Discontinued rare items

Discontinued items and holiday drops are items which are no longer obtainable. Because of this, players often refer to these items as rares.

Rare items are items that were discontinued. These items are now very few in number and are very expensive. They were taken out of the game for unknown reasons made by Jagex. Holiday drops are items that were dropped on certain holidays. These items are now very expensive and are often worn by players to show their wealth or for fashion.

Before December 22, 2003
When RuneScape Classic was still known as RuneScape, Jagex decided that they would drop items randomly across RuneScape on certain holidays.

On Easter, Halloween, and Christmas, Jagex would drop a certain item. For example, in December 2001 during Christmas, Jagex dropped 'Christmas Crackers'. These christmas crackers could only be obtained during a certain day during December. When a player walked around RuneScape, they may have seen a christmas cracker pop up out of nowhere on the ground nearby. This was how the items were dropped.

Originally dropped for fun, Jagex kept this going on for a few more years. Every Christmas, Halloween, and Easter, an item would be dropped. Unfortunately, players began to notice that these items could not be obtained any more unless they were bought from other players. Seeing this, players began to buy the holiday items low, and then sell them at an incredibly high price. This started the rise in the prices for holiday items. Players were also angry that they missed the drops. Players would complain to Jagex demanding that they redo the drop. Jagex decided to make the next few drops untradable. However, this only enraged players even more.

Jagex, realizing what was happening, decided to stop holiday drops, as players were becoming too greedy. On December 22, 2003, Jagex put an announcement on RuneScape's main page, saying that they were deceasing holiday drops. From then on, items were not dropped on holidays for some time.

After December 22, 2003
A year passed and no holiday drop was made. However, on December 21, 2004, Jagex changed that. Santa was placed in the game and gave a holiday item to players who talked to him. After this, holiday items were no longer tradable. Instead of the items being dropped, Jagex introduced tasks players had to complete to obtain the holiday item.

Tradable Holiday Items
The items listed below are all tradable holiday items.

When a player dies, they keep their three most valuable items. However, the items kept are based on the prices they can be sold for at general stores. For example, a player will lose a blue party hat to a rune platebody if they die as general stores buy blue party hats for 1 coin while rune platebodies can be sold for around 20,000 coins to a general store.

When these items were dropped, players were able to grab as many as they could. For example, a player may have found a pile of pumpkins near Falador and taken them all. This is how players got more than one tradable holiday item.

Pumpkin
Pumpkins were the first holiday items that were dropped on October 31, 2001. They are edible, meaning players could eat them. They heal 14 hitpoints when eaten.

Christmas Cracker
Christmas Crackers were dropped on December 25, 2001. They contain a party hat and a random item. To open it, players have to use it with another player, and they would pull it. Once opened, one player would get a party hat, and the other player would get a miscellaneous item of little value.

Party Hat
Party hats came from using Christmas Crackers on other players; one player got a random item, the other a party hat. There are six party hats, each with a different colour. They can be worn on a player's head and resemble a crown. They give no stat enhancements.

Easter Egg
Easter eggs were dropped on April 20, 2002. They are edible, just like pumpkins. They heal 12 hitpoints when eaten.

Halloween Mask
Halloween masks were dropped on October 31, 2002. There are three different coloured masks. When worn, they cover the player's entire face. They give no stat bonuses.

Santa Hat
Santa hats were dropped on December 25, 2002. Players can wear them on their head. They give no stat bonuses.

Untradable Holiday Items
The items listed below are all untradable holiday items.

Bunny ears
Bunny ears were dropped on Easter 2003. They were the first untradable holiday drop. When they were dropped, players were only allowed to grab one. If a player tried to grab another one, in their chatbox they would see the message, "You don't need another pair of bunny ears, you only have 1 head". If a player lost their bunny ears, they could go to Thessalia's Fine Clothes in Varrock and ask for another pair. When worn, the player looks like they have tall bunny ears. They give no stat bonuses.

Scythe
Scythes were dropped on October 31, 2003. When they were dropped, players were only allowed to grab one. If a player tried to grab another one, in their chatbox they would see the message, "You already have a scythe, you don't need another one". If a player lost their scythe, they could go to Thessalia's Fine Clothes in Varrock and ask for another. Players could wield it as a weapon, though it gave weak attack bonuses. Scythes were the last holiday items to be dropped due to massive complaining from players about them.

Scythes were re-dropped later in the day because players from North America complained that they missed the drop due to work/school.

