To be overly simplistic, Collector's items are unique items that have red text. They are color coded as #AA0000 in the hexadecimal code for the color. They come from Chemistry Sets for the item itself, for example, a Collector's Holy Mackerel would have first been a 'Collector's Holy Mackerel Chemistry set'.

Speaking of those Chemistry sets...

Let's backtrack a bit. The History behind Collector's Quality is frustratingly sparse. The first, and only indication from Valve that Collector's items existed was all the way back in the November 13, 2013 patch with a single line:
- Added Collector's quality to the game.

Over the following months, the market was suddenly inundated with these things called 'Collector's _______ Chemistry Set'. In the space of the ______ could be any item that was either a timed drop in game, and not a limited promotional item - meaning you could have a Collector's Vitasaw Chemistry set, or a Collector's Rocket Jumper Chemistry set - but unfortunately not something like a Collector's AWPer Hand Chemistry set.

The Chemistry Sets themselves also have a very specific input: 200 of the item the chemistry set is for. Yes, that means you need 200 Pain Trains for a set. That may set you back 10 Refined Metal and a few hours of time. Or if you were to have a Bearded Bombardier Collector's set, that'd set you back several days, and probably over 80 keys.

These chemistry sets appeared as all previous chemistry sets did - as a timed drop, just like you would get a unique mad milk or something worth half a cent. If you look in your backpack right now, you'll probably recognise Chemistry sets, most of which are for strangifiers which are incredibly common.


...Which can easily make an exceptionally rare Collector's quality chemistry set fall through the cracks of someone's backpack, seeing as it looks identical to any other one. The difference being, one's worth $0.02, the other may be worth $1000+.

You read correct. That innocous chemistry set you have in your backpack, nestled between your gibus and a hundred other chemistry sets? Those 10 unadded people who keep messaging you begging you to add them? Maybe you've struck gold and you don't even know about it.

There's several pros and cons to this.

It means that sharking is rampant in trading with this quality.
Under the pretense of selling a normal chemistry set, the original owners of these items can easily be swindled out of 100s of keys in value. Worst example I've come across was the original owner of the Collector's Graybanns set (which I currently own), who traded it for 2 scrap metal and a unique bazaar bargain (a Bazaar Bargain indeed) - only to have the buyer flip it in 1 day for 110 keys.

It means that countless highly desired Collector's items are stuck in idle or private backpacks or worse yet, deleted.
Three notable examples were the Collector's Antlers chemistry set, Collector's Brown Bomber set and Collector's Human Cannonball set
This naughty guy for example: http://www.tf2outpost.com/trade/22972576
With the change to the inventory privacy settings last year to automatically make inventories private, this also means a LOT of Collector's sets are likely sitting in the backpacks of users who just never realised what they had was worth hundreds of dollars.

If the owner is wise, they can make a good profit.
Considering the original owners of the item got them by simply playing the game, they can easily turn them over for pure keys and use them to kickstart trading in TF2 and beyond, having invested zero funds. Or, if they're like me, devote themselves almost exclusively to buying and selling in this quality (and making more then $5000 in the process)

Though never formally mentioned by Valve, or any authority, Collector's Chemistry sets are almost universally accepted to not be dropping anymore. This is evidenced by no Collector's sets having an original item ID above 2,870,037,891 (Shoutout to Toxins: Thanks for confirming this!) This corresponds to the August 13, 2014 Patch, where it is assumed the drops of Collector's sets ended (again, without notification from Valve). This means the drops ended shortly after the Love and War Update, as a few Collector's sets for the Air Strike, Base Jumper, Classic and Back Scatter do exist.

Stats.tf is a valuable resource for discerning just how rare Collector's items are in the grand scheme of the TF2 economy.
On http://stats.tf/cat/weapons/14
You can see that the most common Collector's item is the Escape Plan, with close to 300. Other items lag significantly behind in terms of completed versions. The site does not track the amount of Collector's chemistry sets.
Multi-Class collector's items such as the Conscientious Objector, or Bat Outta Hell, are far rarer then the other weapon sets. At this time, there are only 15 complete Collector's Bat Outta Hells that exist - and they retail at 90 keys (http://backpack.tf/stats/Collector%27s/Bat%20Outta%20Hell/Tradable/Craftable). But good luck finding someone who'll sell that low.

Festive Collector's items, are a different kettle of fish. Rather then the chemistry sets being found as a timed drop, they were actually unboxed in the 2013 Smissmas Crates for a limited time. They are similarly made by adding 200 unique varients to the chemistry set to create one Collector's version. This could run the cost upward of $100 to build a set.

However, these items, rare as they may appear, are common compared to...

Stats.tf also keeps track of how many Collector's Cosmetic Items exist too:
http://stats.tf/cat/cosmetics/14

As you can see, we're dealing with clean vintage shortstop or gibus level of rarity stuff here. This is where the $100-$2000 items can come from.

