Holiday items

In RuneScape, holiday items play an integral part in the economy. Holiday items are, if released prior to 2003, very rare and of course very expensive. This is usually explained by two main factors:
 * Many players dropped the items when they were first released, as they are not valuable at the time. Thus, the current supply of these items is very low compared to the demand.
 * Items were only dropped on a certain holiday, so the amount of players who had a chance to get an item was quite low.

Holiday items have been distributed every year since 2001. However, a major change happened in 2003 - holiday items became untradeable. This was because Jagex were unhappy with the way some players were hoarding large amounts of holiday items, meaning that they could charge a much higher price. This meant that a lot of players didn't get any holiday items in 2003, as people couldn't trade items with friends who didn't play RuneScape during the holiday. There was even no Christmas drop in 2003.

2001 drops
2001 was the first year of the holiday drop. Players went around the world of RuneScape collecting holiday items, and many discarded them, as they did not realise that the price would increase to such a high price in the future.

Pumpkins
Pumpkins were dropped during Halloween in 2001, making them the first ever holiday item in RuneScape. In terms of their use as food, Pumpkins heal 14hp in one bite. They are particuarly rare because they were only dropped during Halloween, so fewer players got one. Some players also ate them as they healed a good amount of hp. The fact that they are the oldest holiday item also makes them rare, because it has been several years since there was a plentiful supply. As a result they sell for a large amount of money in the game.

Christmas Crackers
Christmas crackers were dropped on Christmas in 2001, and had a random coloured Party Hat inside, as well as another random item. Players used the Crackers on other players, making the cracker split open. One player got the Party Hat, the other got the random item. They became rare because many players opened them for the party hats, meaning that very few remain. Since they were dropped on Christmas, many players did not log into the game to receive any. These cost over 180 million gp nowadays and sellers are very rare, the only item that exceeds the christmas cracker in value is the blue party hat due to the fact you can wear it.



Party Hats
Party hats were dropped inside Christmas Crackers along with another random item (explained above). Party Hats come in a variety of colours (green, blue, purple, red, white, yellow) and can be worn on a player's head like any normal hat. Their rarity is due to the fact that they were dropped by some players because they were so common at the time. They are the one of the most valuable item in RuneScape, costing between 90 and 230 million gp and rising in value all the time.

2002 drops
Many players anticipated holiday drops in 2002. Jagex released a good variety of drops in 2002, on three holidays.

Easter Eggs
Easter Eggs were dropped on Easter in 2002. As food, they heal 12hp in one bite. This caused them to become rare in the long term, as many players ate the Easter Eggs because they were good at healing. The fact that they were only dropped on Easter also, as is the case with many holiday drops, meant that only a limited number of players got the item to start with.

Halloween Masks
Halloween Masks were dropped on Halloween 2002. They come in three colours: red, blue and green, and are worn on a player's head, covering the entire head model, replacing it with a head similar to a dragon. Red has historically been most expensive, and green, the least.

Santa Hats
Santa Hats were dropped on Christmas in 2002. They can be worn on a player's head like Party Hats. They became rare in RuneScape because they were only dropped on Christmas, so a limited number of players received one to start with,

Black Party Hats
There used to be Black Party Hats when the first drops happened but they were discontinued and the 3 or 5 that existed were turned into white party hats. They were so rare that people were complaining about not getting them so Jagex decided not to have them anymore.

2003 drops
2003 brought the introduction of untradeable holiday items. There was also no Christmas drop this year, as Jagex felt people were being too unfair while selling previous holiday items.

Bunny Ears
Bunny Ears were dropped on Easter 2003 and were the first non-tradable holiday drop in RuneScape. If a player tried to get another pair, it said "You don't need another pair of bunny ears, you only have 1 head". On the day, Jagex said that all future holiday drops would be untradable, as players were selling holiday items for millions of gp each, which was not what holiday items were introduced for - they were intended to be fun. Originally, if a player dropped them or died with them, they would reappear in their inventory. However, players must now request them back from Thesallia's clothing shop in Varrock.

Scythes
Scythes were dropped on Halloween 2003. Like Bunny Ears, they were (and still are) untradable. Also like Bunny Ears, if players tried to get another pair it wouldn't let them, saying "You already have a scythe you don't need another one". Players must go through the same procedure as with Bunny Ears to get back their Scythe if they lose it. When equipped it adds 10 to weapon power and 10 to aim.

2004 drops
Jagex brought back holiday items after a year without them (as there was no Christmas drop in 2003). On the 21st of December 2004, Jagex introuduced a new system where players received the item upon talking to a particular NPC. This NPC would be available for a certain time period around the holiday (usually a week either side of the actual day), enabling many more players to obtain the item.

Yo-Yo
Santa was placed in Runescape, in Varrock, Falador, Ardougne, Catherby and Yanille for 2 weeks. If a player talked to Santa, they received a Yo-yo, which is untradeable. Players can get their Yo-Yo replaced from Diango (an NPC) in Draynor.

