Rare Items in Team Fortress 2

This guide will be listing some of the rarest items in Team Fortress 2.

RULES:
An item can't be on this list just "because it's expensive".
They have to have something unique about them (eg. Glitched, Limited, The way you obtain it).
The Unusuals have to have less than around 25 in existence or be a coat or something.
The item has to be used by the community at least once even if it got deleted after.
There might be a few items on this list that aren't that rare such as the Big Kill etc they are allowed on because they aren't really rare like most items on this list but you don't see them very often either. Unusuals will be noted down and I'll add a few once suggestions start to die down and there isn't much else I can add.
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Also note the items on this list are in no particular order.
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Special thanks to Yuki for making some SFM posters to showcase the items.
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All set Lets go-

Rare Hats and Weapons ------------------------------------------------------------------------

These are just regular items that not many people have because they are / were either obscure or hard to get among other reasons.

Hat of Undeniable Wealth And Respect (H.O.U.W.A.R)

The H.O.U.W.A.R is a promotional all class hat added to the game on December 20th 2010. It was awarded to players who completed all 28 objectives in 'The Great Steam Treasure Hunt.' If you have enough keys you can still get one for around 75 - 90 keys on backpack.tf

Randolph the Blood-Nosed Caribou

Randolph the Blood-Nosed Caribou is a hat for the Sniper that resembles the head of a Caribou with a team coloured nose that sits ontop of Sniper's head. Only 2 of this item exist and were available by collecting the 10 cards and crafting the Steam Holiday 2013 snowglobe badge. This item currently has no pricing on backpack.tf.

Suggested by: ♠♥Яoyal Flush♦♣, kyoto

Top Notch

The Top Notch is the only one of it's kind in existence. It's an all-class hat that looks like the head of Markus Persson's (Notch the developer of Minecraft's) Minecraft Skin. When worn by the Demoman, a patch covers the left eye. The idea for the Top Notch originated when Notch complained on twitter saying nobody believed he was Notch when he was playing Team Fortress 2. A reply to this tweet suggested Notch should tell Valve to make a special hat for him to prove it, and so that's what Valve did.
<-- Rare instance of seeing Notch himself in game.

Suggested by: Quintessence, Big Smoke, Mr.Maggot

The Golden Frying Pan

The Golden Pan is one if not the rarest items in the game. It is an all class melee weapon which turns enemies to solid gold upon kill and can only be obtained via completing a tour on any map besides Oil Spill in Mann vs Machine mode and as a bonus of getting this weapon as a drop, it has a Professional Killstreak applied to it and it is Strange quality. The drop chance of a Golden Pan is about a 1 / 6000% chance. That's rare O.O

Big Kill

The Big Kill is a promotional item you could get if you purchased Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse on Steam or Telltale store before April 26, 2010. It is a large purple re-skin of the Stock Revolver for the Spy. It is the weapon used by Sam who is a detective dog in Telltale Game's Sam and Max series.

Genuine Nabler

There are only 22 Genuine Nablers in existence. The Nabler is a hat for the Pyro that replaces their head with the Nabler's robot head and their neck with a metal stick and yellow wire. You can get a Genuine Nabler now if you purchase the ThreeA Toys RED and BLU Robo-Pyro Double-Pack for Oh My God! $400! No wonder there are only 22 in existence. The backpack.tf price is 132.5 keys but nobody is selling them.










These are the Robo-Pyro models: http://www.bambalandstore.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=00000001redbluepyro
























Suggested by: 😎SneakyGerbz™

Genuine Little Bear

There are only 151 Genuine Little Bears in existence. The Little Bear is a cosmetic for the Heavy that adds a small team-colored version of the Giant Heavy Robot in a pouch to the Heavy's belt. You can get a Genuine Little Bear if you purchase the ThreeA Toys RED or BLU Robo-Heavy models for $220! Well to be honest it's still better than the $400 RED and BLU Robo-Pyro figures in terms of price, by the way you only have to buy one of the either RED or BLU Robo-Heavy figures to get this but the Robo-Pyro you had to buy both in a Double-Pack. The backpack.tf price is 7 keys and there are quite a few sellers.

