League of Legends (LOL) has been around for about a decade and its still one of the most popular video games in the world. Over the past decade, thousands of skins have been released for the game’s various characters, which are called champions. While many of the skins are common and still available for purchase, many of the earliest special edition skins aren’t for sale. Most of the skins on this list were exclusive promotional items from years ago when fewer people were playing LOL. This means that only a very small percentage of LOL accounts have these skins unlocked today.
- Vancouver Amumu
- PAX Sivir
- UFO Corki
- Championship Riven
- PAX Jax
- Silver Kayle
- Victorious Jarvin IV
- King Rammus
- PAX Twisted Fate
- Young Ryze (Human Ryze)
- Black Alistar
- Rusty Blitzcrank
Current Value: $84.40 to $431.65
Reason for Rarity: Only available during 2010 Winter Olympics
Year Released: February 12, 2010
photo source: LeagueSales
Did You Know?
The color of Vancouver Amumu’s mummy bandages represent the Olympic Rings, which are blue, yellow, black, green, and red.
Current Value: $290.25 to $667.75
Reason for Rarity: Only available to 2011 PAX (Penny Arcade eXpo) attendees
Year Released: August 26, 2011
photo source: LeagueSales
The 2011 Penny Arcade eXpo (PAX) was the last time that Riot gave out an exclusive League of Legends skin. PAX Sivir was only available to that year’s attendees. Like the other rare PAX skins, some attendees who didn’t play LOL sold their skin codes. PAX Sivir was not quite as valuable as PAX Twisted Fate and PAX Jax and only worth about $200.
In 2017, Riot did give out an exclusive PAX skin after six years, but it was just a re-color of PAX Sivir dubbed Neo PAX Sivir.
Did You Know?
The design of the PAX Sivir skin was inspired by the Tron film and Sivir is wearing an outfit similar to those worn by the movie’s characters.
Current Value: $42.75 to $232.05 (account also has Black Alistar)
Reason for Rarity: Special promotional skin given to any accounts registered before January 14, 2010
Year Released: January 1, 2010
photo source: LeagueSales
UFO Corki is a rare skin that was never available for official purchase. Instead, UFO Corki was given out as special promotion to celebrate the first year of League of Legends. The skin was automatically given out to any LOL account registered before January 14, 2010. Players were also gifted the Corki character as part of the promotion.
Did You Know?
Many League of Legends players consider UFO Corki to be the very first legendary skin.
Current Value: $220.90 to $929.65 (account also has Neo PAX Sivir)
Reason for Rarity: Only available for a short time during and after 2012 LOL World Championships
Year Released: October 14, 2012
photo source: League of Legends PBE Board
There are two versions of the Championship Riven skin that can be seen around League of Legends and only the original 2012 version is considered truly rare. The Championship Riven skin from 2012 (aka Legacy Championship Riven) was initially given out to the 8,000 people who attended the 2012 LOL World Championships. Following the Championship finals, Championship Riven was available for purchase to everyone else.
In 2016, Riot re-released the Championship Riven skin in a Championship Bundle for that year’s championship. To make the 2012 Championship Riven skin still feel special, visual updates were made, including a crown and updated sword. The original skin owners also received a special loading screen banner.
Did You Know?
The design of the Championship Riven skin itself was inspired by neon blue lava from an Indonesian volcano called Ijen.
Current Value: $245.90 to $2,579.05 (account also has Silver Kayle)
Reason for Rarity: Only available to 2010 PAX (Penny Arcade eXpo) attendees
Year Released: August 26, 2010
photo source: LeagueSales
PAX Jax is another exclusive Penny Arcade eXpo (PAX) skin that is still very popular with League of Legends players today. This special version of Jax was given out at the 2010 PAX event. The design of PAX Jax was inspired Cardboard Tube Samurai from the webcomic Penny Arcade, which is written by the founders of PAX.
Did You Know?
The PAX Jax skin features a symbol that looks like the classic video character Pac-Man.
