Partyhat

Partyhats, also abbreviated phats, are obtained by opening Christmas crackers, dropped during the 2001 Christmas event. There are six different coloured partyhats, all with the same shape. When worn by a player they resemble a crown. Because they are discontinued, they are very rare and much sought after. Partyhats can usually fetch billions of coins when sold, however they don't give any stat bonuses and are usually worn to show wealth. The white partyhat is the most expensive item in the game with the blue partyhat coming in at second. You will most likely gain money from cracking a Christmas cracker. These are currently some of the most valuable objects in RuneScape. Due to the addition of "Free trade/Wilderness" Partyhats are now used as a cash holder, because of the gold coin limit of 2.147B. In Runescape Classic, the price of partyhats (especially the purple partyhat) was drastically changed after players abused this glitch by creating many partyhats. (See Partyhat duplication glitch for more info.) Due to their high price, they have become recognised as a symbol of wealth in the game by players and non-player characters alike.

Over time, the volume of partyhats has been diminishing. The much smaller number of players when partyhats were released meant that not as many were acquired when available. Also, at the time of the release, partyhats were virtually worthless, meaning many players discarded them immediately. The majority of the few players who held onto them eventually quit runescape or were banned, leaving the number of active players with party hats at a very, very low number. Other hi-scoring players, just before quitting RuneScape, are known to have discarded Partyhats to ease rising prices on items (dropping a blue partyhat, for example, would be the equivalent of taking nearly one billion coins out of the economy).

Surprisingly, partyhats do play a pivotal role in the RuneScape economy. Players will use these items as investments, cash placements, staken items, and collectables. They are used as cash holders for players because of the stability of the item. Majority of partyhats are traded in world 2 around the grand exchange, but some players wishing to buy or sell a partyhat may either have to advertise on the RuneScape forums, leave it in the Grand Exchange for possibly months, or trade at much lower/higher prices to accommodate the few players that are willing to trade party hats.

The partyhats
There are six partyhat colours: blue, white, red, green, yellow, and purple. Each partyhat is worth a different price. Price value greatest to least of each colour is: blue, white, red, green, yellow, and purple. Pink Party Hats did exist in RuneScape Classic, although all Partyhats were just named "Partyhat." They were distinguishable by the colour of the item. The item which in RuneScape today is called the "Purple Partyhat" was coloured Pink in RuneScape Classic.

Jagex's stance on partyhats
Jagex have stated that they do not wish to recreate the effect that partyhats have had on RuneScape's economy. This is the reason that tradeable holiday drops were replaced with events with untradeable rewards.

Trivia

 * When examined, partyhats say "A nice hat from a cracker.", which refers to Christmas cracker, which when pulled gave a partyhat and a few other items.
 * When examined in Runescape Classic, partyhats say "Party!!!".
 * It is rumoured that it was no longer possible to High Level Alchemy or Low Level Alchemy a partyhat. This is not true, the partyhat will simply disappear. The player however, will be prompted with a confirmation message as for all items with a Grand Exchange value of 500,000 coins or higher.
 * Previously bald players with partyhats grew hair when wearing one. This has been fixed by Jagex.
 * A graphical glitch that came out few months back allowed hair to stick out of the partyhat. It also enables you to see your hairdo, when in fact most hairdos cannot be seen whist wearing a partyhat. Un-equipping & re-equipping the partyhat will cause the latter to happen. The glitch can be induced again by re-logging in to Runescape.
 * Partyhats have become the most expensive wearable items that offer no bonuses.
 * The Wise Old Man has an updated version of a partyhat, which has not been updated for players. Jagex stated at the time of release of Love Story that players would not receive this update (the Wise Old Man was updated at the release of Love Story).
 * When pulling a Christmas cracker it says "Hey I got the cracker!" Although one receives a partyhat and the other a random item.