Souvenir AK-47 | Blue Laminate (Minimal Wear)

Skin overview

This finish keeps the AK-47 classic in shape and swaps the usual wood for blue laminate with swirling growth-ring patterns. Minimal Wear copies show the pattern practically intact, with only faint marks that need a close look to find. It is the grade where the blue still reads clean while the look stays close to Factory New.

Item type: rifle. The weapon is available only on the Terrorist side. Restricted sits in the middle of the rarity scale: noticeably rarer than Mil-Spec, yet not truly rare.

Hydrographic: the pattern is applied as a film over the metal; wear rubs it down to the base, starting with raised parts.

Other qualities of this skin: Factory New, Field-Tested and Well-Worn. The same quality also exists as the StatTrak™ version.

Appearance in Minimal Wear

The receiver, barrel, gas tube, front sight and magazine keep a plain dark grey metal finish without pattern. The upper and lower handguard, the pistol grip and the stock are covered in blue laminate with concentric ring shapes, like cut layered wood, separated by thin brown and tan bands.

Small marks may appear on the very edges of the handguard and the stock butt. The ring pattern and colour stay almost unchanged. Metal parts remain clean. At normal distance in game it is hard to tell from Factory New.

Minimal Wear wear: float 0.07–0.15

The whole float range of Souvenir AK-47 | Blue Laminate is 0.02–0.4; Minimal Wear takes the 0.07–0.15 segment (21% of the scale). Within the range, copies with a lower float look cleaner and are valued higher.

Origin of the skin

The skin’s collection is The eSports 2013 Winter Collection with 12 skins in total.

The source is eSports 2013 Winter Case (on sale since Jul 9, 2014).

What it costs in each quality

Among 8 skins of the AK-47 in the Restricted grade and this quality, this skin ranks 2nd by price, counting from the dearest.

Souvenir version

This is the Souvenir version: such copies dropped to tournament viewers in souvenir packages; the team stickers and signatures on them cannot be removed or chosen. Souvenir items never carry StatTrak™. There is also the regular version without tournament stickers.

Which stickers suit it

Blue, silver and holographic stickers match the laminate, while gold or warm brown tones echo the thin wood bands. Since the metal receiver is dark and plain, stickers placed there stand out without clashing with the pattern.

What to look at before you buy

• Check where the float sits within the wear grade, since low Field-Tested looks noticeably cleaner than high.
• Look at the edges of the handguard and the butt of the stock, as these lose the laminate first.
• The ring pattern varies between copies, so compare how the stock and handguard look in inspect.
• Note any applied stickers or name tag and whether they suit the blue laminate.

Who the Minimal Wear quality suits

• Players who want a near-new look with barely visible marks.
• Sticker crafters who accept tiny edge marks.
• A sensible middle ground between clean look and condition.