M4A1-S | Vaporwave (Factory New)

The M4A1-S | Vaporwave in Factory New (FN) has its mint suppressor end and stock edges without a single scuff, and the white ground is clean along its whole length. This grade gets the band of 0.00 to 0.07. It is a Covert skin, and the rifle comes from the Gallery Case and belongs to the Gallery Collection.

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

There are two main figures on the body, and both are the head of a marble statue: one sits on the suppressor, the other on the side of the receiver. The base around them is white and pink, pink-red blots are scattered over the receiver, the graphic on the suppressor is pink-orange, and its end is mint-turquoise. A lengthwise lilac-purple stripe runs along the upper handguard. The checkerboard on the white stock is black and pink, the pistol grip is purple, and the front sight and carry handle are violet-gray.

In Factory New the checkerboard and the mint end are whole to the last millimeter, while on the lower grades these protruding spots go first. The handguard ribs are even too, with the stripes unbroken anywhere. The white planes of the receiver hold longest, but dark scuffing shows on them at once, so the clean body is told from the middle grades at first glance.

Where the M4A1-S | Vaporwave came from

The finish was drawn by an artist who goes by Blazer. The "M4A1-S | Vaporwave" submission was posted to the Steam Workshop on May 2, 2024. The collection's release date is October 2, 2024, and in the same post Valve listed three weapon sets, two keychain sets, two sticker sets and the Gallery Case. In Valve's catalog the skin is number 106.

What to check before buying

Points to compare between listings:

• the float within 0.00 to 0.07: near the upper limit a dark dot appears on the mint end;


• the state of the checkerboard on the stock and of the butt plate edges;


• any name tag and stickers already on this M4A1-S.

The finish has no pattern variants, so there is nothing to choose by pattern. Buying here can almost be done blind: the band of 0.00 to 0.07 is tight. The finish's full scale is cut off at the top and ends a little below 0.60, so the clean grade takes about an eighth of the range.

What the M4A1-S | Vaporwave costs in Factory New

Factory New costs more than all four other wears:

• Minimal Wear costs about half as much;


• Well-Worn is about two and a half times cheaper;


• Field-Tested is about a third of the price;


• Battle-Scarred is about three and a half times cheaper.

The order of the two middle grades is the reverse of what you would expect: Well-Worn costs slightly more than Field-Tested, though the wear there is heavier. The difference between them is under a tenth of the price.

Among Covert M4A1-S skins, this one in Factory New is the cheapest of eleven. The nearest above is M4A1-S | Player Two, about a twentieth dearer. Next comes M4A1-S | Cyrex, about two fifths dearer, and M4A1-S | Golden Coil at one and a half times the price.

Getting the M4A1-S | Vaporwave

Among cases, the finish comes only from the Gallery Case and appears in no other.

A contract for the M4A1-S | Vaporwave is built from ten skins of the rank below, all from one collection. There are two Covert skins in the set, so the odds of landing the M4A1-S are one in two. The Covert rank also makes the finish an input for a knife craft. Five Covert skins of one collection return an Extraordinary item, which for the Gallery Collection is the Kukri Knife.

StatTrak and Souvenir

A StatTrak™ version of the M4A1-S | Vaporwave exists. Souvenir copies turn up too, but no Souvenir packages were produced for this finish, only for tournament map collections. Such copies come out of the Souvenir-O-Matic, which fits gold tournament stickers and a player autograph onto an ordinary skin from the inventory.

Stickers and craft on the M4A1-S | Vaporwave

There is no quiet field on the body: the bust, the blots and the stripes take up the suppressor and both sides. A sticker on the receiver lands right next to the second statue. Of the colors, black, magenta and mint hold up on the white and pink base, while yellow and orange stand out badly.

Who this wear suits

Factory New makes sense for these jobs:

• you want the rifle's Covert rank with an untouched white ground;


• the M4 goes into a showcase, and the difference between 0.00 and 0.07 matters on inspection;


• the checkerboard on the stock and the mint end must be whole.

For playing, a twofold premium over Minimal Wear gains nothing: at CS2 distances the bust and the blots read the same. Still, among the Covert finishes of the model this is the cheapest way into the rank, in any wear.