On the lower end of the spectrum, you may find a Collector's Doctor's Sack set. On the other hand, you might find a Collector's Killer Exclusive Chemistry set.
The difference being, one will probably net you 40-50 keys, the other would get you 1000+.
One look at the spreadsheet of values on backpack.tf shows you the wide sprawl of value in Collector's items: http://backpack.tf/pricelist/spreadsheet

Collector's items are always going to be a niche market. A lot of the sales on items such as the Cosmetics are the first of their kind, but all signs point to them rising.
There's several arguments for it, but the basic reason is that they're no longer dropping. What's here is all we've got. That, and the majority of Collector's items we know about, are no longer on the market, and with people who would not sell for any price.

Collector's weapons are a different story. A glance through the classifieds will show you that there are plenty, which indicates that even with only 100 or so in existence, a market can be clogged. A few are good investments, such as the Love and War Weapons, which have significantly fewer sets that exist, as well as the multi-class Bat Outta Hell and Conscientious Objector. Items such as the Gunboats with no Strange variant are also highly valued.

A common strategy for selling a Collector's item is to build the chemistry set to 199/200 complete, before selling. I have done this multiple times in the past, and it's a credible thing to do for several reasons.
a. You do all the work, so the future owner doesn't have to collect 200 of the unique item themselves.
b. They can be the first person in the history of the item (when the chemistry set is crafted, the item that comes out starts a new history).
c. It can be effectively priced as the complete Collector's item on Backpack.tf

I personally moderate a Steam Group dedicated to Collector's quality Cosmetics: http://gtm.you1.cn/groups/Hat_Collectors
We also have compiled a list of known Collector's cosmetic owners (set or complete item), for the benefit of the community, either out of curiousity or if they are seeking specific collector's items to make their dream item sets:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13mhPpAJEzHXTh3_J-qNNXkdVOLuMMt-gCGJrnYmyEbY/

Collector's Quality can also function as Dual Quality. With the use of strangifiers, you can create items such as a Strange Collector's Professional Killstreak Widowmaker. With the introduction of these strangifiers for items, the Collector's version of the item takes a sharp rise in value, as evidenced here: http://gtm.you1.cn/market/listings/440/Collector's%20Widowmaker%20Chemistry%20Set

This also applies to Cosmetics, so you can also get charming items like this:
Obviously, this is another means to capitalise on Collector's quality if you so wish, or if you just want to pimp out a Strange Collector's weapon.

It's a somewhat superfluous question, but seeing as the only difference Collector's items APPEAR to make is changing the text of the item you've got equiped to dark red and adding the word 'Collector's' to it, I suppose it's valid.

It's not an easy question to answer, as a collector myself I feel compelled to say only that the fact that you 'created' the item, building it from a chemistry set to a complete, unique item is immensely gratifying. It's the payoff of working towards something personal that completes an item set, or as an icon. Here's a few of my own personal creations:



In a sense it's far better as a demonstration of rare and desireable then rare vintages ever can be, as most exist as a result of glitches; whilst collector's items are the result of hard work to collect 200 and build to completion. For that reason as well as their immense rarity, especially concerning cosmetics; you get sales like this: http://backpack.tf/vote/id/5518038bb88d88d7108b47f0

I've personally sold the One of a Kind Collector's Tuxxy Chemistry set with all 200 Tuxxy's to go with it for 500 pure keys: http://backpack.tf/vote/id/5595f450ba8d88be178b457c

And now as I'm in possession of the Collector's Graybanns, it seems like there may be greater heights Collector's items can be valued at. (edit: sold for 790 keys in items/other collectors items)

In conclusion to this, it's really just because people are willing to pay this much to own something that no one else can.

Yes. But also because humans are hunter-gatherers by evolutionary progress, and it's immensely satisfying to have something no one else does.
Also seems a bit superfluous to think paying $1000 for Red Text is crazy in an economy where people have paid $16,000+ for burning particles on a virtual hat.

As previously mentioned, Collector's items originate in Chemistry sets. As pricing chemistry sets has only recently been implemented on Backpack.tf, a lot remain unpriced, leaving owners of potentially valuable items in the dark as to how rare or desired the item may be.

As such, we've seen the tragic losses of sets for items like the Collector's Brown Bomber, Antlers or Human Cannonball take place; items easily over a few hundred dollars, if not towards the thousands.

The goal with this guide is to ideally bring this injustice to light, so Collector's items that haven't seen the light of day; like a Collector's Coffin Kit, Crone's Dome, Executioner, Merc's Pride Scarf, and countless others can exist.

How can we allow this? Check your backpacks. Search through any Chemistry sets you have BY NAME. If anything starts with 'Collector's', it could be worth a veritible fortune.

Even if you do not value these items to the same extent as collector's of my ilk, please bring this PSA to the attention of friends and aquaintences who've played TF2 in the past, or still do. They could be in possession of something someone would drop $1000+ on having.

Thank you for reading this guide, and here's hoping it can bring more Collector's items to light. I'll always be interested in any cosmetics you can dig up, so feel free to add me if you come across something of that ilk.