(WORK IN PROGRESS)

About

The Burning Flames Team Captain is an unusual variant of the Team Captain hat found in Valve's iconic multiplayer first-person shooter video game Team Fortress 2. It is considered one of the rarest and most valuable items in the game, surpassing even the Golden Frying Pan.
Because of its extremely high value, and the fact that it is merely a virtual item in a video game, it has become the butt of many jokes in the Team Fortress community.

Origin

The Team Captain is an uncommon cosmetic item introduced to Team Fortress 2 in 2011. It bears a resemblance to the cap worn by the character M. Bison from the Street Fighter series, and can be equipped by the Soldier, Heavy, and Medic classes.^[1]

"Unusual quality" refers to any of a variety of animated particle effects attached to certain cosmetic items, taunts, and weapons. Unusual items are exceptionally rare, and can only be obtained through randomly-dropped crates and cases, which require players to purchase "key" items to open. Among these effects is one called "Burning Flames", which makes the attached cosmetic appear to be set on fire, and is only found in an expired series of crates.^[2][3]

As of January 2016, there are only four known instances of the Burning Flames Team Captain. According to backpack.tf,^[4] it is estimated to be worth over 8000 keys, or roughly $18,500 in USD.

Spread

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Notable Developments

Bobsplosion A.M.A.

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"Cursed" (Duped) Team Captain

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Search Interest

External References

^[1] Official Team Fortress Wiki – Team Captain

^[2] Official Team Fortress Wiki – Unusual

^[3] Official Team Fortress Wiki – Mann Co. Supply Crate

^[4] backpack.tf – Burning Flames Team Captain

^[5] TF2 SubReddit – Bobsplosion: I'm the guy who bought the Burning Team Captain. AMA.