These are the Robo-Heavy models: BLU - http://www.bambalandstore.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=0000blueh RED - http://www.bambalandstore.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=0000redh





















Suggested by: PRO

Genuine Boiling Point

The Boiling Point is the exact same taunt as the Table Tantrum added in Smissmas 2016 but the backpack icon is reversed and instead of a steel pot it features a Joule sous-vide cooker. The cooker boils a single steak wrapped in a bag. That's pretty much it, to get this you have to buy a cooker and redeem the code. If you would like to buy the cooker here you go[www.chefsteps.com]

Genuine Robo-Sandvich

The Robo-Sandvich is a re-skin of the regular Sandvich and was given to players who purchased the 1:1 scale Sandvich toy from the Valve Store. The toy came with a code which upon activation would give players the 'What's in the Sandvich Box?' item and when opened in game would give players the Robo-Sandvich in Genuine quality. This item is rare because the Sandvich toy is now discontinued and the only way of getting this item is by 1. Buying a Sandvich from eBay or any other online shopping websites that still has the code with it. Or 2. Buying one from backpack.tf for 18 keys.
This is the Sandvich toy.

Collector's Dead of Night

The Collector's Dead of Night is an all-class cosmetic. This is a 1/1 in existence and is the most expensive non Unusual cosmetic in the game with a backpack.tf price of 1400 keys and is currently owned by HarryG: Wot N Ternation?.
Suggested by: [PureSalt] DannyPlaysSomeGames, Charlie 5 Lives

Grandmaster

The Grandmaster is a promotional cosmetic item for all classes. It is a team-colored hard hat, with a small chess board attached by a rubber spring and two strips of rubber, which bounce around as the player moves. On top of the chess board, a small device projects a small red bomb hologram on the RED team, and a blue wrench hologram on the BLU team, both of which rotate. As the player's killstreak rises, the hologram projection changes to various chess pieces. This item was awarded in Genuine quality to players who purchased the Exclusive Team Fortress 2 Chess Set from ThinkGeek or the Valve Store.

TF2VRH (Very Rectangular Headset)

The TF2VRH (short for Team Fortress 2 Very Rectangular Headset) is a promotional cosmetic item for all classes. It is a black head-mounted display unit with a rectangular screen that covers the wearer's eyes, resembling that of the Oculus Rift. If the user is using the Oculus Rift headset as a display while playing Team Fortress 2 and has entered -vr into the game's launch preferences, the rim of the virtual item will emit a faint team-colored glow. The whole headset is designed to look like the Oculus Rift VR head-mounted display. The TF2VRH was issued in Genuine quality to players who redeemed the code obtained by pre-ordering an Oculus Rift development kit from the official developer website before April 1, 2013 or by backing any level on the official Kickstarter page.
Suggested by: Ĵ𝕠ℍᑎภЎ ᗪ𝐎𝐞

Storm Spirit's Jolly Hat

This is a promotional cosmetic item for the Heavy. It is a team-colored, faintly glowing, bamboo-framed straw hat, similar in appearance to the one worn by the character Storm Spirit in Dota 2. It was awarded to a Dota2 champion and is the only one in existence. The owner likely never opened TF2 as I don't think it has been found in anyone's inventory.

Clockwerk's Helm

Clockwerk's Helm is a promotional cosmetic item for the Engineer. It is a half-helmet with glowing, team-colored goggles that fit over the Engineer's default goggles and a metal jaw, similar to the face of Clockwerk, also known as Rattletrap, a hero in Dota 2. It was awarded to a Dota2 champion and is the only one in existence. The owner likely never opened TF2 as I don't think it has been found in anyone's inventory.

Sniper's Snipin' Glass

The Sniper's Snipin' Glass is a promotional cosmetic item for the Sniper. It is a pair of leather goggles with golden frames and a bright green glowing lense. The right eye extends outward slightly with a telescope-like tool popping out of it. The item resembles the scope worn by Sniper, also known as Kardel Sharpeye, in Dota 2. It was awarded to a Dota2 champion and is the only one in existence. The owner likely never opened TF2 as I don't think it has been found in anyone's inventory.

Awarded Items -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The only people who own these items are the ones who have earned them for making an item, an awesome animation or being a helpful and hard working member of this community.

Wiki Cap

The Wiki Cap is an all-class hat. It is a team-colored peaked cap with a black visor, bearing the Team Fortress emblem. It was modeled to resemble a police officer's cap. The Wiki Cap is awarded to valuable contributors to the official Team Fortress Wiki and comes in Community quality with the Unusual effect: Community Sparkle. Learn how to earn one here.