2005 drops
In 2005, Jagex continued with their NPC approach to holiday item distribution, but players had to complete a task.



Rubber Chicken
The Easter Bunny was placed in Runescape, and told players to take a basket and hand easter eggs (not the same eggs as the 2002 holiday item) out to other players. When players walked or ran with this basket they skipped! Players had 2 minutes to give out the 7 different eggs to others. The eggs melted after 2 weeks, so there was little point keeping them. When the 2 minutes were up players had to talk to the Easter Bunny again, who gave out a Rubber Chicken, which could be used to "whack" people with (by right clicking them). Players could also dance like a chicken by right clicking on the item. Rubber Chickens are fairly common (especially compared to other holiday items) as players kept them in their bank. However, they are rarely seen because players seldom take them out and wield them.

Zombie Head
Zombie Heads was released for Halloween 2005. Players got one by finding a zombie in the Lumbridge Swamp that had an "insult" option. When insulted, the zombie dropped his head. The head would then fly away and players had to catch it. Once caught, players could ask it useless questions, display it (show it to other players), talk to it or drop it. If dropped, players could retrieve it by digging in the Lumbridge Swamps. The Zombie Head was, and remains, untradeable.

Players could also use their Zombie Head, to "trick" children that were trick or treating in Lumbridge. This would cause a child to walk backwards and drop some sweets. If players selected the "treat" option, they could give any amount of coins to the child. Sweets were untradeable and came in red, blue, green and purple. After the 7th of November, the children and the sweets disappeared, but anyone who was able to get a Zombie Head could keep it.

Wooly Hat
For Christmas 2005, four different wooly hats were available. Players would talk to Diango in Draynor Village and volunteer to help out in his workshop. They would then make puppets and put them in boxes. The puppets had a head, a torso, arms, legs, and strings that the pixies would attach. There were 3 colours of puppets (red, blue, and green). One box held two of each colour. After filling the boxes, they would deliver them to a Stranger near the members gate northwest of Falador. They would then talk to Diango to get their hats. After filling:

The hats are non tradable and can be redeemed from Diango if lost. The workshop was locked up after Christmas 2005, and all puppet related items were removed.

Wooly Scarf
Part of the Christmas 2005 event involved four wooly scarves. Players would volunteer to help out in Diango's workshop. On the upper level, they would paint Christmas tree baubles and put them in boxes. There were 5 colours (red, blue, yellow, green, and pink). Each box could hold one of each colour. After filling the boxes, players would need to talk to Rosie, the head pixie, in the workshop. They would then go to Diango to redeem their prize. The four scarves match the hats in terms of colours, and each requires the same amount of baubles. After Christmas 2005, the workshop was locked up and all baubles were removed. The non tradable scarves can be reclaimed from Diango.

Marionette
The other part of the Christmas 2005 event was a huge Christmas tree in Varrock. Players would need to bring 5 boxes of baubles and use them to decorate the tree. After completing the decoration, a present would appear. Inside was one of three marionettes (identical to the ones made in the workshop). These marionettes have several play options and were not removed from the game after Christmas 2005. The marionettes (non tradable) could be reclaimed by searching a crate in Draynor. Players could also get a different colour of marionette by dropping the one they had and searching the crate. The Christmas tree disappeared after Christmas 2005.

Christmas Baubles
These boxes of baubles were obtainable on Christmas 2005. Special Christmas Imps(different from imps found around Runescape) were released into the game and players were allowed to rob items from them by clicking on them - these items included flour,beads,baubles,etc. The baubles were then used for the special events on that day. Though it is rarely mentioned it's still a holiday item. There are 3 types of baubles(diamond,square,and star). The imps disappeared after Crhistmas 2005 and the baubles are now non tradeable.

Easter Ring
This was part of the Easter 2006 event, which was April 10th - 24th. South of Falador and Northwest of Varrock children from the Halloween 2005 event were placed. Rabbits also appeared in these two places. They were carrying special Easter eggs (different from the 2005 and 2002 eggs) and would bury them. Players would get a spade and head on over to one of the two areas to dig on the mounds for the easter eggs. One of the several different eggs allowed players to turn into a rabbit. This exact egg also unlocked the "Rabbit Hop" Emote. When a player ate the egg over a rabbit hole, he/she was taken underground where speakers were hypnotising many rabbits into delivering eggs. The player then went up an Easter Egg Chute and talked to the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny explained to the player that he was running late, so was hypnotising the rabbits into delivering eggs to children for him. When the Easter Bunny realised that the rabbits were merely burying the eggs, he gave the player the task of digging up and giving to children 10 eggs. Once he/she finished the task, he/she was given an Easter Ring from the Easter Bunny. This Easter Ring allowed players to become one of the several types of eggs. While being an egg, a player could not move, but they could talk. The rabbit holes have disappeared and the ring and eggs are now non tradable.

