License Plate News

[kphoger]

Is there a worse regular state plate in the country than this

You probably mean current issues, but let's not forget Kentucky from 2004...  Stupidest plate ever.

[OCGuy81]

A random question, but one I feel is best posted here.

I received today some license plates (I'm in Oregon) and my first three numbers are 666.

I have no issue with this, but I'm sure there's a handful of states that do NOT issue this particular number (much like they wouldn't issue letter combos like FUK or KKK to cite examples). Any idea which states don't issue 666?

[1995hoo]

The Seattle Kraken are trying to get enough people to sign up for their plate. Looks good, IMO.

[kphoger]

I just saw a Kansas personalized license plate yesterday that said "BIP LUV".

Any idea who it made me think of?

[Scott5114]

I just saw a Kansas personalized license plate yesterday that said "BIP LUV".

Any idea who it made me think of?

Was the driver's head shaped like a Speak'n'Spell?

[wriddle082]

South Carolina is recalling all remaining "sunset"  regular issue plates this year and replacing with the current standard issue "While I Breathe, I Hope..."  plates.  My wife's old sunset plate was replaced when I went to renew it week before last.  They gave me  only a printed receipt and told me a new plate would arrive by mail in 7-10 business days (and it arrived earlier).

[1995hoo]

My wife and I were just out for a walk and a car with Virginia's Washington Redskins plates (they have that name and the helmet with the Indian on the side) drove past. I'm mildly surprised the Commonwealth hasn't tried to invalidate those. A few years ago they invalidated the Sons of Confederate Veterans plates because they decided the organization's logo was offensive. It led to litigation, of course, but the Commonwealth won.

[democratic nole]

My wife and I were just out for a walk and a car with Virginia's Washington Redskins plates (they have that name and the helmet with the Indian on the side) drove past. I'm mildly surprised the Commonwealth hasn't tried to invalidate those. A few years ago they invalidated the Sons of Confederate Veterans plates because they decided the organization's logo was offensive. It led to litigation, of course, but the Commonwealth won.

They may just be waiting for the team to decide on a new mascot/logo so they can simply update the plates and be done with it.

[Road Hog]

Arkansas won't be going to a 7-character plate after all. The 000AAA combination that has lasted 25 years will finally run out in a few months, and they will start the AAA00A combination (3 letters, 2 digits, 1 letter). I assume when that runs out in another 20-25 years they'll flip it to 00AAAA, which will look weird.

Vanity plates allow 7 characters, so I had assumed the state would go to a California-style system.

[STLmapboy]

[...] I also really like my home state's current version [...]

Wrong. The new Missouri plates are a total downgrade. Bland and lacking character. The last design was peak license plate.

Well that's just, like, your opinion man.

Anyway, I like the red strip at the top and blue at the bottom for our state's flag (which is also my pfp).

[Scott5114]

I always liked the 1997—2008 design, which stopped being issued a few months after I moved out of Missouri. The dark green gradient was a lot more eye-catching than the light blue, which it feels like every state has used at some point.

(BTW on a forum it's called an "avatar"–profile pics go on sites where your posts go to your profile, which they don't on a forum.)

[1995hoo]

 

https://twitter.com/clairemcnear/status/1370048196689412097

[kphoger]

Someone probably mistook it for a scorpion.

[FrCorySticha]

The buoy looks like an arrow pointing at the world "lobster" as if saying, "Hey, in case you didn't know, that's a lobster on this plate!"

[kphoger]

In all seriousness...  It's a specialty plate, specific the lobster industry.

Support Maine's Lobster Industry

The Lobster Specialty Plate provides a way for vehicle owners to show their support for research, education and development of Maine's signature product - the lobster.



Q: How much does the Lobster Specialty plate cost?

A: The fee is $20.00 in addition to the regular registration fee when first purchasing the plates. Each renewal is an additional $15.00.

Q: Where does the money go?

A: The Lobster Research, Education and Development Board receives $10.00 from each Lobster Specialty plate purchased or renewed and this amount is tax deductible.

[kphoger]

But, also...

The original prototype of this plate had a live lobster pictured, in the natural greenish-black color. It was decided, however, that nobody would recognize it as a lobster that way, so they cooked this poor fellow once again. How he got back out on the rocks is anyone's guess.