Yo-Yo
Santa was placed as an NPC in Varrock, Falador, Ardougne, Catherby, and Yanille on December 21, 2004, for about two weeks. Players could talk to him and ask for a present. The present he gave was a yo-yo. Santa would only give one yo-yo to each player. Players can right click on the yo-yo and select tricks that other players can see. It cannot be wielded. If a player lost their yo-yo, they could go to Diango in Draynor Village and ask for another.

Rubber Chicken, Easter 2005
On March 21, 2005, Jagex placed an easter bunny in Falador as an NPC. Players could talk to the bunny and ask for a task. When asked, she would give players a basket containing some chocolate eggs, usually around 3. Players had to give the eggs to other players under 2 minutes to win an item. Players had to equip the basket to give the eggs. When the basket was equipped, if a player moved around, they would skip. Wielding the basket allowed player to right-click other players and select a 'Give egg' option. Clicking on this option would give the other player an egg. When all the eggs in the basket were all gone, the player could go back to the easter bunny for their reward - a rubber chicken. The eggs and the easter bunny were removed after two weeks. Players could eat the eggs, making them do a chicken dance. The rubber chikcen can be equipped, give players attack bonuses. When equipped, players can hit other players with it. When unequipped, players could right-click on it and select a dance option, making them do a chicken dance.

Zombie Head - Halloween 2005
On October 31, 2005, zombies were placed in Lumbridge Swamp and kids were placed in Lumbridge. They remained in the game for about a week and were then removed. If a player right-clicked on the the zombies, they could talk to them or insult them. When a player insulted them, their heads would fall off and the player had to catch it. Scaring a zombie also gave players the 'scared' emote. When they caught the head, it appeared in their inventory. Players can right-click the head and talk with it or select actions which other players can see. The head cannot be equipped. If a player lost the head, they could go back to Lumbridge Swamp and dig with a spade to find another head. Kids could scare the 'trick or treating' kids in Lumbridge with the zombie head, making them drop candy. Players could also treat the kids with money. The candy was untradable and came in different colours: red, blue, green, and purple. For insulting a Zombie south of Lumbridge you not only unlocked the 'Scared' emote, but also made a Zombie lose his head!

Hats and scarves - Christmas 2005
A bumper selection of items, for doing a rather tedious series of favours. This event ran about a fortnight.

These items could not be dropped, but had to be destroyed if you wanted to dispose of them. The "destroy" action also informed players of how to recover the item, and can be expected to be used for subsequent holiday items as well. This function was implemented in an attempt to eliminate item duplication.
 * Set of 4 hats: For making 8 boxes of marionettes and delivering to the gate near Doric's
 * Set of 4 scarves: For painting 8 boxes of Christmas decorations
 * A usable marionette: For decorating the Varrock Christmas tree with a further 5 boxes of decorations.  The marionette looks like a block-like figure of a man and is red, green or blue.

Easter Ring
Compare Ring of Stone. On April 10, 2006, easter bunnies were placed south of Falador and northwest of Varrock. These bunnies were confused, and instead of handing them out to children, they buried them! What players had to do was get a spade and start digging on the locations where bunnies buried eggs (shown by a small mound). There was a special egg, one that was blue with yellow zig-zag stripes. This egg would unlock the bunny hop emote if eaten and turn the eater into a bunny. This does not serve any purpose, except if you use it on a bunny hole where bunnies come out. Then you turned into a bunny and went down the warrens. When you reaches the center, the Easter Bunny would tell you to get eggs and give them to children, since the bunnies he enlisted weren't doing the job. Once you delivered the eggs, the Easter Bunny would give you a ring that can turn you into a nonmovable egg. Players may only chat in egg form, and any other actions result in the player reverting to a human again. If the ring is lost, players can retrieve it again from Diango.

Discontinued Items
These items can no longer be obtained in the game other than purchasing them from other players.

Disk of Returning
Previously in RuneScape there was an area known as the Black Hole, where rule breakers were held. Normal players could visit this area by purchasing a disk of returning from an NPC named Thordur. Players could enter the hole and spin the disk when they wished to exit. The Black Hole was later taken out of the game, and so was Thordur. Jagex allowed players to keep any disks they had purchased from Thordur.

Half full wine jug
Players could originally take two drinks of wine. However, JAGeX found that the ability to heal 14 from a food that was so easy to obtain that didn't require trading with another player or leveling up two skills they altered it so that players could only drink wine in one whole drink. The healing bonus was then dropped dramatically. There are now very few of these items in the game as most of them have been accidentally (or deliberately) consumed or now reside in the banks of banned accounts.