New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - Texas vanity plate sells for $115K

One passionate Texas A&M fan can now be the first to display "12THMAN" on the front and back of his or her car -- even if the plates potentially cost more than the car itself.

The license plates sold for $115,000 on Thursday in an online auction -- a U.S. record for a vanity plate sold by a state, said Kim Miller Drummond, a spokesperson for MyPlates.com

Houston attorney Tony Buzbee paid $115,000 for this vanity "12THMAN" license plate. He said he plans to give the plates to a decorated war veteran who graduated from Texas A&M.
A set of Texas license plates with the word "HOUSTON" on it sold for $25,000 in January. The world record, according to a 2008 Forbes report, is $14.2 million for a "1" license plate paid by a businessman in the United Arab Emirates.

The winner -- Tony Buzbee, an attorney from Houston -- won't have to wait long for the plates, as he will be presented with them during the second quarter at Saturday's football game versus Alabama.

Buzbee plans to give the license plates to a decorated war veteran who graduated from Texas A&M.

"I'm not saying who it is yet, but I see him as a 12th Man to our country," said Buzbee, who said he was a former officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. "He did a lot more than pay a hundred thousand dollars for a license plate."

The plate includes the famous 12th Man phrase, which references the strength of the Aggies' crowd, the Texas A&M logo on the left side and is in the school colors -- maroon and white. The buyer will get rights to the plates for 10 years and also gets first rights to renewal when the period ends.

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The plates are also fully transferable, meaning the owner could also sell the rights to another person.

A plate with "12THMAN" has never been available in Texas before because only six letters were allowed on personalized plates until 2011. The company that conducted the auction, MyPlates.com, sells the street-legal vanity plates and are licensed by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.

Proceeds from the auction will benefit Texas A&M University and the General Revenue Fund of Texas.

Since November 2009, Texans have purchased more than 156,000 My Plates, putting more than $18.4M in the state's general revenue fund.

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