Top 3 rarest items in New Leaf?

What would you say are the rarest / most sought after items in the game?

It used to be the Afternoon Tea Set and the Shaved Ice Lamp
Afternoon Tea Set is now in one of the Welcome Amiibo cards so it's less rare
7-11 set is still in high demand

Some of the exclusive sets probably.

The 7-11 set and some of the sets the Japan players got after the update. Hopefully one day Nintendo will release some of the sets. Think they will never release 7-11 set.

I agree, 7-11 is still pretty high in demand. I personally, don't care for it. Like at all, since i've never had the intention to make a convenience store on new leaf. If anything i'd probably just collect it because it's rare. These aren't really rare if you have the cards for them, but are still quite high in demand, the sanrio sets. I'd say they are one of the most rarest and sought after sets. Mostly because some can't get their hands on the cards and would really like the sets, or they have the cards but not the meow coupons to buy them. I think it's pretty obvious that most of the welcome amiibo furniture is also high in demand and rare, since it can only be obtained from the cards. I have no idea where you can even get the cards from, people just sorta have them.

Ah, I know you said top 3 but it's also worth mentioning the lotus pond. Nobody can get that outside of japan and since it was a DLC, it's very limited to those who did get it. Some even going as far as to alter the game to get it. It's pretty rare.

If this was a question in older games though i'd definitely say the moon.

I would say it's probably the unorderable papers. The only way to get them is if a villager mails them to you or you find them in the lost and found.
Museum Paper
Gallery Paper
Halloween Paper
Post-Office Paper
Snowman Paper