TF2 Player Deletes $6,700 Golden Frying Pan Mid‑Match — For the Second Time
A Team Fortress 2 player known as Gregarious has deleted a Golden Frying Pan — one of TF2’s rarest items — for the second time, according to screenshots, tracking sites and onlookers. Players who followed the item’s history now see the pan missing from his Steam inventory, and the deletion has visibly changed the reported value of his backpack.
- What happened and the evidence supporting it.
- Why the Golden Frying Pan is rare and roughly how much it’s worth.
- How Valve’s item-restoration policy applies.
- Community reaction and the prior similar incident.
What happened
Multiple players reported seeing Gregarious delete a Golden Frying Pan mid-match. Screenshots circulated on social media, and community tracking sites showed the item in his inventory up until early August. However, when checking his public Steam inventory, the pan was gone and the estimated value of his backpack dropped from about $7,400 to roughly $28.
Reports of the deletion were discussed on Reddit, and tracking sites that log item ownership provided supporting timestamps.
Reddit post reporting the deletion
Community tracking of Gregarious’ inventory can be viewed on backpack.tf, while his Steam page shows the public-facing inventory status.
Why the Golden Frying Pan matters
The Golden Frying Pan is a cosmetic melee weapon in Team Fortress 2 that is extremely rare. Since its 2013 introduction, there are only 435 Golden Frying Pans known to exist. By comparison, the Golden Wrench is even rarer, with about 100 awarded.
Because of that scarcity, prices on the community market and private trades vary. A typical Golden Frying Pan is currently valued at around $6,700 USD, though that number fluctuates with demand and supply.
For context on drop chances, players have discussed how unlikely it is to obtain a Golden Frying Pan in the first place.
Additionally, community videos and retrospectives note that the market price of Golden Frying Pans has risen in recent years.
Previous deletion and restoration
This is not Gregarious’ first time deleting a Golden Frying Pan. In a prior incident, screenshots and video showed the pan being destroyed, but the player later had the item returned after contacting Steam support. Video evidence of the earlier deletion exists and circulated in the community.
Valve policy on item restoration
Valve’s published guidance on Steam Support explains that they generally will not restore lost or deleted items. According to Steam,
“Items often exchange hands multiple times before a restoration request and this means they cannot be restored without duplicating them or removing them from another innocent user’s inventory,” Valve says. “Duplicating items has a negative impact on everyone who trades or uses the Market by lowering the value of items.”
Steam Support policy on item restoration
Community reaction
The TF2 community responded quickly. Gregarious’ Steam profile was filled with comments earlier, though he has since locked the profile. His profile also shows he has put in more than 10,000 hours into Team Fortress 2, according to the public page.
Players pointed to past examples of people destroying rare pans for attention or other reasons. One of the earliest well-known incidents involved a player called Auricom5, who deleted a Golden Frying Pan in 2015 and received a continuing stream of comments.
On a community forum, one player wrote:
“Single-handedly fixing the golden pan economy by reducing their amount what a hero,”
