Back in the late 90s there was a talking point popular among the cult-ministries that ancient Israelites/Jews didn’t use metals as a textual medium; meaning that they wouldn’t put scriptures on brass or gold plates. These cult-ministries would often appeal to late 19th and early 20th century biblical scholarship, but once you get post Qumran, examples of scriptures on a metal medium start to surface. A famous example is called the ‘Copper Scroll’ (3Q15), although it isn’t a literary work. As you can imagine, this was seen as modern archeology vindicating Joseph Smith and the mopologists savored it. How could Joseph have known, Malkie?
For a lot of Mormons, this all but confirms that the brass plates mentioned by Nephi as a historical reality and with that supposition start speculating on the “how” and “where” such plates could have been manufactured. It operates almost exactly how one might research in preparation for writing a historical fiction novella or something. You get a feel for the landscape of the contemporary scholarly picture and you create something that is broadly consistent with it, hence Noel talking about the “Manassite scribal school”.
To the Mormon Apologist, asking to see the brass plates first before discussing their impact and relevance to Biblical Studies is like asking to see the first actual Greek translation of the Torah that became known as the Septugaint. Of course such a thing no longer exists and is forever lost to history and since the brass plates are no longer in mortal hands, your request is unreasonable.