Table of Contents
1.0 - Introduction
RuneScape history, as most of us are aware, is rich with secrets that once existed in the game, but now do not. One of the larger phenomenon's is the Holiday Drops and the now rare items that are remains of old RuneScape items. However, a lot of RuneScape players (especially the newer ones) are un-sure what and where these items came from and what they do. Here I will go in depth about every Holiday/Rare Item in existence. Over the course of 3 years, Jagex has had numerous "Holiday Drops". The drops occurred on Holidays, such as Halloween or Christmas, that were celebrated in majority of the RuneScape playing countries (which is why the Independence Days for countries are not drop times). On the drop days, Jagex would drop these items at random locations all around the map allowing players to search and pick up the items. At the end of the day, all items left on the ground would be deleted forever. Originally they were meant to be just a bit of fun for RuneScape players and encourage them to keep playing. But Jagex overlooked the fact that they would be valued at extremely high prices due to their availability from non-player resources only occurring once. Eventually these Holiday Items took over the RuneScape Economy and as time went on, more and more of them were lost due to deleted accounts, players dying and losing them and the items disappearing before anyone could recover them, and various other methods. Finally after receiving numerous complaints from ignorant players who didn't realize they were supposed to log in on Holidays and that they didn't get their item, Jagex officially decided to remove them in Mid-December of 2003. There are many different Holiday Rares, and here is where I will go in depth about each one. 2.0 - Christmas
Christmas Cracker
The Christmas Cracker was dropped on Christmas of 2001, and has changed Runescape in ways no-one could have imagined. The Christmas Cracker has a unique action it can perform, "pull cracker." If you were to select this action via right clicking the Cracker while its in your inventory, it will say pull cracker with which player. Simply use it on another player and fireworks will shoot off and both players will receive an item. 50% of the time you'll receive one of the six colour party hats (refer to next section) and the other 50% of the time you'll get a random item. It has been reported that these items may include: Rune Square Shields, Rune Long swords, Rune Short Swords, Rune Medium Helmets, and Adamant plate bodies (the complete list is not entirely known). The Christmas Cracker has always been the rarest of all Holiday items, for many players choose to pull their Crackers instead of holding onto them. The other factor that makes them all the rarer in this day and age was "The Great Dupe." To make a long story short, two players found a loop hole in RuneScape where they could combine an outside program with a glitch in RuneScape to duplicate any item in the game. They choose to duplicate Christmas Crackers, and have a massive party where they pulled all of the crackers they had with random players, releasing a massive amount of party hats into the RuneScape population and decreasing the amount of Crackers. The dupers were banned permanently from RuneScape but their profound effect on the Holiday Items will remain forever. You cannot wield the Christmas Cracker, so it's extremely difficult to tell how many are still in existence. My guess would be anywhere between 100 and 200 are still left in the game. As time goes on, the Crackers price goes higher and higher, due to most players who have them not wanting to trade them. Party Hats
Party Hats originated from the Christmas Cracker (see above). They come in six different colours: Purple, Red, Yellow, Green, White, and Blue. Each colour has a different rarity than another one, the better looking ones however are in higher demand, even if there the same amount of them. The prices are always changing, and they are the backbone of the RuneScape economy, making many players very rich through the art of merchanting (the buying and selling of goods). Now I will give a quick description of each colour Party Hat.
