the main problem in the real world with any 'funny spanners' is often that whatever you are working on will have been designed with tool access as a low priority. And there are very often fasteners with fairly inaccessible heads that need full torque, so you need a real deal tool, not something that is 'clever' but only works some of the time.
So what this usually means is that it doesn't matter how many 'clever' tools you have, you will also need to have a set of the slimmest and most elegantly designed spanners (eg combination type) too.
Clever tools can save a lot of time in some cases, but this has to be balanced against the aggro they cause when they don't work; at best it means you have to scurry off and dig out the tools that will fit; at worst it means that you break something.
FWIW I will happily use an adjustable spanner for all kinds of things; it can save a lot of time. But the moment I feel it isn't going to do the job I will reach for a tool that will. I would like to think that my chances of damaging stuff these days when using an adjustable spanner are slight, but I guess I only got that way by dint of (sometimes bitter) experience....
cheers