Not sure how anyone could reply with any answer but the minis, and not because they are ZOMG SO EXPENSIVE.
I hate to say this and sound ungrateful or insulting but here it is: The earliest crop of monthly items were AMAZINGLY GOOD. Somewhere in 2004 the consistency of quality dropped pretty heavily for quite some time (a handful of the '04 run are still less expensive that a lot of the items from this very year, even though they shouldn't be since there's such a low supply of them, due to their lack of popularity). Because of this, almost all of the old '03 items are across the board amazing, save perhaps the Kodiak Hat. The minis are really no exception.
I dunno who does the items now but roughly around the same time as the chance items started arriving on the scene, the special items selection has gotten a lot better. So kudos to those people who make them!