Discontinued Items
There are several items that could only be purchased or created in RuneScape Classic(only two of which still exist). They are rare because they can no longer be created or bought.

Half Full Jug of Wine
Early in the game, this item was the result of players drinking a full wine jug. Instead of emptying the jug, it became half full. Players could then drink the other half to empty the jug. Players can no longer drink a full jug of wine and have a half of a wine anymore; they just drink it all. This item only remains in the game because some players had them saved in their bank when the change was made.

Disk of Returning
There was once a black hole where Jagex put RuneScape's rule breakers. Players who had not broken the rules who wanted to visit the black hole could purchase a Disk of Returning from the shop outside of the blackhole for 10gp. Players could also bring Disks of Returning to their friends and others inside the Black Hole, if they wished to help them out, and these players often received rewards from who they released. To get out of the black hole, there was a right click option on the Disk - spin disk. The black hole and shop are no longer in the game because players would be tricked into dropping their disk of returning, thus trapping them inside.

Purple Runite
Origonally Runite armour was purple. After changing to a more cyan colour for runite, the old purple runite was removed.

Sleeping Bag
In RuneScape Classic there was fatigue. Fatigue caused players to get no experience while doing skills, and made it impossible to do certain skills, such as mining and woodcutting. It could be recovered by sleeping in a bed, or using a sleeping bag. When RuneScape Classic updated to the current version of RuneScape 2, fatigue was removed along with the sleeping bags.

Fatigue and sleeping bags still exist in RuneScape Classic however.

Miscellenious Holiday Items
Besides the event-only holiday items that were only given out in the day/weeks they have been hosted, there are particular holiday items that are attainable at any time, including today, by purchase. This has been especially noticeable nearby April Fool's Day at Diango's Toy Shop.

Toy Horsey
On some day near the release of RS2 in 2004, Toy Horseys were released into RuneScape in four different colours. The humor JaGeX based this item on was for the constant demand from RuneScape players to release horses into RuneScape. In such a humourous way, RuneScape has fulfilled their wishes.

The Toy Horsey, while in four different colours and purchasable for 150 coins from Diango's, has only one option "Play," which makes the player perform a small action of moving the Toy Horsey as such a child would, producing three possible quotes in doing such.
 * "Hi-ho, Silver! Awaaaaay!"
 * "Come on, Dobbin! We can win the race!"
 * "Neeeeaaahhy! Giddy-up, horsey!"

Spinning Plate
On April 4th, 2005, Spinning Plates were release into RuneScape(Diango states the shipment was supposed to arrive on April 1st, but they were held up as thieves thought they were dragon platebodies.). These plates have a picture of a Dragon on them. The humour JaGeX based this item on was for the constant demand from RuneScape players to release the "Dragon Platebody", which was often shortened to player-slang as "Dragon Plate," such a Dragon painted on a Plate. In such a humourous way, RuneScape has fulfilled their wishes.

The Spinning Plate, purchasable for 75 coins from Diango's, only has one option "Spin," which makes the player perform a small action of spinning the plate on their hand. Usually, the player fails to spin the plate properly and drops it, displaying the cry emote. Sometimes, the plate doesn't fall, prompting the player to cheer. When JaGeX first introduced the spinning plate, when it was dropped (which was much less frequent) it broke and a new one had to be bought. JaGeX removed this when players complained.



Yin/Yang amulet
In March 2006, apparently in response to one of the letters page requests, a copy of the Makeover mage amulet was released. It is purely decorative and does not provide any attributes or powers. It can be bought from the Makeover mage for 100 gp. Since not many people read the letters pages, not many people had the amulet. Fearing that dishonest scammers would take advantage of the false rarity of the amulet, JaGeX made the amulet untradable.



Why are Holiday Items so valuble?
Holiday Items are rare for four main reasons:
 * Merchants buy them for low prices and sell for higher ones, driving prices skyward.
 * Occaisionally some unlucky player will accidentally eat his pumpkin or easter egg, or die with his party hat and it will disappear, even though this is very rare.
 * They were dropped long ago and few survived before they became valuable.
 * The main reason, is that people are willing to pay more, because of inflation and there being more and more gp in Runescape's economy everyday.

Rumours Of a Black Party Hat
It has been rumoured that a black partyhat has existed. This has not been confirmed by a Jagex Moderator yet some say that Jagex Mod Andrew has one of his own. This too, has not been confirmed but it is said that the black party hat was changed to another colour because it was "not festive enough" so they changed it into a purple party hat.

Pink Party Hat
A previous party hat which got removed from the game is the pink partyhat. It does however still exist on RuneScape Classic, but when RuneScape 2 was released, all pink partyhats turned to purple partyhats.