Santa Hat
Santa Hats were dropped in December of 2002, and are the last tradable Holiday Item before Jagex introduced the new system of holiday events, where the reward items are non-tradable. The hats were very popular amongst newer players during most of the earlier years due to their lower price and special look, however they have since become expensive and only the richer players can afford to buy them. During the month of December (or around Christmas time), the prices tend to skyrocket due to the high demand of everyone wanting a Santa Hat during the holiday season. Yo-yo's
On December 21st, 2004, Jagex introduced Santa to RuneScape in Varrock, Falador, Ardougne, Catherby and Yanille for roughly two weeks. Upon speaking to him, he will offer you a Christmas present, a yo-yo! If you obtained a yo-yo, you will be able to pull off some unique stunts with it. Play - The most basic yo-yo move. Like scythes, bunny ears and rubber chickens, you will not be able to get a yo-yo if you have not gotten one in 2004, but if you lose yours, the toy merchant Diango in Draynor Village will gladly give you a new one. Woolly Hats, Scarves, Baubles, and Puppets
During the week of Christmas - December 23rd, 2005, and continuing on till January 3rd 2006 - Jagex released a special Holiday Event. Diango, who makes toys in Draynor Village, was in need of players' help. The pixies he hired to work often got excited and ended up destroying the work they completed. Players had to go to Diango's Workshop, and make enough marionettes to fill 1, 2, 4 or 8 boxes. Each box held up to six marionettes, two of each of the three colours: Red, Blue and Green. Once the boxes were full, players had to deliver them to the hooded stranger near the gates to Taverley. Jagex also added a Christmas Tree to Varrock center. It hadn't been decorated at first glance, so each player was given the task of preparing the baubles and helping to decorate the tree in exchange for a reward. To make Baubles, players had to talk to Rosie (in Diango's workshop in north-east Draynor Village), and ask about making baubles. The eastern room of the Christmas dungeon held the un-painted baubles, so players had to grab five of each type and head west, to paint them. Upon completetion, players had to ask Rosie for a box to put them in, carrying only have one empty box at a time, they then had to give 1, 2, 4 or 8 full boxes to Rosie in order to get the four different types of scarves from Diango. In addition, players needed five boxes of baubles to decorate the tree in Varrock. Once players had the boxes, they headed to Varrock center and used them on the tree. Upon completion, they received a blue, green or red puppet as a reward.
Reindeer hats, and Christmas Trees
This Christmas event ran from 18th December 2006 until the end of the year. This year, the set task was to hunt down the fiendish Gublinch who had captured the childerkins for slavery. To save them, you had to team up with Shanty Claws, a furry drunken sailor on the small pier north-east of the Karamja Volcano. Upon arrival, he would brief you on your task. You must kill 10 Gublinch and collect the shards that they drop. To capture the Gublinch, you needed to collect snowballs. These were found on the south facing side of the Karajama volcano. Players collected around 50 snow balls and climbed down the nearby cave entrance. To capture a gublinch, players wielded their snowballs and clicked on a nearby monster. With a few snowballs, the gublinch froze and broke into shards. Players then had to collect 10 gublinch shards by pelting them with snowballs, then return to Shanty Claws. Players had to use their ten shards with the cages to trap ten gublinch, and then speak to Shanty to collect their reward. Both free players and members received a reindeer hat with matching red nose, whilst members received an additional gift, a wintumber tree which they can plant in their player owned houses. Keep in mind that the Wintumber Tree is for Members only. All f2p players who have completed the task will only receive their reindeer hats. Remember, if you do lose your reindeer hat or Wintumber Tree, you can always obtain it back from Diango, free of charge.
3.0 - Halloween
Pumpkins
The Pumpkin was the first Holiday Drop in RuneScape History. It was dropped on Halloween of 2001, making it the first ever holiday drop. The pumpkin cannot be equipped, but if you right click it, you will notice that it says "eat pumpkin." I would highly suggest that you not use this option, for you would lose your pumpkin, but if you were to it heals 14 hit points. However, the Pumpkin is very rare due to it being the first of the Holiday Items and the numerous times players have accidentally one-clicked it and in turn, ate their pumpkin. When selling or carrying your pumpkin it is highly advised to put it in note form to avoid any catastrophes. Halloween Masks
The Halloween Masks were dropped on Halloween of 2002. They come in three different colours: Red, Blue, and Green. I am just going to simplify them by placing all 3 colours in one description. The Masks can all be worn, and a lot of players like to look spooky or whatever so they are always wearing them around where they go. In terms of rarity/price, Red is the most expensive, Blue is in between Red and Green, and Green as you may have guessed already is the least expensive. There isn't really much to them other than that they look like a mutant bunny with horns.
Scythe
It was released on Halloween of 2003. They too were un-tradable, and this factor, amongst many others, were what caused the removal of Holiday Drops. The Scythe can be wielded, and it gives the following weapon stat bonuses: +3 stab, +8 slash, +3 crush, +10 strength, and it brings its own attack style, Reap, which functions just like the controlled attack on other weapons. You can only carry one of them, and if you happen to lose yours (you have to have had one at some point), go to the clothes store in central Varrock, and the store owner will give you another one. Players like to impersonate the grim reaper with this, so an idea would be to wear a Halloween mask, black robes, and wielding it. It is a two-handed weapon by the way, and it has the same attack speed of that of the Halberd. Zombie Head
On Halloween of 2005, Jagex added a few zombies to Lumbridge Swamps. Upon using the right-click "scare" option, one zombie would split in half and bounce around for a while, before reforming. If you had right-clicked and insulted a different zombie, he would have taken off his head for you to catch. In addition to the normal options, there was "talk at" "display" and "question" zombie head. Clicking talk at would make you kneel down, place the head at level to your head and say "Alas." Upon using the Display option, you would display the head in front of you, and shout "Mwuhahahaha!" Finally, questioning the zombie head would result in a few questions and answers, mostly pertaining to jokes about the zombie. These zombie heads are un-tradable, and are no longer obtainable. If you obtained a zombie head through the week of Halloween in 2005, and have lost it, you are capable of re-attaining it, by digging with a spade anywhere in Lumbridge Swamp. Through the week of Halloween in 2005, Jagex also added Children who were trick-or-treating throughout Lumbridge. The two options were "trick" or "treat." If you tricked them while holding a zombie head in your inventory, you would use the display option; the child would be so scared that it would drop some sweets, and run away a little, then shout "That was SO cool!"
Skeleton clothes and Pumpkin Head
On the 30th of October 2006 Jagex released a new Halloween Event. Players found themselves battling evil geists and chopping down an evil tree in Diango's workshop. Diango and the fairies needed you to get rid of these pests. Diango gave you a Ghost Buster 500 and destabiliser canisters which were used to dismiss those pesky ghosts into a another dimension. After killing three of each ghosts (red, blue, green, black, yellow) parts of the skeleton clothes were unlocked. Diango also wants you to get some roots from the Evil tree in the bottom floor of the workshop. Players had to tug its roots from behind to enter the dungeom below it, and chop off its roots with a woodcutting axe; once they had 10 evil roots they received a message indicating they've defeated the evil tree. Go back to Diango and retrieve your prize - a jack-o-lantern mask. Halloween '06 gave everyone (F2P & P2P) a chance to obtain a new costume and if you didn't get the scare emotion in Halloween 2005 you were able to unlock it by destabilising one geist. If you lose your halloween clothes, speak to Diango and he will return them to you. 4.0 - Easter
Easter Eggs
Easter Eggs were dropped on Easter of 2002. The Easter Egg cannot be wielded, but like the pumpkin, it can be eaten. Although again not highly suggested, the egg will heal 12 hit points when eaten. Its rarity is very hard to determine due to its prices always jumping around. I value the Easter Egg just above the pumpkin, due to its colourfulness making it stand out a little more in my bank or inventory. Again, it is suggested that you put the egg in note form if you are going to sell/carry it around. Bunny Ears
Bunny Ears were the first of the two un-tradable Holiday Items. They were dropped on Easter of 2003, and brought much anger towards Jagex due to every player only being able to hold one and they were un-tradable. Bunny Ears are worn on your head, and tend to look good with darker clothing due to its bright pink colour making it stand out more on a darker surface. Unfortunately, if you weren't playing/logged in on that day, there is no other way to get one. If you drop your bunny ears, just visit the clothing store in Varrock and speak to the owner to get them back. Rubber Chicken
For Easter during the 2005 year, Jagex had an Easter Bunny hopping around. Players who spoke to the bunny and helped him pass out Easter eggs would be given a rubber chicken. The rubber chicken has 2 special options on it besides 'wield'. When the chicken is in your inventory you can right click on it and choose to 'dance'. This dance is a chicken dance where you flap your 'wings' and scratch the ground with one foot. The other option is one when you wield the chicken and right click on a player, is the option to 'whack' the player. You cannot obtain the chicken unless you helped the Easter Bunny. If you drop your rubber chicken, speak to Diango in Draynor Village to get it back. Easter Rings
The Easter bunny returned in Easter of 2006, bringing a whole host of cute little worker-bunnies to the south-west of Falador and north-west of Varrock! These bunnies were hypnotised into taking Easter eggs to the surface to give out to children. This is where you stepped in. The Easter bunny gave out Easter Rings to those humans who assisted him, by giving out ten Easter eggs to the children. To firstly collect Easter eggs, players needed to grab a spade, and dig up some closed rabbit holes just near the Crafters' guild. After collecting at least eleven Easter eggs (two being 'magic' Easter eggs, noticeable by their blue colour and gold shapes), players were to give out ten to the children, making sure they didn't give out the magical egg. Once they had done so, players had to eat their magic eggs over the top of the open rabbit holes. Here they'd be transformed into a rabbit, and sucked into the rabbit tunnels. Each player had to find their way to the center of the tunnels, and go up the chute to see the Easter Bunny. After speaking to it for a while, it gave each player an Easter Ring. The Easter ring, when worn, morphs you into an Easter egg; the type of Easter egg (chocolate, caramel, nougat, orange, toffee, magic) is random. Unlike the Easter eggs which melted and turned into chocolate dust on April 24th, the Easter Ring stuck around. While this is utterly and completely useless, it does make a fairly neat party trick: especially if the entire party transforms into eggs. Chicken Suit
Easter 2007 brought back the Easter Bunny with a new problem! Diango delivered him chocolate kebbits instead of bunnies! Players had to help him catch the kebbits and get the supplies to turn them into bunnies. To begin, players had to head towards the crafting guild, south-west of Falador and they would bump into the bunny. He would first ask players to catch ten chocolate kebbits in the rabbit warren, place them into a special containment room where they would then bowl easter eggs into the caught kebbits to make chocolate chunks. Players then had to pick up ten chocolate chunks and return them to the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny would then reward each player chicken legs and chicken feet, before asking them to find a bunny mould in a cabbage patch whilst they dodged an angry farmer. After collection of the rabbit mould and return of it to the Easter Bunny, players were rewarded with the chicken head and chicken wings. In addition to the chicken suit, when players ate the magic egg to allow them to turn into a rabbit - small enough to go to the cabbage patch - they were awarded the bunny hop emote. When players now wear their chicken suits, if they have accessed the flap emote from the Stronghold of Security, they will have an enhanced flap emote where they will float off the ground a little. 5.0 - Miscellaneous Events & items
April Fools - Spinning Plate
On April 4th 2005, a new toy was available for sale at Diango's. There is nothing special about the Spinning plate, except that you could have countless seconds of fun spinning it. Although not rare, this item is considered a holiday item as it was released three days after a fairly well known day, April Fools. The reason for its release is due to the large amount of player suggestions of implementing Dragon platebody's into the game, to add to the dragon armour set. April Fools - Toy Horseys
On April 2004, a new set of toys were available for sale at Diango's, a new Toy seller who appeared mysteriously in Draynor Village. As an April Fools joke, Jagex released Toy Horseys, which comes in four different colours: Tan, White, Black and Grey. When playing with your Horsey, you can say random things like "Neaahhhyyy! Giddy-up horsey!"; "Hi-ho Silver, and away!"; "Come-on Dobbin, we can win the race!". The reason for its release is due to the large amount of players suggesting horses as a means of transportation.
6.0 - Discontinued Items
Rare Items are items that originally had a function but are now completely useless and impossible to find from any non-player resource, thus there are a limited amount of them. Half-Wines
Originally in RuneScape, you drank a jug of wine in two doses. If you drank one dose, the wine changed to a "Half Jug of Wine." Jagex decided later that wine should be 1 dose, but after removing the ability to drink it in 2 doses they realized their error in leaving the Half-Wine in the game still. By the time they figured it out, players had already incorporated it in the economy. It is possible to drink the Half-Wine, so it's only use isn't just to look at. Its price jumps around all over the place, depending on the seller. Disk of Returning
After RuneScape had been around for about a year, Jagex released the "Dwarven Black Hole." The general idea of it was that when Jagex punished a player (not IP banned mind you) the player was sent to the black hole, where he would serve out his punishment. If players wished to visit their friend who was punished, they would talk to a NPC who would sell them a disk of returning and teleport them to the black hole. If the player wished to return to the regular lands, they would spin the disk of returning. Jagex however decided it was better to just ban the player, so they removed the black hole but accidentally left the disk. Another reason Jagex removed the black hole was scammers would encourage players to drop the disk thus trapping them there, then selling them a new disk at an outragious price. The Disk's price, like the Half-Wines, jumps around at a very rapid pace. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Author: tricky989 |
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