid I had to live in a world lacking uniqueness, lacking those people who flaunt it and scream "Look at me!"

Thoreau said, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." I'm not a member of that club.

If it weren't for some of the unique people I've known, and still know, I'd probably have died from boredom sometime last century.

Several years ago I owned a houseboat that was named "RockNTRoll". Your plate reminded me of that boat, fun times.

Great play on words with that houseboat name.

I never said there was anything wrong with being unique.

However, there seem to be a lot of people these days that see it has their most defining characteristic. As if being unique were in and of itself somehow a supreme virtue. Elevating uniqueness to the level of a virtue is narcissistic IMO. I'm not one who belongs to that club.

Unfortunately that glorification of the unique seems epidemic among our current SNOWFLAKE generation. In fact it is part of the basis of the term "snowflake" - part of the very definition of the term.

A few examples of this phenomenon taken to its extreme conclusion:





Now obviously I'm not saying that having vanity plates is the same as turning yourself into a sideshow attraction. But as I stated in my ORIGINAL post, for SOME people it is a manifestation of that same need to draw attention to themselves - though admittedly not to nearly the same extreme degree.

Personally there are lots of characteristics I value much more highly than my uniqueness, and placing the desire flaunt one's uniqueness above other considerations CAN in SOME cases be detrimental.

BTW, the current "non conformist" mentality had it's start in the hippie movement of the 60's. Since that time it has permeated our culture to the point that in some circles people "celebrate" uniqueness and glorify it above all else - to the point of making it some kind of virtue.

Unfortunately, I see that as one of the elements that are at the basis of what is wrong with our society. It is a mindset of glorifying and placing the ego of the individual above the good of the society as a whole. Without some degree of conformity - to standards and norms - society breaks down. And ours IS breaking down.

Like I said, nothing wrong with being unique - we all are. On the other hand excessive emphasis on uniqueness CAN be a bad thing. At least IMO.

And there are a lot of us who live quiet lives FREE of desperation - though that doesn't have quite the ring to it that Mr. Thoreau's famous quote has.

Good thing we don’t all look the same, think the same, or spend our money on the same things.
What’s the fuss?

In my case, I kinda don't have a choice but to look different. Being of American Indian descent'll do that to ya. Dark skin and long black hair kinda makes ya stand out in a crowd.
'Specially in a small town in West Virginia. Of course the tattoos, earrings and beaded necklace with a hand carved bone arrowhead kinda stand out as well.
My wife and I are going to a wedding in a coupla weeks and my dilemma is whether I should button up my collar and wear a tie or leave the top button undone and wear a 4 row choker.
From when I met my wife 'bout 19 years ago:


And from a camping trip from last summer:

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Keep on Chooglin'

After a road trip with my young wife. We were in the vanity plate translation mode. Seeing so many and figuring out what each one meant. Some are real puzzles.

Any way we were in a small gift shop and she picks up a small rock that has "IMAGINE". written on it. And proud as a peacock my Italian wife says. "I'm a guinea". At first I thought it was a joke, but she was serious.

Whenever I think of vanity plates, I remember an old Archie comic.

Riverdale was now allowing vanity plates, so Archie decided he would get one for his old jalopy that said SUPERDUDE.

Unfortunately, they only allowed eight letters. His new plate said

SUPERDUD

And yes, be better to leave the E out of "super" and have SUPRDUDE, but then the joke wouldn't work.

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I always take precautions

The four-row choker gets my vote, since folks would probably tend to shy away from you if you wore a rabbit mask.

Their money, their choice no skin off my game.
Years ago I saw a plate on a 280Z I had to read two or three times.
LOFLYNZ - low flying Z.

It is nice with silver beads, wide carved bone spacers and hairpipes.


I do like shiny stuff.

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Keep on Chooglin'

Have three 4 wheel rides. Two motorcycles. ALL EXCEPT FOR THE NEWEST BIKE HAVE PERSONALIZED PLATES.

One bike soon to be gone. Happy to say ALL my rides will soon be rocking personalized plates.

OP gonna freak out!

Be safe.

Once saw a very large yacht in an expensive marina with its name in gold lettering across the stern: "Lien On Me."

Go with the choker. Be who you are.

I grew up reading comic books, and now I have 2 big black Mercury Grand Marquis touring cars. Since we only use one plate in PA, both of them have Bat-Signal plates on the front and Commonwealth of PA issued plates on the back that phonetically spell Batmobile 1 and Batmobile 2. Best known cars in town.

I have one vanity plate. I put on the Harley that my late son rode. His name was Kurt. When he was starting school the kids were supposed to know how to spell their first name. When we were trying to teach him, we say it's K-U-R-T, He would say
no K-Me-R-T. So the vanity plate was KMERT, only the family understood.

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Carpriver.

Ok Ya got me. Understand, I many be a man of many talents, but I never claimed that spelling was one of them

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Always Stay Strong!

I admit to being easily distracted by bright, shiny objects. That looks very nice, very well made.

yep...had one on my softtail ....

