The Sonic Screwdriver
What self-respecting Timelord (or geek) could be without one?
Without a doubt, its one of the coolest Doctor Who toys on the market (besides the 12" RC Dalek and believe me, I want one of those!).
The sonic screwdriver is, next to the TARDIS (and Tom's scarves), one of the most easily recognisable and iconic symbols of Doctor Who. There's a history behind the sonic screwdriver (and the current toy) that I'm not going to go into. If you're a Whovian, you know it. If not and you're so inclined, read this.
At first it seemed getting my hands on one might prove tricky. I'd read quite a few reviews online saying they were initially hard to obtain outside the UK and of the retailers here carrying Doctor Who merchandise, none knew if they'd get the sonic screwdriver.
The first, logical, place to look online was the BBC Canada site. It had a picture of the old version of the toy on the site, not the new one, so I called their customer service line. HA!
BBC Canada and BBC America clearly share one call center. I got some girl on the phone with a Deep South accent who'd never heard of Doctor Who. When I asked which they had, the old one (still shown on their site) or the new version (shown everywhere else) she said "the one you see is the one you get".
To quote the Ninth Doctor, "Stupid ape". This girl had no clue and shouldn't be working for the BBC, America, Canada or UK. Period.
Next stop, ThinkGeek.
These geeky guys and gals are fantastic. A quick email asking which model they stocked got a same day answer and it was the new one. Since I wasn't sure anyone in Canada would get them, I ordered from ThinkGeek in the US. Guess what?
Within 48 hours, they had processed and shipped the order and I had my sonic screwdriver in my hands!
Of course, the following week, my old friend, Sunrise Records received a ton of them. Go figure. Still, I'd do it again, better safe than sorry.
As for the toy itself...
It's made by Character Options, comes with two nibs, one with normal black ink, one with UV ink, a "psychic paper" wallet and the three AG13 (LR44) batteries.
When they first released it, the toy didn't include batteries. Now it does and since the batteries are usually $5 each in a store, it's a great value when they're included.
I'd read quite a few mixed reviews about the toy, the main complaints being it was fragile and the sound effects (it has two sounds from the show) were very low in volume.
One woman said she'd carried it in her purse for a day and it broke. Not having a purse and not being about to start carrying one, I carried mine in my coat pocket. For more than a day. In fact, for a few weeks.
I took it to work (my co-workers found it quite amusing and wanted to try it), out shopping, for walks, hiking etc etc. While I wouldn't try beating a Sontaran over the head with it, in normal "use", it's quite durable.