Fortnite’s rarest skin, Recon Expert, back in shop for limited time

By Olivia Richman

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May 27, 2020

Reading time: 5 min

Epic Games made Fortnite’s rarest skin of all time, Recon Expert, available for purchase in stores for about two minutes on the morning of May 27.

Usually, Epic changes their rotating selection of available skin offerings at night. But for some reason, it seemed to go live at the wrong time, allowing a few lucky players to grab the rare skin early. Others were not as fortunate, getting cut off mid-purchase when Epic rapidly removed it. 

The Recon Expert skin is now live in some people’s stores once again. This time they’ll have through the evening before the Recon Expert skin disappears. It’s currently selling for 1,200 V-Bucks, a pretty hefty amount. But for many players, it’s well worth it. 

Why is Recon Expert the rarest skin in Fortnite?

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With so many insane skins running around the map, including decaying bananas and bug-eyed fish, a lot of people might be wondering what’s so great about this relatively basic skin. It features a white tank top, a few dog tags, gloves, and an awkwardly small hat. As you can probably guess, it’s not the skin’s appearance that make it so desirable, but rather how hard it has been to obtain it. 

Recon Expert was first sold in the fall of 2017, right after Fortnite’s battle royale mode was released. It was in the shop for a month, leaving just as Fortnite started to gain popularity, and then disappeared for over 900 days. Since only the very first Fortnite players would have this skin, it has become quite the collector’s item. 

Despite the strange timing, Epic selling the Recon Expert is not a mistake. Over a week ago, data miners uncovered a Recon Expert skin sans hat within Fortnite’s files. While many newer players are no doubt excited to get their hands on this skin, some longtime Fortnite fans are frustrated at Epic for taking away what made the skin so special: its rarity. 

If everyone is going to be running around in Recon Expert skins, which other skins have become the most rare on Fortnite?

The rarest skins in Fortnite

 Honor Guard

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While free, this Honor Guard skin is only available to players who purchased the Honor View 20 smartphone, an expensive phone that first became available in China. This led many Fortnite skin collectors to import the phone to get their hands on the Honor Guard skin. The phone has since become available in the United States. And while its price has lowered over the last year or so, it’s still a hefty ask for a free skin. 

Another skin that comes to mind is the Glow skin, which wa only available for a limited amount time to players who purchased a variety of Samsung devices. Since that promotion has ended, this skin has also become sought after. 

Omega

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You won’t see many people wearing an Omega skin because it’s one of the rarest skins in the game. Each Pattle Pass skin is only available for one season, making them harder to come by as time goes on. Since Omega was only obtainable if a player reached Tier 100 on the Season 4 Battle Pass, it’s been quite a long time since this skin was available. 

Sparkle Specialist

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Sparkle Specialist was rewarded to players who reached Tier 56 of the Season 2 Battle Pass. Unlike Recon Expert, this skin had a lot of personality, with face paint, a sparkling disco ball shirt and a glowing arm device. Although the skin was quite popular at the time, Season 2 is so long ago that this skin has become difficult to come by. 

 Royale Bomber

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While this skin has become a bit easier to come across since it was released, it’s still on the more expensive side for Fortnite skins. It was originally only available for players who purchased select PlayStation 4 systems. A bit later, the skin was bundled with some DualShock 4 controllers, but they sold out quickly. Royale Bomber is still hard to find to this day. 

The Double Helix skin is another example of an expensive and rare Fortnite skin. It was only for a short while in 2018, when it was offered as part of a Nintendo Switch bundle. This special is sold out everywhere to this day, making it pretty tricky to find the Double Helix skin. 

The Reaper

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This John Wick skin came out before the official John Wick skin Epic released with the accompanying promotional event. It was included in the Season 3 Battle Pass and was only available to those who reached Tier 100. Since Season 3 is early in Fortnite’s existence, it’s only getting more difficult to come across this older skin. The Reaper has not been made available outside of the Season 3 Battle Pass thus far. 

 Black Knight

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Only OGs will have the Black Knight skin. This rare skin was rewarded to players who maxed out the Season 2 Battle Pass, which only reached Tier 70 at the time. The Season 2 Battle Pass was the first Battle Pass Fortnite ever had, making Black Knight the first skin to only be obtainable by a maxed out Battle Pass. It’s hard to come across this skin since there weren’t as many players grinding the Battle Pass back in Season 2. 

Midnight Ops

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Midnight Ops was last available 580 days ago as part of the Stealth Syndicate set. When it’s in the Item Shop, it’s listed at 1,200 V-Bucks. But it hasn’t been seen in the Item Shop for almost two years. 

Renegade Rider

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This is a skin from Season 1, before Battle Passes even existed. At the time, it was collected by reaching Level 20 and then purchasing the skin for 1,200 V-Bucks. A different variant of the skin was released in the Item Shop last year, but only OG Fortnite players would have the original design. 

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