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witty signature goes here

I envision a '69 Superbird with a TWEETY plate... the cars are very limited in number and quite "unique", and I would consider the owner fairly clever with a decent sense of humor. But would that also make him, as a person, unique? I doubt it, but I would give points for the car and the plate.

With all due respect to every Forum member's handle, with which most of us try to be a bit unique or self-descriptive, out on the street with the rest of the masses we are mostly boringly common, whether we like to think so or not.

I have no problem with vanity plates as descriptive, commemorative or humorous accessories. Those who think they need an ego boost via an inanimate piece of metal, as if it bestows something magical upon their own person... well, that's their own personal problem. But, to each his own, and I ain't going to get uptight about it. I just try to avoid such people and vehicles like the plague. (The above paragraph can also apply.)

I am satisfied in my own ordinariness.

I went with the choker. You're right.
It went well with my shiny silver tomahawk earring.

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Keep on Chooglin'

If vanity plates are among your major worries in today's society, I'd say you're doing pretty well.

You must not be in your 60's
As part of a 60's age couple I would like to point out a few things. First off, I've got nothing left to spend my money on outside of my wife and I. Kids are all raised, college degreed and paid for. I now have something called "disposable income" IT'S GREAT Although I have not yet purchased a vanity plate (the main reason being that DMV will not issue me one with the stuff on it I want (they turned down my first request: two words totaling 7 letters the second word of which is "you"). Secondly-what I don't spend goes to my wife if I die first or to my kids if she dies first. No point in not satisfying my material desires while I'm still in good enough health to enjoy material things.
So be advised, I will be buying lots and lots of stupid meaningless sh... er stuff in the future Or at least until the kids he me committed.

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Forum consigliere

The world is full of wasteful spending.....maybe this country more than most.

However, what's a "waste" is in the eye of the beholder. As long as it's not my money they're wasting ..... so be it.

I don't understand "logic" like the elderly Veteran I see once in a while at the local gas station. Wears a VFW hat, vanity plate says FMRPOW (assume that means former POW) and "Proud Korean Vet" bumper sticker; on his KIA.

I actually do understand that.^

He may not delve deeply in to business and politics. Or -- perhaps his detractors do not.* Or his budget may be extremely limited and he's had to make use of the vehicle he's had access to.

*please admit that we each draw our lines somewhere. There are many thousands in the American work force that make a living from the Kia
Brand. Likewise, there are many staunch Americans among us that haven't half a clue just how global their lives have become-- chase the money and if you try to keep every fiber of your being in the USA, you'll likely fail. And it might be a real eye opener when you investigate every place your money goes.

We had a local band that had a Hearse to carry their instruments in, the plate said STIFF, someone complained and the state took away the plate.

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Don

Seen on a Rolls-Royce across an intersection in the Buckhead area of Atlanta: "My other car is a Rolls too"
olcop

here in NE, we might lead the nation in custom plates. not so much personalized, but alternate themed plates.
you see, a few yards back, they adopted a new design featuring the "sewer" , its a dude scattering seeds.
it looks more like he is ahem ... pulling taffy, while pointing out the results of his buns of steel workout.
Just look it us if you don't already know

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it just needs more voltage

[QUOTE=Sevens;140010356]Why write this now? Yesterday I'm next to a car at a light. A couple in their 60's, Subaru Outback, their hand-selected and personally authored plate said "WHOPTYDO".[QUOTE]

Perhaps owned by an energetic Italian? Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

[quote=pharmer;140019818][QUOTE=Sevens;140010356]Why write this now? Yesterday I'm next to a car at a light. A couple in their 60's, Subaru Outback, their hand-selected and personally authored plate said "WHOPTYDO".
“Well, Whoopty Do”
——————————

Archie Bunker

Got on my Jeep and my wife's SUV. $15 a year above registration (MO is notoriously cheap for vehicle registration). Helps with the "Nah, that wasn't me" discussion . . .

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Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

When the vanity plates come out here, I think they were about twice the price of a standard reg, my wife wanted one, she had it about 6 years and they doubled the price again, she gave it ip.

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Don

On my Corvette my plate read.... 2RTE66 of course in honor of the TV show and the road.
I was going to get one for my motorhome that would have read RovinOn...that one didn’t happen.
My everyday cars have the standard plates.
What makes me laugh is someone that drives a certain car that has its emblems all over it but still puts an emblem plate on the front of the vehicle? Don’t we already know what kind of car it is?
My last truck at a plate frame on the back that read, My other car is a Corvette.....

And this my friends is why they make chocolate and vanilla, something for everyone!

I saw a plate that said MY 911 and it was an Olds Cutlass, I asked the guy why, he said it wasnt a vanity plate, it was the plate the registry gave him, most of our plates have 2 letters and 3 numbers.

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Don

I hate personalized tags because, invariably, they aren't nearly as cute as people assume.

Spending money on them? How many guns do you own OP? A lot of people would question your need or sense in doing that. Live and let live. The next time you're setting at a traffic light try minding your own business and throw a few less stones in that glass house.

An old plate of mine



An old haircut of mine

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Now go make God proud...