Well, here goes nothing, again.

[Arwen0605]

Collecting is not a sprint, it's a very long soothing walk with a few hills intermixed along the way sometimes.

[CENTER]

You are sooooo right Mellon. And I really know that I will definitely have to slow down in the future.
And, like BagginsOfBagEnd said, that neat sign would look great on a t-shirt.

[Ithildin]

When I collected these first time around I always thought that Gandalf the Grey deserved his own Cards Inc plate and wondered why he was never featured on one. I never knew they actually did make one of him - until now! That's a fantastic plate, I absolutely love it!

That Gandalf plate is brilliant! I have just the same feeling toward it as BagginsOfBagEnd.

?
I thought so as well. Why do Gandalf the White instead of Gandalf the Grey? But then they released him as a Exclusive Edition plate and it all made sense.

I wish you luck finding one.

You are sooooo right Mellon. And I really know that I will definitely have to slow down in the future.
And, like BagginsOfBagEnd said, that neat sign would look great on a t-shirt.

Haha, I thought that you would like it.

[Ithildin]

Cards Inc. Characters

2004

Lord of the Rings Exclusive Edition Collectors Plates

Plate 5

080/500

Smeagol











Plate Back






Certificate of Authenticity

Well, my dear friends we now end our journey with one of my favorite plates from my favorite plate series, Smeagol. I don't know if you noticed but one of the many cool things about this plate is that they have live fish swimming around the edge and on the Gollum plate from series 2 they have fish bones. It's a nice touch and well thought out by them. I have a soft spot in my heart for Smeagol. He never had a chance; the power of the ring destroyed him.

I want to thank all of you that have accompanied me on this journey. Especially those of you that took a moment of your time to make a comment or two along the way. Those comments were so very much appreciated!

It was a deep dive into a strange side tunnel of the rabbit hole we have all fallen into. Thanks for making it all the way to end with me. I hope you enjoyed seeing it as much as I have had sharing it with you. Maybe I have even inspired one or two of you to pick up the collecting torch for these little round pieces of art and incorporate some or all of them into your collections. I hope that I have.

Anyways, thanks again from the bottom of my heart for stopping in and letting me share some of the things that I love.





The only thing coming tomorrow is the plate issue that I have long searched for but have never found.

[BagginsOfBagEnd]

Love the Smeagol plate, that is a really nice one- the only Cards Inc exclusive plate I did know about (and was fortunate enough to find on eBay a few months ago).

Thank you for sharing this wonderful collection with us all...its been a real pleasure seeing them all again (plus seeing a lot of them for the first time!) and it's definitely inspired me to return to the world of LOTR plate collecting. I simply must must must find me that Gandalf the Grey plate (slim to none chance of that happening, but you never know!! )

This thread has been a big help to me also because now I know what I need to keep a look out for. I will miss the daily plates updates...but all good things come to an end. Still, I am really intrigued to see what the one/s you cannot find are...

[FrodoEyes]

Thank you for showing us your collection, it’s been a fascinating ride!

[Glorfindel]

Thanks so much for letting us see your wonderful plate collection! Very inspiring indeed!
I now can't wait to see these elusive mystery plates.

[Celaglar]

Thank you for showing us, with so much information as well!

[Ithildin]

Love the Smeagol plate, that is a really nice one- the only Cards Inc exclusive plate I did know about (and was fortunate enough to find on eBay a few months ago).

Thank you for sharing this wonderful collection with us all...its been a real pleasure seeing them all again (plus seeing a lot of them for the first time!) and it's definitely inspired me to return to the world of LOTR plate collecting. I simply must must must find me that Gandalf the Grey plate (slim to none chance of that happening, but you never know!! )

This thread has been a big help to me also because now I know what I need to keep a look out for. I will miss the daily plates updates...but all good things come to an end. Still, I am really intrigued to see what the one/s you cannot find are...

Thank you for showing us your collection, it’s been a fascinating ride!

Thanks so much for letting us see your wonderful plate collection! Very inspiring indeed!
I now can't wait to see these elusive mystery plates.

Thank you for showing us, with so much information as well!

My friends, it's been my pleasure!

[Ithildin]

Here are the plates that I have been looking for forever and have never been able to acquire. Please pardon the bad quality of the photos as they are the only ones that I could find of the set.

If anyone by chance has this set or if they know of anyone that has this set and is willing to part with it, please let me know.

I have no information about these plates other than the size of them being 8" (20 cm) and that there are 10 of them in the set. Who made them, where they were made, how many of them were made and when they were made are all a mystery to me.

Thanks again for viewing my collection!

[Glorfindel]

Oh, I've got a dozen sets of those plates upstairs in my house and another dozen down in the cellar doing nothing! - I'm so sorry my friend, but that is me trying to be funny. But I promise to keep my eyes peeled for you.

[BagginsOfBagEnd]

The mystery plates!! My plate education continues, I've never ever seen that set before. Couldn't even hazard a guess to who might have made them. Wonder if they were some sort of ultra limited promo items or something.

I hope you can manage to track a set down. I'll keep a lookout for you as well when I'm doing my plate searches etc (and I'm sure many others will too).

[Minuialwen]

I've missed a few days. I hate when life gets in the way of what I want to do.

Sauron's plate is a great plate. Perfect ending to the series.

