M4A1-S | Printstream (Factory New)

The Factory New M4A1-S | Printstream (FN) is the one grade where the white still reads as white and the thin printed graphics run unbroken. This wear puts the M4A1-S | Printstream between 0.00 and 0.07. It is Covert, from The Operation Broken Fang Collection, and drops from the Operation Broken Fang Case.

What the M4A1-S | Printstream looks like in Factory New

Handguard, receiver, carry handle and magazine are milky white with a cream cast. Barrel, suppressor, front sight and grip stay dark olive and unpainted, so the paint holds only the middle of the gun. Over the white sits fine gray artwork: halftone dots, drafting lines, small marks, an XX and a heart on the receiver side. It reads like a sheet pulled off a test print.

White is the hardest color to keep, and that is what this grade buys. Grime and yellowing start on the ribs of the handguard, the receiver corner and the magazine floor. The gray lines break there before the paint gives way. In Factory New none of that has begun; wear is fixed at the drop.

Where the M4A1-S | Printstream came from

This one is Workshop work. JTPNZ posted it on May 28, 2020 as M4A1-S | PRINTSTREAM, the second piece of his Printstream line, naming the artist Felipe Pantone as his inspiration. The Operation Broken Fang collection shipped on December 3, 2020, and the M4A1-S | Printstream came with it. Valve's own text promises a stark black and white design with pearlescent highlights; the render is gentler, cream rather than stark. The finish is number 984 in Valve's catalog.

What to check before buying

Before buying the M4A1-S | Printstream, check the following:

• float, since the bottom of the band keeps the plates coldest;


• the gray print on the magazine floor and the receiver corner;


• stickers on the M4A1-S | Printstream and the name tag, if the seller applied one.

The M4A1-S | Printstream comes with one fixed layout, identical across the whole run. The band is narrow, 0.00–0.07, so M4A1-S | Printstream copies look much the same. The finish's own scale stops at 0.80, so Factory New is about a ninth of it, and the premium follows.

What the M4A1-S | Printstream costs in Factory New

Minimal Wear asks around two-thirds of the Factory New price, the gentlest step here. Field-Tested and Well-Worn land within a few cents of each other, both under half. Battle-Scarred is roughly a third.

Among the eleven Covert M4A1-S finishes priced in this grade this one comes third. The two above ask around four times as much. Below it, Hyper Beast asks two-thirds and Golden Coil about half.

Getting the M4A1-S | Printstream

The Operation Broken Fang Case is the drop source. The M4A1-S | Printstream drops out of a contract built from ten lower-tier skins of this set. A crafted copy follows the floats that went in.

StatTrak and Souvenir

Stickers and craft on the M4A1-S | Printstream

The M4A1-S | Printstream has a StatTrak version. Souvenir copies of the finish turn up as well, though no Souvenir packages were ever made for it: packages only ever covered tournament map collections. Those copies are built with the Souvenir-O-Matic, which puts gold tournament stickers and a player autograph on a normal skin from the inventory.

White plates take stickers better than most finishes: the magazine, the receiver side and the handguard all have room. Anything bright becomes the only color on the gun, which is either the point of a craft or a mistake. Dark stickers hold their shape; pale ones sink into the base.

Who this wear suits

The Factory New M4A1-S | Printstream is the one to buy when:

• the white matters more than the step in price over Minimal Wear;


• the rifle is going into a craft that needs a clean base;


• the fine print should survive close inspection.

At playing distance a Minimal Wear copy reads the same; this grade is for the inspect view.