Saga Review - Kraken Skulls Consortium

As part of my headfirst dive into Saga: Dark Ages I placed the following order with Kraken Skulls Consortium:

Product	Quantity	Price
Irish Measuring Sticks for SAGA	1	$8.00
Pagan Rus Measuring Sticks for SAGA	1	$8.00
Fatigue Tokens-Knotwork Triskel (10)	1	$3.50
Fatigue Tokens-Norse-Gaels (10)	1	$3.50
Jomsvikings Measuring Sticks for SAGA	1	$8.00
Viking Measuring Sticks	1	$8.00
Viking Raven Tokens (10)	1	$3.50
Fatigue Tokens-Jomsvikings (10)	1	$3.50
Subtotal:		$46.00
Shipping:		$3.50 via Flat Rate
Tax:		$0.00
Payment method:		PayPal
Total:		$49.50

So. Was it worth it?

Irish Measuring Sticks

The pattern and design are splendid!  Depth on the tooling is a bit inconsistent though, and overall it doesn't stand out nearly as much as I'd hoped.  Also I keep thinking it says "He Irish" rather than "The Irish." The final look is pretty good, but would have really benefited from being darker. 

★★★☆☆

Viking Measuring Sticks

These have much more consistent and darker tooling than the Irish sticks, so a big plus there. I was a bit leery about the design of the medium stick when ordering, but now that I've got it in person I rather like it. The short stick, on the other hand, tries to pack in way too much detail and really suffers for it. It's gorgeous if viewed from a few inches away, otherwise it just sort of looks like a swirly blob. The long and very short sticks came out well, with conservative but thematic designs. 

★★★★☆

Pagan Rus Measuring Sticks

Definitely my favorite of the lot. They're simple but still convey the theme of the faction, and their design plays to the strengths of the material. Even the rough wood grain feels like it was intentional. My only complaint is with the thin relief lettering, which is uneven once you get close enough to really inspect it. From a gaming distance they look great though.

★★★★☆

Jomsviking Measuring Sticks

The poor sweet Jomsviking sticks tried, they really did; unfortunately, these just aren't great. The tooling is the least consistent among all the sets, with the very short being almost unreadable except in the best light or from very close. Some of the designs elements are great, while others look very amateurish, with the best designs (the little Joms on the large stick and the excellent detailed scene on the medium stick) being too small to really appreciate except up close. And for some inexplicable reason the medium and short sticks are asymmetrical and, for want of a better term, lumpy around the edges. 

★☆☆☆☆

"Official" Gripping Beast Measuring Sticks

How do the "official" Saga sticks (made by 4Ground and sold by Gripping Beast) stack up? First, they're actually finished wood. So no rough, course texture, no loose little splinters of wood, and consistent tooling that's nice and dark. In terms of production quality these are the clear winner. Of course, they're a lot less artistic and exciting than Kraken Skulls' faction-themed sticks, and are like little billboards covered with branding. But they do certainly feel official, and you'll only ever need one set to play any/all of warbands you own.

★★★☆☆

Fatigue Tokens

As with the measuring sticks, Kraken Skulls has some cool designs, but the production quality is rough. Both the coloration and tooling differs dramatically between the different tokens sets (with the Triskels especially being a gorgeous reddish color that just happens to not-at-all match any of the other products). There are enough little bits of loose of wood that I'm going to need to take some light sandpaper to the edges to avoid splinters, but that's an easy fix. Finally, as you can see, the Kraken Skulls tokens are larger and much thicker than the "official" ones (bottom right), closer in size to the Jomsviking wrath token (bottom left).

★★★☆☆

Summary

Well, the Kraken Skulls accessories are pretty much...okay. They've got some good with some bad, but the potential to be great if they upped the production quality. However, it is worth noting that they're actually cheaper than their official counterparts! They do also offer three higher-end wooden products, in antique heart pine and solid walnut. Both of these are hand finished, and so presumably don't suffer from quite as many literal and metaphorical rough edges. Unfortunately, the heart pine is mostly sold out and unavailable until further notice, and the walnut comes with a premium price-tag (and a dark coloration that will likely work better for some factions than others). They do offer clear acrylic sticks as well, but those just feel out of place in a game like Saga. Shipping was reasonable and quick, and I didn't have any problems with their website. Overall I'll probably buy from them again and might even try the walnut, but my expectations have been tempered. Solid product, but only recommended for those who really like to theme their accessories. 

Final score: ★★★☆☆

Cheers!