Current Value: $72.05 to $2,579.05 (account also has PAX Jax)
Reason for Rarity: Only available to players who pre-ordered League of Legends Collector’s Edition
Year Released: November 13, 2009
photo source: LeagueSales
Silver Kayle is the last of the four special skins that were available to anyone who pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition of League of Legends in 2009 – one skin, Goth Annie was rare, but can still be obtained in special bundles through the official LOL store. Kayle is a popular LOL character, which is why more Silver Kayle codes were redeemed than the other two rare collector’s edition skins.
Did You Know?
Silver Kayle features Kayle wearing silver and blue armor, a giant matching sword, and blue tinted wings.
Current Value: $171.65 to $419.25
Reason for Rarity: End of Season 1 Reward; there were less LOL players back then
Year Released: August 23, 2011
photo source: LeagueSales
Victorious Jarvin IV was the very first end of season reward ever released back in 2011. This special Jarvin IV skin was given out to LOL players who reached at least Gold tier during that season. Four more Victorious skins were released for other characters in subsequent seasons, but Victorious Jarvin IV is the rarest because there were fewer people playing League of Legends in 2011.
Did You Know?
Unlike the other Victorious skins, Victorious Jarvin IV has no special animations, sounds, or particles.
Current Value: $51.35 to $315.60
Reason for Rarity: Only given to players who participated in the closed League of Legends Beta
Year Released: October 21, 2009
photo source: LeagueSales
King Rammus was a special skin only given to players who participated in the closed beta of League of Legends. The beta ended on October 21, 2009 and players were gifted the King Rammus skin, which was inspired by the iconic Nintendo character Bowser. Unlike some of the other rare skins on this list, King Rammus was automatically given to player accounts that participated in the beta; there were no codes that could be sold.
Did You Know?
The King Rammus skin is one of the most affordable rare skins on this list and can be purchased for as low as $51.
Current Value: c.$657.43
Reason for Rarity: Only available to 2009 PAX (Penny Arcade eXpo) attendees
Year Released: August 9, 2009
photo source: LeagueSales
One reason for PAX Twisted Fate’s popularity is the skin’s black, silver, and blue color scheme. PAX Twisted Fate also has a special cape with the PAX 09 logo on it.
Did You Know?
PAX Twisted Fate is so popular that it is one of the most valuable rare League of Legends skin, selling for over $650 today. Even back in 2009, PAX Twisted Fate codes were going for more than $450.
Current Value: c.$328
Reason for Rarity: Only available to players who pre-ordered League of Legends Collector’s Edition
Year Released: June 14, 2009
photo source: LOLSKIN SHOP
Along with Black Alistar, Young Ryze was another skin exclusive only available to players who pre-ordered the League of Legends Collector’s Edition. Based on pre-order sales, about 65,000 copies of this version of LOL were sold. So there are around 65,000 or so Young Ryze skins and for whatever reason, based on various estimates, there are more Young Ryze skins than Black Alistar skins currently circulating.
Did You Know?
The Young Ryze skin not only shows what Ryze looked like when he was a young man, but it also features a more natural skin tone – instead of regular Ryze’s blue skin – and green tribal tattoos.
Current Value: $218.30 – $356.80
Reason for Rarity: Only available to players who pre-ordered League of Legends Collector’s Edition
Year Released: June 14, 2009
photo source: LeagueSales
Black Alistar is another early League of Legends skin that was hard to come by and fairly exclusive. The skin was only available to people who purchased a copy of the Collector’s Edition of League of Legends. It is estimated that only around 65,000 players received the Black Alistar skin. However, it is likely that some of the codes were not redeemed, meaning there are much less than 65,000 Black Alistar skins out there today.
Did You Know?
Back when the Black Alistar skin was first released, people were selling the codes for around $400+.
Current Value: $465.15
Reason for Rarity: Quickly removed from store
Year Released: November 20, 2009
photo source: LeagueSales
Did You Know?
According to the few League of Legends players who do have Rusty Blitzcrank, it looks so similar to Blitzcrank’s normal skin that other players don’t usually notice that they’re using Rusty Blitzcrank skin.