Finder's Fee

The Finder's Fee is a cosmetic item for all classes. It is a baseball cap with an anti-bug logo on the front and an insect wearing a smaller baseball cap on the top, presumably resembling a bug exterminator cap. The Finder's Fee is awarded to players who report major economy-breaking bugs or remote-code-execution bugs, and provide detailed information and steps to reproduce.
It's possible to receive more than one hat, the player can also choose what unusual effect they would like on the hat.
Suggested by: Cowser the Koopahog

Lo-Fi Longwave

The Lo-Fi Longwave is an all-class hat rewarded to players to partisipate in a KritzKast event and are lucky enough to recieve one or have done something worth being awarded the hat by KritzKast. The hat was first awarded in Vintage quality to a limited but unspecified number of players for being a member of the KritzKast Steam Group prior to 7pm June 12th 2011, 1 hour before the live recording of podcast episode #121. Before a hat was awarded, the members had to obtain a passing score on the KritzKast quiz. Players who did not win on the quiz were allowed to retake it as often as they wished so long as they left four hours between attempts. Those who were not part of the KritzKast steam group before the deadline received a message from Saxton Hale stating they were "manly enough not to receive" the "girly" hat.
Suggested by: Yung Autism

Self-Made Unusual Cap

Whenever someone made a workshop weapon, hat or taunt that ended up getting into the game Valve gave them the item in Self-Made quality. But until recently there was no item anyone could get for making unusual effects. On November,10th 2016 Valve gave everyone who has made an unusual effect this hat. The hat comes with the player's unusual effect that they made and the Community Sparkle effect.
Suggested by: kyoto

Gifting Man From Gifting Land

The Gifting Man From Gifting Land is an all-class hat that is awarded the following day to the player that gave the most gifts in a single day either through Secret Saxtons or Pile o' Gifts. It is an oversized top hat that covers the top half of the player's head, with a unique team-colored glow around the edges only seen on it, Dueler and Philateler. Sadly possession of the hat is not permanent and is limited to the player that gave the most gifts in a given 24-hour period. This may allow the same player to possess the hat multiple days in a row if the player can maintain the most gifts given. Paint, custom descriptions and custom names on this hat, as well as its level, will carry over to the next owner.















Suggested by: VIRI_

Dueler

The Dueler is an all-class hat that is awarded the following day to the player with the most duel wins in a day. It is an oversized top hat large enough to cover the top half of the player's head. It has a team-colored glow around it's edges unique to only it, Gifting Man From Gifting Land and Philateler. Sadly possession of the hat is not permanent and is limited to the player with the most duel wins in a given 24-hour period. This may allow the same player to own the hat multiple days in a row if the player can keep the most duel wins. Paint, custom descriptions and custom names on this hat will carry over to the next owner.
















Suggested by: VIRI_

Philateler

The Philateler is an all-class hat that is awarded the following day to the player that purchased the most Map Stamps in one day. It is an oversized top hat covered in stamps with a magnifying glass and a folded map stuck in the band. The hat is large enough to cover the top half of the player's head, and gives off a unique team-colored glow only seen on it, Dueler and Gifting Man From Gifting Land. Sadly possession of the hat is not permanent and is limited to the player that purchased the most Map Stamps in a given 24-hour period. This may allow the same player to own the hat multiple days in a row if the player can maintain the most Map Stamps purchased. Paint, custom descriptions and custom names on this hat, as well as its level, will carry over to the next owner. Also once obtained it will automatically apply itself to the top cosmetic slot of the player's last used loadout for every class.

















Suggested by: VIRI_

Uncle Sam

The Uncle Sam is a one-of-a-kind cosmetic item for all classes. It is a Modest Pile of Hat with a 3rd place orange ribbon on it. It was awarded to John Freeman after coming in third place in the Propaganda Contest during the Soldier vs Demoman War update.








Suggested by: TophatCat

Amber's Rad As All Hell Hat

Amber's Rad As All Hell Hat is a one-of-a-kind cosmetic item for all classes. It is a Noble Amassment of Hats with a 2nd place orange ribbon pinned on it. It was awarded to Drake Lake for coming in second place in the Propaganda Contest during the Soldier vs Demoman War update.



















Suggested by: TophatCat, dnɔʞʇooɯ-sɥǝǝʇns

J.Axer's Dapper Topper

J.Axer's Dapper Topper is a one-of-a-kind cosmetic item for all classes. It is a Towering Pillar of Hats with a 1st place orange ribbon pinned onto it. It was awarded to J.Axer after coming in first place in the Propaganda Contest during the Soldier vs Demoman War update.
















