Skin lore
After a DMCA complaint over plagiarised art (the original "Howling Dawn"), Valve replaced the artwork, removed it from drops, and gave the Howl a unique orange "Contraband" tier in late 2014. No other skin has ever been given that classification.
Source: PC Gamer / Valve community announcement
Skin lore
CS skins launched in August 2013 with the Arms Deal update
The Arms Deal update introduced skins to CS:GO in August 2013. Steam Market trading, case keys, knife rarity tiers — the entire CS economy started here. The first cases used the same drop-rate model that still exists today.
Read full
Skin lore
Katowice 2014 stickers are the rarest valuable cosmetics in CS
Stickers from EMS One Katowice 2014 — the second CS:GO Major — were never re-issued. Authentic Holos and Golds from that capsule routinely trade for thousands of dollars on the secondary market over a decade later.
Read full
Skin lore
Souvenir AWPs from the very first Major are now $100K+
Souvenir AWPs from DreamHack Winter 2013 (the first Major) are extraordinarily rare. Combined with rare stickers (Howl, Dragon Lore variants), some confirmed sales hit $250K+. The "souvenir" tag identifies items dropped from MVP-of-the-match vouchers.
Read full
Skin lore
The Karambit was the first knife pattern in CS
When the Arms Deal update introduced cosmetics in 2013, the Karambit was the first knife model added. Its curved blade became iconic and is still the highest-selling knife model on Steam Marketplace and third-party sites combined.
Read full