The rarity of skins greatly influences their price, which is not surprising: if many players are interested in purchasing an item, and its market supply is limited, the price is likely to increase. Therefore, skins that are no longer replenished on the market have a significant potential for price growth. Their number can only decrease, for example, if one of the owners loses access to their account, but no new instances are dropping. Here are a few examples of such skins for CS2.
M4A4 Howl and other skins from the Huntsman case
The most famous skin in this category is the M4A4 Howl. Initially, its price was not too high, but it soon turned out that its designer had used an image for which he did not have rights. Valve first changed the design of the skin, then removed it from the Huntsman case altogether, giving the weapon a "Contraband" status.
Furthermore, five other skins disappeared from the Huntsman case because they were created by the same skin designer who borrowed another designer's work for the "Howl". Unlike the latter, however, they were not completely removed: although they no longer drop from the case, they can still be obtained through Trade-up contracts. Such skins include USP-S Orion and Mac-10 Curse.
As a result, a paradoxical situation arises where "blue" skins, which drop more frequently, become rare because they are used in trade-up contracts. Thus, new instances of CZ75-Auto Poison Dart, P90 Desert Warfare, and Dual Berettas Retribution from this case can no longer be obtained: they do not drop from it and cannot be targeted by a contract, as they fall into the "Mil-Spec" category. Although they do not look as impressive as the "Howl," they also belong to the category of skins available only in limited quantities.
Rare and replaced stickers
Similar changes have occurred with stickers: developers first changed the design of the Howling Dawn sticker, then removed it from the capsule entirely. In addition, three other stickers created by the "offending" skin designer were replaced. One of them, Harp of War, has a holographic coating. Its price can exceed a thousand dollars—the design is quite remarkable, and there are no new instances to acquire. The costs of other stickers removed from the capsule — Winged Diffuser, King on the Field and Howling Dawn—are also measured in hundreds of dollars.
However, that is not the limit: there is at least one case where an item exists in not two but three versions. It's about the inexpensive sticker Death Comes. Its original version was found to be borrowed from another artist, so it was replaced with another — the one currently seen in the game. A third version was created because the use of bones and skeletons in games is prohibited in China. Hence, developers had to create another variation.
Other cases of skin replacement
Another skin whose appearance was changed due to copyright issues is the M4A4 Griffin from the Vanguard collection. This time, however, Valve did not grant the old version a special "Contraband" status and simply altered the design.
Relatively recently, a similar story occurred with AWP Doodle Lore. This sniper rifle skin in CS2 was removed and replaced with AWP Duality. As with the Griffin, the old version cannot be purchased: the replacement affected all existing instances owned by players, and they were transformed into the new version. It can be assumed that Valve will continue to solve similar problems in the same way, so M4A4 Howl will remain unique.
Note that while the value of rare skins often increases over time, other factors, including the popularity of a specific skin, can influence their price. Therefore, if you consider such a purchase as a capital investment, carefully study how the price has changed over time. And when you decide on your choice, check out LIS-SKINS — many of these rarities can be found in our catalog at very attractive prices.