Suggested by: TophatCat

Cheater's Lament

The Cheater's Lament is an all-class halo above the players head that was awarded to players on September 2, 2009 who didn't abuse the item drop system by using external idling programs. Those who did had all of their illegally obtained items removed and if they did it again would have all of their items removed. This item isn't too rare but uncommon enough to make it on this list. The item isn't tradable so you can't illegitimately get it anymore.
Suggested by: ᵀᴴᵁᴺᴰᴲᴿ ᴰᴬᴺ (Dan0)

Community Quality Weapons

If you do something great for the Team Fortress 2 community you might get chosen to receive a Community quality weapon. The weapon can only be stock (eg: Revolver, Medigun, Shotgun) and you can choose which one you want yourself. Eric Smith or any other Valve employee on the TF Team will send you an email telling you that you have been awarded with one for your "Continued efforts to build and maintain the Team Fortress 2 Community." The weapon of your choosing will also come with the unusual effect: 'Community Sparkle'.

Saxxy

The Saxxy is an all-class weapon resembling that of an Oscar Awards statue but instead being Saxton Hale. It functions identically to the wielder's default melee weapon, but any enemies killed by it will turn into solid golden statues instead of rag-dolls. This gold effect applies to jiggle bones which freeze in place. The Saxxy can be obtained by making an animation (1 minute long in Short category, 5 minutes long in Extended category and 3 minutes long for every other category) in Valve's Source FilmMaker program. The competition starts every year around September and ends around the 11th of November.
Suggested by: Sir Buttershoes

Memory Maker

The Memory Maker is a melee weapon for all classes with the exception of the Engineer and the Spy. It is a hand-operated 8mm camcorder with a triple rotating lens, a loose lever on its side and a handle on the bottom. This weapon functions identically to the Stock melee weapons. This item was awarded to players who submitted their entries for the Second, the Third, the Fourth, the Fifth, or the Sixth Annual Saxxy Awards and made it to the finalists before the official announcement of winners. I would really like to own one of these because I am trying to collect every weapon and skin in the game.
Suggested by: Sir Buttershoes

Golden Wrench

The Golden Wrench is a re-skin of the Stock Wrench for the Engineer which turns people to solid gold statues upon kill and has unique voice lines for the Engineer which can be heard when equipped. This weapon was a promotional feature of the Engineer Update. Players were informed that every time someone crafted something, there was a small chance a Golden Wrench would drop. Only 100 Golden Wrenches were available, and the ability to smelt reclaimed metal back into scrap metal and refined metal back into reclaimed metal was suspended during this time to prevent exploiting the crafting system to continuously craft, therefore increasing the chance of you getting a Golden Wrench. After each 25 Golden Wrench milestone, a new section of the Engineer Update would be released. These wrenches aren't tradable to sadly there is not possible way of obtaining one anymore. Also 14 Golden Wrenches were destroyed as part of the Golden Charity event in support of Child's Play on August 31 2010 making these even rarer.

Self-Made Mann Co. Supply Crate Key

If you make an item, upload it to the Steam Workshop and your item gets into the game you will receive the item you made in Self-Made quality plus if that item gets into a crate you will get a Self-Made Mann Co. Supply Crate Key with it. Just don't unbox anything ;) if you can that is. The key will also have the unusual effect 'Community Sparkle' but because you can't equip it you won't get to see the effect.

Glitched Items --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Somehow people were able to obtain these items and most don't exist anymore. But they still count because they *Did* exist.

Team Fortress 2 - Upgrade to Premium

The Team Fortress 2 - Upgrade to Premium is a weird item that doesn't seem to do much if anything and is recognised as a map stamp in the items description (Level 50 Map Stamp). There are only 2 of these and the backpack icon is a white square making it stand out in one's inventory.
Suggested by: Yung Autism

The Deflector

The Deflector is a primary weapon used by the Deflector Heavy in Mann vs. Machine. It's model and function are identical to that of the Heavy's stock Minigun. When used by Deflector Heavies the weapon disables projectiles (Such as rockets, grenade pills, sandman balls etc), causing them to drop from the air. When carried by the Giant Deflector Heavy, it also uses different spin up and firing firing sound effects as well as different tracer effects from the Minigun, with a green tracer effect rather than the usual yellow. This item shouldn't normally be able to be equipped by any class but one player once found an exploit in the item schema which could be used to obtain any item in the game. He wrote a description of the exploit and sent it to Valve and for proof he gave himself a Deflector with the Unique quality. Valve removed the item and awarded him with an unusual of his choice. So no you can't get this item anymore unless you find a similar exploit but it did once exist so that counts.
Suggested by: Cowser the Koopahog

