At $119.76 for a 24-pack box containing 288 individual cards, Timeless Bonds works out to roughly 42 cents per card on average, a figure that sounds efficient until you consider how unevenly that value is distributed across the set's seven rarity tiers.
Whether a sealed box or targeted singles purchases deliver better value depends heavily on what you are actually trying to accomplish, since the two approaches serve very different collecting goals.
A box favors volume and the chance at a rare pull. Singles favor precision and getting exactly the cards you want without paying for cards you do not need.
This guide breaks down when each approach makes more financial sense.
Dividing $119.76 by 288 cards gives an average cost of roughly 42 cents per card, but that average is misleading on its own, since the vast majority of those cards are Common and Uncommon pulls worth far less individually than a chase Secret Rare or Ultimate Rare.
A more useful way to think about box value is that you are paying primarily for the chance at the set's scarcer cards, with the large volume of Common and Uncommon pulls functioning as a byproduct rather than the main draw for most box buyers.
A box is the better choice for collectors who want the experience of opening packs, who are building a deck and need volume across the set's Common and Uncommon tiers, or who specifically want a shot at a chase pull even knowing the odds are long given only 2 Secret Rare and 3 Ultimate Rare card types exist.
Box buying also makes sense for collectors chasing box toppers specifically, since that layer is tied to box-level distribution rather than something a singles purchase can replicate.
Singles are the more efficient choice for collectors who know exactly which cards they want, whether that is a specific Time Stranger character, a particular deck-building piece, or a specific rarity tier chase card, since a single purchase avoids paying for the dozens of unrelated cards a box would deliver alongside it.
For deck-building specifically, singles let a player assemble a complete, functional deck immediately rather than hoping random box pulls happen to align with a specific strategy.
With only 2 Secret Rare card types across 108 base card types, the realistic cost of chasing a specific SEC card through box opening alone, factoring in how many boxes it might take to pull one, can easily exceed the cost of simply buying that same card as a single once secondary market listings stabilize.
That math favors singles purchases for collectors with a specific chase target in mind, while it favors box opening for collectors who are happy with whichever chase card they happen to pull rather than a specific one.
Many experienced collectors treat box opening and singles buying as complementary rather than an either-or choice, opening a box or two for the experience and volume, then filling remaining gaps with targeted singles purchases once they know exactly what is missing from their collection.
This blended approach tends to deliver the best overall value, since it captures the box-opening experience while avoiding the inefficiency of trying to complete an entire checklist purely through random pulls.
Before choosing between a box and singles, setting a clear budget and a clear goal, whether that is a complete deck, a specific chase card, or simply the fun of opening packs, makes the box-versus-singles decision much easier to make with confidence.
Collectors without a specific goal in mind often find that starting with one box, then reassessing based on what they pulled, is a reasonable way to decide how to allocate the rest of their Timeless Bonds budget.
Roughly 42 cents, dividing the $119.76 box price by 288 total cards.
No, it is heavily skewed by the large volume of lower-value Common and Uncommon pulls.
When you know exactly which specific cards you need, especially for a targeted chase card or deck build.
When you want the opening experience, deck-building volume, or a shot at a box topper.
Yes, opening a box or two and then filling gaps with singles is a common, cost-effective strategy.
Keep top pulls secure with EVORETRO's magnetic one-touch card holder whether they come from a box or a singles order.
!
