Bits and Baubles, or the components you'll use.

If you follow me on twitter, you probably have seen me ramble on about LEDs. I think they're great, and believe they're one of the singularly most useful components a theatrical artist can keep stocked. I get most of mine from Super Bright LEDs. They have a good selection of products suitable for use in props and practicals, and their store is easy to browse, providing good information about each part. (I am a big fan of these in particular).

If you're getting into electronics for the first time, I recommend picking up some kind of starter kits for basic components: resistors, capacitors and maybe some other sundry bits. These basic components are important when it comes time to build any circuits. Don't forget to pick up that new Arduino!

That kit at SparkFun includes a few linear regulators, which will be an important thing to have on hand if you build your LED related props the way I do.

Getting power to the project is something you can accomplish in a few different ways. If it's a hand prop, then batteries are the obvious choice. The Arduino board contains regulators, and can easily powered with anything from 6-20v. This can be batteries, or a simple wall-wart if you project doesn't need to be mobile.

For initial design phases, I really recommend a decent-sized breadboard, this will allow you to build circuits without soldering, to test ideas or just play around with electrical concepts. You'll also want a multimeter, either a basic one, which will serve you just fine as long as you remember to turn it off, or a slightly fancier one. Auto-ranging is a nice feature to have, and might save you from blowing a fuse.

A soldering iron is important, and I will never recommend something from radio shack. This seems like a decent option, for relatively little cash. I'll admit my own soldering station is fancier, but I'm particular about my tools.

Basic hand tools, diagonal cutters, needlenose pliers, maybe one of those fancy automatic wire strippers. Hookup wire. Maybe some switches and cheap, low-power LEDs for output purposes. If you stick with electronics you'll see yourself gathering a fair bit of stuff, but it's all useful.

I don't think I've missed anything that you'll want to get started playing, but if you've got any questions definitely let me know.