They are technically vintage and are considered collectible, but they are quite common so the prices are not bad at all. A decent pair typically goes for around $100. They are heavy and very sturdy. Unlike the shipwheel collars that seem to snap a hub off if you look at them sideways, these bastards could get left in San Quinton for 5 years and would emerge looking deadly and ripped, with two new bachelors degrees and a tear drop tattoo.

Popular deep dish vintage weights with a really cool Eagle Head design. They are definitely collectible and popular, but there are enough of them floating around that the prices aren't too outrageous (yet). They were released in the 1980s with a black, gray or blue finish. They can be obtained on the secondary collectors market for around $400-500 for a pair of 45s, or you can hunt your local FMP relentlessly and try to snag a pair from a widow who doesn't know what they are. Good luck!

These are highly desirable collectible collars from York. There were multiple generations made between the 1930s and 1950s, possibly into the 60s. Each generation has slight differences in hub shape and length, cylinder height, and the size or configuration of the wing nuts. The Iron Guide has good illustrative images and descriptions for each version. These tend to be quite pricey for an intact pair in decent shape, typically at least $1000 if functional and clean; so if you see some at a garage sale, don't pass them up!

Iron Man weights were created by Peary Rader, the publisher of Iron Man Magazine for decades. Rader was a pillar of the powerlifting and bodybuilding world from the late 1930s through the 80s. He was an absolute icon of the Physical Culture world. He made plates in Olympic style that weighed 100lb and 50lb, as well as standard 1" plates in a full array of sizes from 1 1/4 lb to 50 lb. As vintage plates go, the 2" bore plates are sought after and correspondingly expensive, running $1500-2000 for a pair of 100s. The 1" plates are also very collectible but, being much more common, are quite accessibly priced and more readily available on the secondary collectors market. The 100s and 50s tend to run heavier than face value, which is pretty common for old vintage iron plates.

Highly accurate milled era York plates that were custom made for the weight room at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. In the spirit of the eternal Army/Navy rivalry, the navy blue plates are emblazoned with a bright yellow BEAT ARMY. As a navy veteran, I absolutely had to own a pair... and then wound up getting the full set, all in original navy blue paint. The change plates for this set are the same as the regular York milled change plates, they're just painted in the same blue as the 45s.

The pinnacle of vintage weight plate collecting. These are the most famous and sought after plates, not only for their amazing design but for the mind-blowing history that accompanies these plates. They aren't the oldest but they are the most recognizable and unique plates, plus the antics of the crew that used them are legendary. They were featured in the late 1960s and early 70s at the famous golden era powerlifting mecca, Zuver's Hall of Fame Gym in Costa Mesa, CA. They were used prominently in the very first ever World's Strongest Man competition in 1977. These plates feature a MASSIVELY muscled man, painted gold, spread-eagled as if he were pushing the rims away. If DaVinci had been a weightlifter, this is what his Vitruvian man would have looked like. The plates were made in 50 lb, 100 lb, 150 lb, and 200 lb sizes.

A modern homage to the old school deep dish Zuver plates. If you want to add some pizzaz to your lifting, hoist a pair or two of these bad boys. They feel great, sound fantastic when racked home, and look as good as can be, especially if you give them a little paint-pen treatment to make the figure pop!

These plates are famous as the first custom plates of the York milled series and their success convinced York to start making other custom forgings. These plates were produced in the 1990s for the legendary hardcore Iron Island Gym owned by Dr. Ken Leistner, in Oceanside, NY. The plates were painted in a very unique lavender color, which was actually an error at the York factory but is now iconic. Here is some history from Dr. Ken himself: “Let me give you two answers. I had badgered Jan Dellinger of York, who in turn, teamed up with me to badger Vic Standish who was President of York at the time, to make custom plates for us. To this point in time, though it seems like a no-brainer now, York had not customized plates for anyone. I thought it was a natural for the various collegiate strength programs and Jan, of course, agreed. York was, at the time, York, and did not embrace innovation. Finally, the Univ. of Hawaii talked Vic into "trying" to make a customized 45-pound plate and they were beautiful: black York 45, lettered with the Hawaii "H" with a rainbow emanating from it as per their athletic dept. logo of the time (1992). A light bulb sort of went on and Vic and the others down there said, "Yeah, this could work" and they agreed to make a mold for us at Iron Island Gym and I had 230 "Iron Island" 45s made. With our clientele, we actually needed that many! We wound up having them painted in the York factory, up to then, limited to black or what they called "hammer-tone blue", with what they called "Dr. Ken Purple," but it was actually lavender because it was the only purple they had or could get at the time. We had asked for and expected "purple" but the plates were alas, lavender. Thank goodness all of the pro athletes and competitive lifters we had as well as the bikers and area tough guys who all called our place their training home, kept the reputation for toughness up or we could have been a laughing stock."