Gate-Bot Hats

The Gatebot hat is an all-class hat that can only be worn by the Mannhattan robots in Mann vs Machine. There was a bug that got fixed in the November 22, 2013 Patch which let you craft these Gatebot hats. The backpack icon would be a purple and black missing texture and the item would clip through the head of each class and any hats worn with it. When the bug was fixed Valve released a new item called the 'Glitched Circuit Boards' which sell on backpack.tf for 20 keys. Only 105 of these items were crafted.

Here is a Reddit Post I found from 3 years ago:
Only Heavy can equip it and I can't put it up on the market. I used three refined to craft it, so I don't know if rebuilding headgear will do the same thing, or even if another three refined will too.
EDIT: Looks like Valve just now updated the item schema to make these untradable and uncraftable. Damn, should have capitalized on it while I had the chance. Guess now we'll see what Valve is going to do for those of us who got one.
EDIT 2: Valve now changed the item to be #TF_ITEM_GLITCHEDCIRCUITBOARD and is no longer wearable, but the backpack texture is still the purple checkerboard. Well, it certainly was glitched. Seems like Valve does have some plan to compensate me for my three refined.
EDIT 3: Valve has pretty much made this glitch into a limited edition cosmetic item for us lucky few that crafted it. The item is officially called the "Glitched Circuit Board" and its description is "The remains of a Robo GateBot Light. It self-destructed after falling into the hands of a human." It's wearable, but I don't see it on my player model. Still, thanks Valve! Best three refined I ever spent. I'm not likely to sell it, since I'm not really into trading and it's taken a small bit of sentimental value now that Valve acknowledged what happened.

Glitched Circuit Board

The Glitched Circuit Board is a cosmetic item added in the November 22, 2013 Patch. It was used to replace all robot gate hats that were accidentally made craftable on the November 21, 2013 Patch. Like the Barely-Melted Capacitor, this item doesn't change the appearance of any of the classes when equipped. These sell on backpack.tf for 20 keys and only 105 are known to exist.













Suggested by: Minardi, [TxHC]Tαilѕ Tнє Pøηe, drugs

Normal Weapons, Normal Stranges, Normal Australiums

Glitched Normal weapons and crafted weapons. There was a glitch where if you unboxed/crafted any stock weapons it would be titled as 'Normal' rather than 'Unique' or even 'Strange'. It resulted in Strange Normal weapons too, and even some Australiums. The prices of these vary from 15 key to 918 keys on backpack.tf. Another way some items became normal was if you accidentally deleted or got scammed out of your eg. Ellis's Cap. Steam support would return the item to you in Normal quality.
Here is a list of ones I could find on backpack.tf:
Normal Black Rose - 918 keys
Normal Ellis's Cap - 510 keys
Normal Australium Grenade Launcher - 285 keys
Normal Purity Fist - 240 keys
Normal Bat - 192 keys
Normal Sniper Rifle - 110 keys
Normal Batsaber - 66 keys
Normal Scattergun - 50 keys
Normal Medi Gun - 50 keys
Normal Minigun - 40 keys
Normal Stickybomb Launcher - 18 keys
Normal Grenade Launcher - 18 keys
Normal Flame Thrower - 15 keys












Suggested by: Crazeeguy, cribz., Okay, [PureSalt] DannyPlaysSomeGames, Mint

Unique Australium Sniper Rifle and Scattergun

During the Scream Fortress 2016 event a bug was found which caused Australium weapons to drop as Unique but still with the Strange kill counter. Only 2 Unique Australiums were dropped: An Australium Sniper Rifle and Scattergun. According to the original owner of the Sniper Rifle when his 3rd crate opened at the end of a 2Cities tour there was no 'Crack, Bap and Snap' which is usually heard when getting an Australium, instead it just opened like a normal crate. The original owner of the Sniper Rifle was sterniR and the owner of the Scattergun was DigitalEvorian both of the Unique Australiums now belong to the collector known as Ace.
Suggested by: sterniR

Craftable Something Special For Someone Special

This was a glitch with the Mann Co. Store which only one person was able to get before it was patched. All you had to do was buy the Something Special For Someone Special and you would get a craftable version. On use it gives out 2 craftable rings. This item is about 265 keys on backpack.tf but I doubt they are going to sell it if they haven't already or maybe they used it I don't know about that.
Suggested by: [PureSalt] DannyPlaysSomeGames

