I've had good experiences with Freeplay-powered items. Unlike the cheap plastic junk that's around these days, the Freeplays use heavy nylon gears, fibreglass-filled cranks, etc. They really seem quite well built and able to take hard use. And they put in decent quality batteries too.

I lucked out last year and bought half a dozen brand-new, surplus Freeplay/Motorola cell phone chargers for $2 each. Attach two alligator clips and you have an AAA/AA battery charger, cell phone charger, or a renewable power supply for any LED light that takes three AAA or AA batteries. Not a bad thing to have around the house.

Meanwhile, I see MEC (local high-quality gear shop) is stocking Freeplay Sherpas. I don't really need one, but must have one anyway.