Full Set or Single Tokens: What to Buy First
Every set in the shop is sold two ways. You can buy any single token on its own, or you can buy the complete set in one go at a lower per-token price. People ask which way to go, usually right after they have decided they want one of these on their table.
The answer depends on one thing, and it is not the price.
What a set actually costs
A complete set is not a fixed number of tokens. Depending on the set, a finished style runs anywhere from two to six tokens, because sets cover the token types their colors actually make.
Here is what that works out to on steel, where a single token is $14:
| Tokens in the set | Bought one at a time | Bought as a set | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | $56 | $49 | $7 |
| 5 | $70 | $59 | $11 |
| 6 | $84 | $69 | $15 |
Brass is $19 a token, so the gap is wider:
| Tokens in the set | Bought one at a time | Bought as a set | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | $76 | $59 | $17 |
| 5 | $95 | $79 | $16 |
| 6 | $114 | $89 | $25 |
Card stock five-packs price the same as brass per listing, and the same set math applies.
So the set is cheaper per token. That part is not interesting. What is interesting is that the savings are smaller than most people assume. On a four-token steel set you are keeping $7. That is not enough money to decide anything on its own.
Buy one token first if you have not held one
Photographs of metal are hard to trust. Brushed steel reads flat in a product shot and completely different under a table lamp, and the weight is the part no image communicates at all. A steel token is around 25 g. A card is around 1.8 g.
If you have never had one in your hand, buy a single token. Pick the one your deck makes most often, spend $14, and find out whether the thing lands the way you hoped. If it does, the set is still there. If it does not, you learned that for $14 instead of $69.
The token to pick is usually the Gold token or the Recruit, because almost every deck that runs those colors makes them, and they are the two you will be reaching for on a normal turn.
Buy the set first if you already know
Two cases where skipping straight to the set is the right call.
You have owned metal tokens before. You know the weight, you know how UV print holds up, and the only open question was which art. Buy the set.
You are buying it as a gift. A single token is a strange present. It reads as a sample. A complete set in a matched style reads as a thing someone chose on purpose, and the recipient is not left wondering whether they are supposed to buy the rest themselves.
The case nobody asks about: mixing finishes
You do not have to pick one material for the whole set. Some people run their Gold token in brass because it is the one that gets pushed around the most and the warm tone suits it, then run the rest of the set in steel. Nothing about the sets stops you doing that. You just lose the set price, because you are buying singles.
Whether that trade is worth it depends on how much you care about the table reading as one matched thing. Our honest opinion is that a matched set looks better than a clever mix, but it is your table.
Short version
- Never held one: buy one token, $14 on steel, pick the one you make most.
- Held one before: buy the set and keep between $7 and $25 depending on size.
- Buying a gift: buy the set.
Every set page lists both options, and the set price is shown next to the per-token price, so you can see the difference before you decide.
Compatible with Riftbound TCG. Turn 'Em Sideways is an independent accessory maker, not affiliated with Riot Games.