Blank Killstreak Kits / Fabricators

On July 4th 2015 a bug was fixed where Killstreak Kits would drop without having a weapon applied. Normal kits were just called (example) 'Professional Killstreak Back Scatter Kit' but these bugged ones were just called (example) 'Professional Killstreak Kit' and could be applied to literally any item. So people started collecting them and applying them to their most prized possessions such as Unusual hats and Keys which made those items even more expensive. Of course you can't kill someone with a hat so you wouldn't be able to gain Godlike Killstreaks and these were purely cosmetic.
















Below is a video about killstreak kits by a YouTuber and Streamer called CeeJaey check out his channel he makes some great content if you are into trading (This is not a paid promotion)

Suggested by: Cowser the Koopahog

Backpack Expander (Uses: 3)

Another item owned by Toxins, this is a normal Backpack Expander but it has 3 uses instead of 1. So instead of 100 extra slots upon use you can use this another 2 times and get a total of 300 new slots in your backpack. I don't know how this item originated but it may have just been a one-off bug when purchasing a Backpack Expander from the Mann Co. Store.
Look to the Right of the screen please /\
Suggested by: Yung Autism

Tradable Achievement items

This was a pain to research but from what me and DannyPlaysSomeGames have found out is that there was an old glitch that got patched years ago. The glitch let you offer someone a trade, keep it open and then add them and negotiate a trade and the achievement item would still be there where you could trade for it. That or people contacted steam support and were given back their item in a tradable state. The glitch can't be preformed anymore so the few tradable achievement hats there are are the only ones. But some items like the Black Rose became tradable through a different way, apparently the Black Rose was said to become tradable at some point but Valve must have decided not to go through with that idea and some players contacted Valve asking for a tradable version and so an unaware Valve employee gave some players tradable versions of the Black Rose. This might not be 100% fact but its the best story we could find. 2018 Fedora here, I was just told that the Black Rose was also tradable for a day back in Gun Mettle thanks to Scotty for telling me that one.
Suggested by: ☆ⱣṨ Spook Toque, Solruc

Non-Paintable Painted Items ------------------------------------------------------------------

Some hats can't be painted and even weapons (durr) but somehow people have managed to paint them anyway because screw the system am I right? These are pretty cool though and I don't know why Valve won't allow some of these.

Painted Cow Mangler 5000

This is an interesting one. A few months after the Cow Mangler 5000 was added to the game an update to it caused the item to be paintable until Valve realized this and fixed it within 5 minutes on October 14th 2011. But during those 5 minutes the few lucky people to realize this and painted their Cow Manglers. The few that are still in existence (because people thought Valve were going to unpaint all of them and make them worthless so they deleted them) are really hard to find and most are painted either 'A Distinctive Lack of Hue' or 'Value of Teamwork'. Besides the model being painted another cool thing about these is that the projectile itself also used to be painted and looked weird that has since been patched so we only have the painted model now.

Painted Lucky Shot

Not sure how this was made but it was likely a temporary bug or glitch Valve later patched.
























Suggested by: Yung Autism

Painted Pencil Pusher

Not sure how this was made but it was likely a temporary bug or glitch Valve later patched.
























Suggested by: Okay

Steam Support Vintages (+Others) -----------------------------------------------------------

Vintage Bill's Hat

This is a popular one. The Bill's Hat is one of the most famous and most worn all class hats in the game. It was a promotional item from Valve's game 'Left 4 Dead'. But the Vintage variant of the Bill's Hat exists not because of the Mannconomy Update but because there was a bug where people's items would disappear and people would complain to Steam Support and they would get their items back in Vintage quality (this is why Vintage versions of things like the Scrap Metal, Alien Swarm Parasite etc exist). There are around 600 of these in existence and they sell for 9 keys or so due to them being the most common one that Valve restored.

Other Restored Vintages

These were obtained the same way as the Vintage Bill's Hat above ^ They are just more rare.