Gollum and the Hobbits plate is amazing! Love how the 'lettering' is not on a border but part of the 'picture'.

Aragorn's plate. Very cleverly done. Love the 'storm clouds' in it.

Love the moments they chose for Return of the King. Not the common typical ones.

I wished they had kept the 'non-border' the same for all 4 of these plates. It seems odd that Gandalf's would not have the same as the other 3.
Don't get me wrong, I love the plate but it should be in one of the other series. It just seems so out of place in this series.

Same goes with the Smeagol plate. An absolutely stunning plate, love the border, but should be part of one of the other series. I think I would tend to put the Smeagol and the Gollum plates side by side. Same with Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White.









That is just me though.
I can definitely see why Cards Inc. is your favorite set. What a stunning set of plates.

I'm so glad that you have shared this part of your collection with us in a way that we can enjoy each plate Ithildin. Had we not seen your plates in this fashion and just in your collection room, I'm thinking they would have be 'lost' as so many of your other collectibles are huge and will be the focus of ones attention, while the plates will be more than just 'fill ins' they still would not get the recognition they truly deserve.
I can imagine how much time it too to locate all these plates, set up your 'photo area' take the pictures of front, back and certificate of each plate, for me it was truly worth it. Thanks so much for your time and effort. So very much appreciated.


Is there any way that the 'mystery plates' could be 'home made'? or an 'Etsy' type product?

Half Moon Bay is selling this plate


I know it is totally different than the 10 you showed in your post, but those 10 may not have been from a 'specific' company.

[Ithildin]

Oh, I've got a dozen sets of those plates upstairs in my house and another dozen down in the cellar doing nothing! - I'm so sorry my friend, but that is me trying to be funny. But I promise to keep my eyes peeled for you.

Haha, I wish you really did have them!

Thank you for keeping an eye open for them. Many sets of eyes in different parts of the world could make all the difference!

The mystery plates!! My plate education continues, I've never ever seen that set before. Couldn't even hazard a guess to who might have made them. Wonder if they were some sort of ultra limited promo items or something.

I hope you can manage to track a set down. I'll keep a lookout for you as well when I'm doing my plate searches etc (and I'm sure many others will too).

Thanks! I really appreciate you being on the lookout for them.

I've missed a few days. I hate when life gets in the way of what I want to do.

Sauron's plate is a great plate. Perfect ending to the series.

Gollum and the Hobbits plate is amazing! Love how the 'lettering' is not on a border but part of the 'picture'.

Aragorn's plate. Very cleverly done. Love the 'storm clouds' in it.

Love the moments they chose for Return of the King. Not the common typical ones.

I wished they had kept the 'non-border' the same for all 4 of these plates. It seems odd that Gandalf's would not have the same as the other 3.
Don't get me wrong, I love the plate but it should be in one of the other series. It just seems so out of place in this series.

Same goes with the Smeagol plate. An absolutely stunning plate, love the border, but should be part of one of the other series. I think I would tend to put the Smeagol and the Gollum plates side by side. Same with Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White.

That is just me though.
I can definitely see why Cards Inc. is your favorite set. What a stunning set of plates.

I'm so glad that you have shared this part of your collection with us in a way that we can enjoy each plate Ithildin. Had we not seen your plates in this fashion and just in your collection room, I'm thinking they would have be 'lost' as so many of your other collectibles are huge and will be the focus of ones attention, while the plates will be more than just 'fill ins' they still would not get the recognition they truly deserve.
I can imagine how much time it too to locate all these plates, set up your 'photo area' take the pictures of front, back and certificate of each plate, for me it was truly worth it. Thanks so much for your time and effort. So very much appreciated.


Is there any way that the 'mystery plates' could be 'home made'? or an 'Etsy' type product?

Half Moon Bay is selling this plate


I know it is totally different than the 10 you showed in your post, but those 10 may not have been from a 'specific' company.

Hi Min! Yes, they could be fan made abut they have been around for a long time and since and I don't know if they predate a place like Esty. Also, 10 plates seem like a big commitment for a fan, but you never know. I do hope that they aren't a fan made set as that would mean that there would be very few out there and would mean that I will never find a set for myself.

Ya, I see what you are saying about the plate design with the three other Excusive Edition plates. It is a little curious that they decided to make them look like the other plate series. I'll for sure be displaying those tow with that series. They fit in seamlessly!

And thanks for the heads up about that plate on Etsy, I'm going to have to check that out for myself. I never really thought that an artist would make something like that.

[Arwen0605]

Ithildin Just loooooooooove that Smeagol plate. Thank you so much Mellon for inviting us to this wonderful world of your plates. I don't know about the others, but you definitely have influenced me when it comes to buying plates. This was a fantastic show and I'm glad, that I followed you all the way through.

[Ithildin]

Ithildin Just loooooooooove that Smeagol plate. Thank you so much Mellon for inviting us to this wonderful world of your plates. I don't know about the others, but you definitely have influenced me when it comes to buying plates. This was a fantastic show and I'm glad, that I followed you all the way through.

Thanks so much for going on the journey with me.

[Plat]

I would like to look at the last pictures, unfortunately the screen does not show me any.

[Ithildin]

I would like to look at the last pictures, unfortunately the screen does not show me any.

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I can see them. I wonder what is happening that makes so that you can't.