11th Doctor Sonic Screwdriver remote control for auction

Started by JasonPratt, November 09, 2014, 11:08:51 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

JasonPratt

I started a sub-thread over here first, in the Season 8 discussion thread, so you can check that if you want and then link back here.


Recapping my detail post:

BBC only sells properly mastered blu-rays of nuWho Seasons 1-? (up through 10th Doctor) in a collector's set, which I recently bought as my birthday present to myself since it's horribly expensive and since I didn't have blus (or any discs) of any of the modern series yet.

Part of the reason the set is horribly expensive is because BBC packages it with a universal remote control forged to look and sound and (somewhat) behave like 11's sonic screwdriver.

I already have enough remote controls in my life, including ones with better functionality, so I don't care much about having this one. But I'd like to give it a good home. I'll probably put it up on Ebay, but in case any Grogs here wanted to make some preliminary bids on it I thought I'd give y'all a shot first. :)

This is the official site for the screwdriver: http://www.thewandcompany.com/sonic/

It defaults to the latest one, for Doctor 11, and that's certainly the one I have. The official photo on that site doesn't quite do justice to how some of the parts actually look -- in real life the most plasticy parts don't look so plastic. But otherwise that's a good place to start.

The photo attached below was the best one I could get under the circumstances of the item in its packaging. It is SUPER SECURELY packaged, clearly for sale in stores not as part of a special mailing pack unavailable in stores. (The mailing pack was obviously not intended for retail, because anyone could easily pull off a few parts and get to the blus inside.) Some of the backing of the 'stand' it's lying on has a molded "wiring" texture, especially at the top and the bottom of the screwdriver, but in this photo it looks like some kind of damage so I thought I had better account for it. I don't think the way I've ported the photo to this post you can click to embiggen it further, but if you go back to the original post where I just attached it you can click to zoom in farther and verify this.



None of my cameras do a good job of closeups, but I can try on request. The site link above at the Wand Company, does provide more publicity photos and proper closeups.

Crazy people on ebay think they can sell this for a hundred dollars or more. To be fair, that's about what the approximate difference of value would be if the blus could be bought separately without the screwdriver (or the pointless comic and three collectable cards) -- some of the seasons aren't available in blu, or rather they were but in a limited faulty production that was highly critted for cheap upscaling. (The new blus are better and I seriously don't know why BBC isn't making them available for separate purchase. But I saw no plans for it. I guess they bought a bunch of these screwdrivers and damned if they're not going to get a profit back on them!  :2funny: )

Note that this is not the Wii remote, which looks very similar but is selling for much less ($30 to $50). My impression from reading around is that in real life the Wii remote looks and feels much cheaper, too, though the photos are pretty similar (aside from the obvious lack of Wii controls here. ;) ) This thing is DENSE, and frankly you could harm someone waving it around -- which is still how it operates as a remote control.  :o You may regard this as a selling point.  8)


Staggerwing asked in the previous thread: "Does the little three-fingered claw part on the end of the Sonic Screwdriver pop open when you push one of the buttons?"

I haven't opened it out of its package so I can't test that. If it does, the designers' own site don't mention it; so the safe inference should be no. The tip does glow and make the proper noise.


What am I asking for it?

Part of me wants to join the crazy people on ebay and see if I can pawn it back for the money I (effectively) paid instead of being able to just buy the blus. However, I haven't watched their bids to see if anyone is actually paying such money for it.

I do know the thing retails separately for around $100.

I'm willing to start the bid at $10 plus shipping. I can't seriously imagine anyone paying more for that, instead of for a game. But I'm not a collector.

Our family's little factory is a UPS pickup station, so I can try to figure out shipping charges somewhere, and I'll be able to find a good box for it with lots of safety packing.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

Staggerwing adds: "Thinkgeek sells them for a lot more so $10 bucks would be a real bargain. http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/ee4a/"
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

NOTE: this is an infrared device, not radio frequency, so it won't work on players like the XBox or PS3. Which is another reason it's pretty useless to me, as my Blu player is a PS3.

(I saw that mentioned at Thinkgeek; I didn't find out by testing. Don't worry, it's still 100% bound in its original casing.)
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!