[OCGuy81]

Several years ago, Florida was embarking on a redesign of its license plates, because they suck (official story). However, due to some complaints by the license plate vendor the state uses, the plan to change designs got scrapped and we have continued to be stuck with these shitty license plates. Is there a worse regular state plate in the country than this:

The MyFlorida.com crap is awful and embarrassing.

Well, yeah.


You have the tourism website, plus the hard-to-read black-and-blue color scheme, plain Eurostile font, and the silhouette is badly traced over one of the first results for "scissortail flycatcher" on Google Image Search. All borne out of a rush job to try and fill up the state coffers without officially raising taxes, because that's constitutionally hard to do in Oklahoma. Thanks, Fallin!

I will admit that Oklahoma's plate is similarly awful and both are one plate states (also wrong in my book).

Michigan is pretty bland. Texas too.

[kphoger]

Michigan is pretty bland. Texas too.

With every dumb-looking graphic plate that comes out, I appreciate bland more and more.

One of my favorite plates recently–that looks great IRL–was the 2011 issue of Nuevo León.  Easy to read, a little bit of color, and the slogan is pushed off out of the way where it belongs.  The latest one is basically all black and white, but I liked the green better.

[OCGuy81]

Michigan is pretty bland. Texas too.

With every dumb-looking graphic plate that comes out, I appreciate bland more and more.

One of my favorite plates recently–that looks great IRL–was the 2011 issue of Nuevo León.  Easy to read, a little bit of color, and the slogan is pushed off out of the way where it belongs.  The latest one is basically all black and white, but I liked the green better.

You raise a good point in that some graphic plates look pretty dumb, like that awful early 2000s Kentucky one recently posted here, but overall I like graphic plates as they can be a cool display of the state they represent.

The advantage "bland"  plates have, however, is they don't clash with certain colors of cars. Arizona comes to mind as a graphic plate where the color scheme could easily clash. They look pretty awful on red cars, IMHO

[kphoger]

You raise a good point in that some graphic plates look pretty dumb, like that awful early 2000s Kentucky one recently posted here, but overall I like graphic plates as they can be a cool display of the state they represent.

The advantage "bland"  plates have, however, is they don't clash with certain colors of cars. Arizona comes to mind as a graphic plate where the color scheme could easily clash. They look pretty awful on red cars, IMHO

1.  I've come to think that license plates aren't really supposed to "be a cool display of the state" in the first place.  A slogan, an emblem, OK.  A work of art, no.  It's just proof of vehicle registration, with a serial number for officials to read.  Subtlety is appreciated.

2.  The real advantage "bland"  plates have is that they're easy to read.  That is, after all, what they're for.

Graphic license plates that still manage to be fairly bland/legible are ones such as these:



In contrast, graphic plates that went overboard on the graphics, at the expense of utility, are ones such as these:



When Mexican states started issuing their own graphic plates in the late 1990s, they kind of ran amok after a few years.  They came up with some designs that look really cool on a computer screen (and some that don't), but those designs don't translate well into the real world of actually reading them.  So, when the SCT issued new guidelines four years ago or so for license plate designs–most notably requiring that there be NO graphic design behind the serial number–it's my opinion that they did the right thing.  The most recent issues from Mexican states are better, in my opinion, even if they aren't as eye-catching.

Of the Mexican states shown above, here are their current issues:



Still pleasant to look at, still somewhat distinctive, but the last four are much more legible than their earlier issues.

[mgk920]

I've always liked Wisconsin's current plates (the black letters/numbers ones that were first issued in 1999) in that they are a very distinctive design, but also ridiculously easy to read.

Mike

[jdbx]

Love it or hate it, but I think that's one of the timeless qualities about California's plates.  Simple and legible, no splashy graphics.  I could do without the DMV URL at the bottom, however.

[kphoger]

I prefer the Golden State base to the Lipstick base, personally.

[mgk920]

The only change that I would make to California plates is to add a dash between the three letters and the three numbers, to make it more readable.

BTW, has California announced yet what their plan is for when their current plate format exhausts its number supply and if so, what will they be doing?  (Me?  I'd go with the number format that is currently being used by Ontario [LLLL-NNN]).

Mike

[OCGuy81]

The only change that I would make to California plates is to add a dash between the three letters and the three numbers, to make it more readable.

BTW, has California announced yet what their plan is for when their current plate format exhausts its number supply and if so, what will they be doing?  (Me?  I'd go with the number format that is currently being used by Ontario [LLLL-NNN]).

Mike

I'm thinking they might just flip it, or go ABC-1234