A Voyager plate was a type of collectible commemorative plate introduced following the return of the USS Voyager to the Alpha Quadrant. The gold-rimmed plate featured an image of one of the crew superimposed over the USS Voyager at warp, with the person's name written along the bottom. Individual plates were known to have their own band of color on the lip, such as teal, maroon, purple, and dark blue.
Ensign Brad Boimler owned a Voyager plate that featured Lieutenant Tom Paris. When he showed it off to Ensign Beckett Mariner he justified possessing it, stating "I collect all sorts of plates, and I love Voy." Boimler then produced a storage case that had all the signed plates of the bridge crew, "from Janeway all the way down to Kim! Everyone from Voy."
During his attempt to meet the real Paris, Boimler, who was unable to access the ship's systems, carried the plate through the bowels of the ship to make his way to the bridge. While hallucinating from the various gases he was breathing in the Jefferies tubes, the image of Paris on the plate began to speak to Boimler, encouraging him not to give up. Boimler made it to the bridge, fell through the ceiling and had his ass kicked by the real Paris, who believed Boimler to be a Kazon.
Afterward, Boimler still didn't get the autograph he desired, and when Mariner asked him if he had his "Chakotay bowl or whatever" signed yet, he claimed he hadn't, but said there was still a chance for him to when he and Paris had apology drinks later on in the ship's bar. (LD: "We'll Always Have Tom Paris")
These collectible plates are based on the Star Trek commemorative plates released by The Hamilton Collection. The Hamilton Collection did not release a Tom Paris-specific plate (or specific plates for the Voyager crew); however, in conjunction with this episode's release, the retailer Star Trek Unlimited released a plate identical to Boimler's Tom Paris plate. [1]