Vintage Earbuds - 948 keys
Vintage Max's Severed Head - 744 keys
Vintage Refined Metal - 564 keys
Vintage Reclaimed Metal - 500 keys
Vintage Ghastlierest Gibus - 470 keys
Vintage Big Kill - 400 keys
Vintage Shortstop - 350 keys
Vintage Scrap Metal - 330 keys
Vintage Class Tokens - 192 keys
Vintage Slot Tokens - 192 keys
Vintage Alien Swarm Parasite - 138 keys
Vintage Lumbricus Lid - 126 keys
Vintage Lugermorph - 4.8 keys

Vintage Fan O'War and Concheror

The Fan O'War and Concheror had a complicated crafting patteren when they were added so not many people could get them before the Mannconomy Update which was shortly after and turned every currently existing item into a Vintage. Only 232 Concherors exist (28 non-tradable ones but that's for another time) and only 254 Vintage Fan O'Wars exist. These both sell for a large amount of keys around 12-14.










Suggested by: ᵀᴴᵁᴺᴰᴲᴿ ᴰᴬᴺ (Dan0)

Vintage Community Sparkle Lugermorph

The Telltale Games employees who designed weapons from Sam and Max and Poker Night at the Inventory for TF2 were awarded a Vintage Lugermorph and Max's Head and because they were Self-Made they had the effect: Community Sparkle. These items were never supposed to be tradable but by the time Valve got to the issue people were already buying and selling them for large amounts of money. You can currently get a Community Sparkle Lugermorph from backpack.tf for 360 keys but they are super hard to find.

Unusuals ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pretty much every unusual is rare and there are a lot of them which only have only 1 or 2 in existence but these ones stand out from the rest.

Valve awarded Unusuals

These are unusuals that were awarded to players who found a huge economy breaking bug, glitch or exploit from Valve. Valve gave these players the option to pick whatever hat they would like with any effect as a reward for finding these problems. You can no longer get these items because Valve have since introduced the Finder's Fee which is what they now give to players who have found problems in the code ect.
Here is a list of some of the players, hats and problem that were fixed:
Bn4, Max's Severed Head with Sunbeams, Reported a serious exploit regarding strangifiers and killstreak kits to Valve.
Pumkin, Cheater's Lament with Sunbeams, Reported a serious exploit regarding item generation to Valve.
Harkku, Max's Severed Head with Burning Flames, Reported a serious exploit regarding Giftapults and Key generation.
Meepsauce, Hat of Undeniable Wealth And Respect with Sunbeams, Reported a serious exploiting regarding Giftapults and Key generation.
milk and ash, Ebenezer with Sunbeams, Reported a serious exploit regarding account control to Valve.
Ronald_D_D, Ghastlierest Gibus with Sunbeams, Reported a glitch where you could double the max ammount of characters in a Name Tag.
There are a lot more out there but these are the most popular ones I could find.



















Suggested by: [PureSalt] DannyPlaysSomeGames, Comgal

Unusual Torso Cosmetics (End Of The Line)

In the 'End of The Line' update some of the new torso cosmetics including the 'Sleeveless in Siberia', 'Hunter Heavy' and the 'Coldfront Curbstompers' were unboxable in Unusual quality for a short period of time. Not many people were lucky enough to be able to unbox one because the bug was patched after about 3 days which is why only 18 exist counting them all together that is. They have the, at that time, new unusual effects which would appear inside the player's stomach when in a game. They are really expensive on backpack.tf (Curbstompers 1750 keys, Sleeveless in Siberia 622 keys and Hunter Heavy 633 keys) encase you would like to buy one. Also well done -V-A-N-I-T-Y- for being one of the few people to own one of these.
Suggested by: -V-A-N-I-T-Y-

Unusual HazMat's Headcase

The HazMat's Headcase is a hat for the Pyro and, Sniper? For some reason. It can not be unboxed in Unusual quality anymore making all Unusuals no matter what effect really expensive. The cheapest is Orbiting Planets for 80 keys and the most expensive is Sunbeams for 1250 keys. Each effect for this hat has from 1 to 10 in existence.
Suggested by: VAID ๖ۣۜCommissar scrumpy

