Someone posted the question “Why do so many people dislike printing plates so much?”

My response was that as this hobby continues to have more and more high end pieces, we collectors see our cards more like art, thus making the aesthetics factor very important to us. Because of this, plates are not at the same level, because they are…well…ugly.

I personally love them. I love having a piece that is used to create the entire run of a certain card.

I got to thinking though, what if the companies started to instead, chop up printing plates and embed them into the cards themselves?

“Congratulations! Embedded in this card is a piece of the actual printing plate used to create the very card you are holding, and every other single copy on the planet like it!”

I made a mock up of one here:

I like the concept, but as a guy who likes plates, I’d probably like the entire thing, but I thought it was an interesting enough concept to share here, and get your thoughts.

This idea evolved a bit as I posted it on various social media outlets, and these came out of the conversations:

A booklet with the whole plate:

And a booklet with pieces of all printing plates in it: