TF2 Unusual Effects List

Unusual effects are the particles that float around a TF2 Unusual hat, taunt or weapon — and on most Unusuals the effect matters more to the price than the item wearing it. Choose an effect below to open the TF2 market filtered to every Unusual listed with it.

All unusual effects

565 effects

How TF2 Unusuals and their effects work

What an Unusual effect is

An Unusual is an item of Unusual quality — a purple name in your backpack — that plays a particle effect around it in game. The effect is the whole point: two copies of the same hat can be worlds apart in value purely because of the particles floating above them.

Effects come in a few families. Hat effects play around your character's head, taunt effects play while you taunt, and weapon effects (on Unusual weapons, such as Unusual war paints) play on the weapon itself. New effects are added with case and crate releases and during events like Scream Fortress, so the list keeps growing over time.

What drives Unusual prices

The effect: usually the biggest factor. Effects from older, retired series and effects that suit many hats command the highest prices.
The item: a popular all-class hat with a good effect sells for far more than an obscure single-class one with the same particles.
Effect and item together: some combinations simply look better than others, and buyers pay for that pairing.
Supply: effects that only ever appeared in a single, long-retired crate series are rare by definition, and that scarcity shows in the price.

Because all of these combine, there is no single "Unusual price" for an effect. Opening an effect above shows every Unusual currently listed with it, which is the most direct way to see what that effect costs today.

Buying an Unusual on Mannco.store

Every listing is in stock and held by our trading bots, so there is no waiting on a seller to accept a trade. Sign in through Steam, add the Unusual to your cart, pay, and withdraw it with a trade offer from one of our bots.

If you are still choosing, the full TF2 market can be filtered by quality, class and price as well as by effect, and prices are shown in your local currency.

Frequently asked questions

An Unusual is an item of Unusual quality — its name is shown in purple — that carries a particle effect, such as flames or orbiting planets, that plays around it in game. Hats are the classic example, but taunts and some weapons can be Unusual too.

Unusuals come out of crates and cases, which need a key to open, and only a small fraction of unboxes are Unusual. Since the effect is random as well, buying the exact hat and effect you want is far cheaper than trying to unbox it.

Mostly the effect, then the item wearing it. Older, retired effects and effects that look good on a wide range of hats sell for more, and a popular hat with a sought-after effect sells for much more than either would suggest on its own. Each effect above links to its live listings, so you can compare current prices directly.

Players do group effects into informal tiers, but there is no official ranking and tiers shift as new effects are released and tastes change. The most reliable guide to how an effect is valued is what Unusuals with it actually sell for, which is what the listings behind each effect show.

No. The effect is fixed when the item is unboxed. If you want a different effect, you need a different Unusual.