Ben Vintage Weight Plates

Ben Vintage Weight Plates are tri-spoke, deep-dish Olympic weight plates from Weider, briefly advertised in 1954 with a distinctive crosshub design that closely resembles Andy Jackson’s earlier deep-dish plates – a 1949 letter from Ben Weider calling Jackson’s set “superior” is the one documented link between the two designs. A limited run was cast in Canada and rounds out most surviving original sets; the design was also later reproduced in China, where quality declined into rougher edges and casting imperfections. Collectors prize the originals for their unusually thick plate body and rim, though original-era casting and machining varied piece to piece, so finding two matching plates from the same batch is genuinely difficult. As a decades-discontinued collectible, it’s bought and sold on the vintage-iron collector market rather than through any current retail channel.

Buying guide

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Material	Cast iron
Plate style	Tri-spoke deep-dish Olympic plate, crosshub design
Rim profile	Flat rim (vs. Jackson's rounded-edge deep dish)
Availability	Discontinued -- collector/resale market only, no current manufacturer or retailer listing
Weight range	2.5 lb and up, marked in 2.5 lb increments
Consistency note	Original-era casting/machining varies piece to piece -- matched same-batch pairs are hard to find
Later production	Reproduced in China with rougher edges and casting imperfections
Original production	Weider, first advertised 1954; later limited run cast in Canada

What is a Weight Plate?

What weight plates are

Weight plates load your barbell — but “plate” covers two very different tools. Bumper plates are rubber discs around a steel hub, all the same ~450mm diameter, built to be dropped from overhead without damaging your floor or bar; they’re the default for Olympic lifting and CrossFit. Iron/steel plates are denser and thinner per pound, cheaper, and quieter to load, but most aren’t made to be dropped — better for slow, controlled powerlifting-style work.

What actually matters

Bumper vs. iron. Buy bumpers if the bar might hit the floor; iron (or rubber-coated iron) for controlled lifts and compact loading.
Weight tolerance. How far a plate strays from its stated weight (±1% is tight, ±3% loose). It barely matters for general training but adds up if you chase a specific total — which is why serious lifters add small change / fractional plates.
Collar fit & bounce. The center hole should fit your bar’s sleeve snugly; rubber durometer (around 88 Shore A) controls how “dead” a dropped plate lands.
Coating & set composition. Virgin rubber holds up and smells less than recycled crumb rubber; plan a starting set (usually a pair each of 45/25/10/5 lb plus change plates) around the lifts you actually do.

Who it’s for

Every barbell gym needs plates. Most home lifters should start with a bumper set, then add iron, change, or specialty plates as a second purchase once they know what their training is missing.

How it compares

	Ben Vintage Weight Plates	URA-MAX Plate	1.25 lb Donut PlateMate Pair	Calibrated KG Steel Plates 2.0 - Chrome
GymRadar rating	4.67/5	4.67/5	4.67/5	4.67/5
Price		$90.00	$52.90	$1,443.00
Material	Cast iron
Plate style	Tri-spoke deep-dish Olympic plate, crosshub design
Rim profile	Flat rim (vs. Jackson's rounded-edge deep dish)
Availability	Discontinued -- collector/resale market only, no current manufacturer or retailer listing
Weight range	2.5 lb and up, marked in 2.5 lb increments
Consistency note	Original-era casting/machining varies piece to piece -- matched same-batch pairs are hard to find
Later production	Reproduced in China with rougher edges and casting imperfections
Original production	Weider, first advertised 1954; later limited run cast in Canada

4.7/5 · 6 GymRadar reviews

Reviews by source

Expert	4.67/5	6 reviews
Youtube	4.3/5	2 reviews

Ben Vintage Weight Plates are 1950s-era tri-spoke, deep-dish Olympic plates with a distinctive crosshub design – originally advertised by Weider in 1954 and closely resembling Andy Jackson’s earlier deep-dish plates (a 1949 letter from Ben Weider calling Jackson’s set “superior” is the one documented link between the two designs). A limited run was later cast in Canada; the line was also reproduced in China with visibly rougher edges and casting imperfections. Its standout dimension is build quality: collectors consistently describe the plates as unusually thick through both the body and rim compared to contemporaries, with flat (rather than Jackson’s rounded) rim edges, and reasonably accurate weight tolerance in practice. Its weakest dimension is durability of consistency – original-era casting and machining varied piece to piece (some hubs and sides machined thin, others thick), which collectors say makes finding two matching, same-batch plates genuinely difficult, and finish condition on surviving pieces ranges from original paint to decades-old touch-up work. As a 70+ year old discontinued collectible rather than a currently manufactured product, it’s bought and sold entirely on the collector market rather than through a retail channel.

+Build quality: unusually thick plate body and rim versus contemporaries, with a distinctive flat-rim crosshub casting (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
+Functionality: weight tolerance holds up well in practice according to a long-term owner (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
+Value: historically significant, highly sought-after design -- ranked top-tier on collector reference sites (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH; GymRadar)
+Functionality: original crosshub design traces directly to Andy Jackson's earlier deep-dish plates, prized among vintage-iron collectors for that pedigree (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)

−Build quality: original-era casting/machining is inconsistent piece to piece (some hubs/sides machined thin, others thick), making matched same-batch pairs hard to find (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
−Durability: China-produced examples show visibly rougher edges and casting imperfections versus the original Canadian run (product description)
−Value: no current retail channel exists -- as a discontinued 1950s collectible it's only available through the resale/collector market, with no manufacturer or retailer price to cite
−Value: GymRadar's 4.67/5 rating is based on a small sample (n=6) with no visible review text to corroborate