Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of fictional licence plate numbers


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.  

The result was delete by consensus and response to keep advocates.Blnguyen | BLabberiNg 02:41, 8 September 2006 (UTC).

List of fictional licence plate numbers
List serving no encyclopedic purpose. It is growing, but for the past month noone has addressed my question on the talk page about the purpose it serves. It does not fulfill any of the purposes at List guideline. I believe it violates the WP:NOT rules against being an indiscriminate collection of information and against articles not being "Lists or repositories of loosely associated topics". GRBerry 17:34, 29 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Delete it most certainly fails WP:NOT for being an indescriminate list. It'a just a pile of trivia.  And as a list, it doesn' meet the purposes outlined in WP:LIST -- Whpq 17:38, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Delete - This could very well be the most trivial list I've ever seen on Wikipedia... 0_o Wickethewok 17:51, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Delete This is a long list. If a particular license plate is notable, it could be placed in the trivia section of the article it belongs. We don't need a list like this on Wikipedia.Trevor 18:40, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Keep or Merge - If you're really going to do away with this list... which is one of the coolest things I've seen on Wikipedia today... then at least be sure to place each license plate on the trivia section of each article about each piece of fiction referenced, so that the information is not lost. PT  ( s-s-s-s ) 19:48, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Delete as per nom.    Dl yo ns 493   Ta lk  20:04, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Delete. No function, no patience for fictional categories--if it's fictional, it doesn't exist. Non-existent things are not as notable as existent things... ooh, what a generalization.-Kmaguir1 20:57, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Keep. I know it's trivia. But it's a good list (that's my own criterion for being an article) and it doesn't try to convince you it's anything other than kruft. And it does publish it's criteria for being on the list: it has to be a number plate from a work of fiction. That is better than some lists around here which have unverifiable criteria for inclusion.Garrie 00:19, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
 * But using your own criteria for keeping or deleting isn't really valid. You need to apply the wikipedia criteria. -- Whpq 12:51, 30 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Keep. It is fairly trivial, but I've seen worse - and it is also verifiable and it's hard to see how it could be merged anywhere where it would be as useful. It needs far more linking to other articles, though. Would make a reasonable addition to WP:UA, too. To answer one or two of the comments above, I don't see how this is possibly covered by WP:NOT, and non-existent things can be very notable - are you planning to nominate Harry Potter or Unicorn for deletion, perhaps? Grutness...wha?  01:35, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
 * But I don't see it meeting WP:V. There are no citations for sources for any of the entries.  There are two external embedded links, but they are there to support WP:OR as the edittor makes a case for why a license plate is anachronistic. -- Whpq 12:51, 30 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Weak Delete Interesting, but undeniably listcruft. Has no sources, either. Danny Lilithborne 02:20, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Delete OR, Not verifiable. Too bad, I was going to argue, "not paper". :) Dlohcierekim 04:29, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Keep. Trivial is in the eye of the beholder.  Some license plate numbers, such as the license plate used for the Firebird in the Rockford Files,  represent links to the actor.  Other license plate numbers allude to an inside joke or other non-common knowledge.  But all license plate numbers are registered with a Department of Motor Vehicles somewhere, and are linked to the individual or entity that registered the vehicle.  That's historical information, the value of which can not always be established in the present.  Imagine the History Detectives using this article and being able to confirm a car bought at auction was once used in film or television.  Or establishing that a now famous person was at one time a grunt working for a production company and was tasked with registering such a car.  There are also intangible possibilities, such as finding patterns in the registration of license plates.  And as we all know, once a pattern has been found, predictions can be made.  TK —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.169.97.68 (talk).
 * Comment'- any license plate info about a notable show can be included on the article about the show. The article itself is an indiscriminate collection of information. We are talking about fictional license plates. License plate numbers change from time to time, so it would not remain verifiable for later research or pattern finding. Also, who is to say that the license plate number on a car in a TV show is its actual, DMV number? A car on a studio lot in CA about a show in NJ will have a NJ license. But does that mean it is registered in NJ? The problesms of verifiability and OR remain :) Dlohcierekim 13:13, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
 * Comment'- The problem with including the license plate with a particular show is that the number of plates included could become enormous. If there is an article devoted to license plates it is a compendium of license plate data that can also be linked to a show or shows.   I would further argue that "indiscriminate" is in the eye of the beholder as much as is trivial.  The limited lifetime of a particular license plate number is true, but irrelevant when it comes to pattern searching.  A license plate might be used on one vehicle, and that vehicle may appear in several television shows or feature films.  The vehicle itself may even transfer between studios, directors or producers.  I don't know that to be the case, but that is the point of pattern searching, which can only be done when there is data available.  One valid research example would be in using license plate numbers to connect the use of vehicles to studio/production company spending trends in a given period.  In most of the older TV shows I notice that the same vehicles are used over and over as background vehicles.  To me this implies limited available vehicles or limited financial resources.  I don't notice the same pattern in newer shows, at least to the same extent.  If it were possible to compile the VINs of these vehicles I would argue that it should be done along with license plates.  Your question regarding shows that are produced in one location but feature vehicles in a different, staged location is valid.  But it also supports the existence of an article of compiled license plates.  To that end, another valid research question could explore whther there exists a stock of license plates that are used on various vehicles, or whether the license plate is legally registered to a specific vehicle.  I would also argue that these are not "fictional" license plates.  These are real license plates that are found on real vehicles that are used in fictional productions.  TK —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.169.97.68  (talk).
 * Delete; nearly all the entries are non-notable, and those that are notable should be on their own pages, not here. When listing actors in a movie, we don’t include the extras; this list is the automotive equivalent to a list of extras. --Rob Kennedy 22:30, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.