FattysGoneWild
Whats up with that? Common EVGA. You have had many complaints about this in the past and here we are AGAIN. I cannot believe those nice looking cards come with no back plate installed from the factory. 

When did they start putting backplates on the mid range GPU's?

Does it need it? Are there RAM chips on the back of the card? Those back-plates cost money. Which would increase the cost of the card. Now I am not the target market for those cards, so I'm clueless, but do competitors have them on theirs? Most people who would by a 1060 of any variant, probably don't even know what a back plate is. Will EVGA have some for purchase, maybe.
It's all in research, development, and sales. Some one went out there, did research to see if it was demanded, and the cost worth it. Have to remember, despite what you see on these forums we are small, so small we don't even matter in the grand scheme of things, compared to the rest of the world who doesn't buy pc hardware and builds them with a passion like we do. Most consumers buy the card, chuck it into their case, and never look at it, or for the most part care about it again until it stops working.

I have cards with and without the back plates.
 
If you have a PC where you can see inside, the back plate looks nicer than a bunch of soldered components.
 
On the flip side, reviews I've seen with thermal cameras seem to claim that the back plates hold the heat in as the plastic is an insulator.  I'd prefer no back plate myself, but if it's there I'm not removing it.
 
I suppose the back plate costs a few $ more.  So, a few $ x (number of cards sold) adds up...