TF2 Item Qualities Explained
Every item in Team Fortress 2 has a quality, shown by the color of its name and sometimes by a word in front of it, such as "Strange" or "Vintage". The quality tells you where the item came from and whether it has any special features. It also has a big effect on how much other players value the item in trades. If you have ever wondered why two copies of the same hat have different colored names, this guide is for you.
Quick reference table
| Quality | Where it comes from | What makes it special |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | Stock weapons every player starts with. | Default loadout items. Cannot be traded. |
| Unique | Drops, crafting, crates and the store. | The standard quality for most items. |
| Strange | Crates, Strangifiers, contracts and the store. | Counts kills or other stats and gains rank names. |
| Vintage | Items that existed before the Mann-Conomy update in 2010. | A piece of TF2 history; can no longer be obtained new. |
| Genuine | Promotions, pre-orders and partner games. | Proof of taking part in a specific promotion. |
| Unusual | Opening crates and cases (very rare). | Animated particle effect on hats or weapons. |
| Haunted | Halloween events. | Seasonal spooky versions of items. |
| Collector's | Crafted using Chemistry Sets. | Collectible version of an existing item. |
| Decorated | War Paints and skin cases. | Weapons with painted skins and wear levels. |
| Community / Self-Made | Given by Valve to contributors and item creators. | Extremely rare; usually has a sparkle effect. |
| Valve | Valve employees only. | Not obtainable by regular players. |
The qualities you will see most often
Unique
Unique is the yellow quality that most items have. Almost everything you get from the weekly item drops is Unique. Despite the name, there is nothing rare about it. Unique weapons are the ones you will smelt into metal using the crafting system.
Strange
Strange items have orange names and keep track of a statistic, usually kills. As the counter rises, the item earns new rank names that appear in front of its name, from fairly modest titles up to impressive ones for very high counts. Strange Parts can be attached to count extra stats, such as kills on a specific class. Strange items are popular because they show off your playtime with a favorite weapon.
Vintage
Vintage items have dark blue names. They are copies of items that players owned before the Mann-Conomy update of September 2010, when Valve introduced the item store and trading in its modern form. Because no new Vintage items can be created, they are a small piece of the game's history and collectors value them.
Genuine
Genuine items have dark green names and are tied to promotions, such as buying a partner game or pre-ordering a product. Each Genuine item tells a little story about how its original owner got it.
The rare and special qualities
Unusual
Unusual items have purple names and an animated particle effect, such as flames, bubbles or orbiting objects. They are the most famous rare items in TF2 and come mainly from opening crates and cases, where the chance of finding one is very low. Because of this, Unusual items are usually the most expensive items in the trading community. If you are tempted to buy keys to chase an Unusual, remember that each opening is random and most players open many crates without ever seeing one.
Haunted
Haunted items have bright green-teal names and come from Halloween events. They are often special versions of Halloween cosmetics and are associated with the game's seasonal celebrations.
Collector's
Collector's items have dark red names. They are made with Chemistry Sets, which list a group of items you must provide in order to create a Collector's version of a specific item. They are mostly of interest to dedicated collectors.
Decorated
Decorated weapons are covered in a War Paint or skin pattern and have a wear level, from Factory New down to Battle Scarred. They arrived with the skin and case updates and are a popular way to customize your favorite weapons.
Community, Self-Made and Valve
These three are the rarest of all because they are not available to regular players. Community items reward people who contributed to TF2, Self-Made items are given to the creators of items accepted into the game, and Valve-quality items belong to Valve staff. Seeing one in a match is genuinely unusual.
Can an item have more than one quality?
Yes. Some items combine qualities. A common example is a Strange Unusual: an Unusual hat with a kill counter attached. In the item's tooltip, the primary quality determines the name color, while the secondary one is shown in the description or name.
How qualities affect value
In general, the rarer and older a quality is, the more traders value it. Unique items are the most common, Strange items carry a moderate premium, and Vintage, Genuine and especially Unusual items are worth considerably more. Before you smelt or trade anything that is not plain Unique, take a moment to check what it is worth. You might be holding something more valuable than you think.
Summary
The color of an item's name is a quick summary of its origin and features. Yellow Unique items are everyday drops, orange Strange items track stats, blue Vintage and green Genuine items tell historical and promotional stories, and purple Unusual items are the rare showpieces of the TF2 economy. Knowing these qualities helps you avoid accidentally melting a valuable item and makes trading much easier.