Elite Graded Unusual Cosmetics/Weapons

Item grades were first used in the Gun Mettle Update, grades aren't a quality but rather an indicator of rarity. Among these rarities from least rare to the rarest are: "Civilian", "Freelance", "Mercenary", "Commando", "Assassin" and the infamous "Elite" grade. Elite grade unusuals have less than a 1% chance to be opened from most graded cases, with many of them having less than 50 versions in existence. Some excellent examples of the elite grade rarity are the following unusuals: "Unusual Sucker slug", "Unusual Corona Australis", "Unusual Potassium Bonnet" and "Unusual Captain Cardbeard Cutthroat". Various negative opinions towards graded cosmetics are common, such as the opinion that graded cosmetics bring an artificial rarity to the market, making unattractive items expensive and causing good-looking items to flood the market with countless instances in existence. The cheapest "Unusual Sucker Slug" you'll find will set you back at least 100 keys due to it's grade, it's also restricted to "Invasion Community Update" effects such as "Abduction" or "Electric Hat Protector". The cheapest "Unusual Corona Australis" you'll find will set you back at least 190+ keys due to it's grade, even with all pure, good luck finding one as many of these amazing hats have been snagged by collector's! It is also restricted to Invasion Effects. The cheapest "Unusual Potassium Bonnet" you'll find will set you back at least 210+ keys due to it's grade, only two of them have sold recently, both to collector's. It's possible to unbox one with any unusual effect of the three main generations. The cheapest "Unusual Captain Cardbeard Cutthroat" you'll find will set you back at least 300 keys, many of the prices on backpack.tf are outdated and barely any are for sale. It is not restricted to which effect it can have within the three generations.
Suggested by: Purple Hills

Thanks to Purple Hills for taking their time to write this paragraph :D

Strange Unusual Hats

You thought regular unusuals were rare right? Well how about Strange Unusuals. There are 2 ways you can get a Strange Unusual hat: 1) Add a strangifier to it (Not that rare to be honest) and 2) Unbox a Strange Unusual (that's what I'm talking about!) Unboxing a Strange Unusual is 0.008 to 0.01%
Suggested by: dark venom

Burning Flames Team Captain

The Burning Flames Team Captain is the most expensive item in Team Fortress 2 being priced at 6000 to 9500 keys on backpack.tf. There are only 7 of these in existence:
2 owned by: Bobsplosion
1 owned by: JCapps (Read Profile Bio)
1 owned by: Mattie!
1 owned by: BullDoser
1 owned by: ok.
1 owned by: -».•´Purplicious`•.«-
Suggested by: coathanger, tater tots, AMAZING SCOUT (Pootis Police)

Others ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The title is self-explanatory.

Spectral Flame Phlogistinator

I own a strange one of these, 3 keys well spent <3. The Halloween spell spectral flame makes the flames on any Flame Thrower green but the Phlogistinator doesn't have the same flame effect as the other Flame Throwers. So in typical Valve style instead of making a new green effect for the Phlog they added the same fire effect as all of the other Flame Throwers making it look really weird and cool. Plus the Halloween spell isn't obtainable any more making this and any other Flame Thrower rare and expensive.

BONUS!!! Most rare backpack in Team Fortress 2

Shout-out to Toxins for having an amazing backpack filled with rare and expensive TF2 items, its definitely worth checking out if you are interested in that stuff: https://steamcommunity.com/id/t0xins/inventory/

[Hugo]

What about moustachium bar, "fish" and the spacechem pin
The japan charity bundle
Mann. Co supply crate without number
Mann. Co supply crates with stock weapons in it
Self made Big Kill

[TrenchcoatCraig]

I know this is really old now, but Uniuqe-quality Genuine's should be a category. There's a unique-quality Audio File that traded for a few hundred keys a while ago, and there are now two Unique-quality Boiling Points (I own one of those)

[Astemir Source]

"The Golden Pan is one if not the rarest items in the game." Wow its so rare and exist 351

[Compaq Presario CQ40]

WTH 9500 KEYS THE BFTC??? HOLY MANGLER DAMN BOI

[SloppySausage]

Where are Duck Journal and Fireproof Secret Diary ??

[Xtreme_Shoot]

Nevermind YOU DAMN RIGHT ! Beacuse 8 People Have Vintage Grizzle Veterans badge ! https://backpack.tf/overview/Grizzled%20Veteran !

[Xtreme_Shoot]

Vintage ? i never see vintage style's like that.

[Infidel]

What about the Vintage Grizzle Veterans badge?

[Xtreme_Shoot]

By the way i see TF2 wiki CAP Hat in MVM 10. Year Anniversary Operation Event ! i can still show to Screenshot ! also pill <-> TF2 wiki founder or deveopler send me secret update. :-) <3

[Deejaynerate]

Hey this is DannyPlaysSomeGames, I go by a different name now. So I found the actual glitch responsible for creating tradable promo achievemetn items (the "glitch" you're describing is just somebody making a joke about trading someone who already has the glitched achievement items):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FSwLb-anew

By the way, I am glad to announce that I now own a one-of-a-kind elite-grade unusual! (and by sheer luck too.)