On old my sputnik, I occasionally had toe strike when pulling a u turn, etc, but it wan't at all a problem, just made a weird sound. I have read some say that it becomes a problem once you put fenders on a bike and can cause you to go over the handlebars. Some have told me its a legit concern, and others its unrealistic. What is the general consensus?

Oh, and I ride fixed, ss, and geared. I know it is probably worse with fixed though.

I rode fixed daily for over a year with fenders w/mudflaps and nothing serious ever happened from toe overlap. Never did I feel it was endangering me more then when I had no fenders on. As usual this was only a problem while messing around riding in small circles, beyond that it was never a issue during normal riding.

if you "hear a weird sound" when you u turn, (thats most likely caused by your cage/foot scraping against the wheel) then yeah id say youre gonna have toe strike when you put fenders on.
toe strike is a legit concern, you could get hurt or look silly

Toe striking with a front fender can lock up the front wheel, as can a severe enough toe strike without a fender. Best to develop the riding technique to corner at low speed without striking than avoid front fenders for the rest of your life.

Well I'm in the market for a new bike and a lot of the ones I want will have toe strike and want to mount fenders, so I was trying to figure out whether or not to get one that specifically doesn't have it, or whether it would be okay in the end. Like I said, I noticed toe strike/overlap w/ my jamis but it wasn't ever an issue b/c I never had fenders on the bike, just made a wierd sound.

I don't think it's that big of a problem. I ride a 53cm Surly Steamroller. I usually ride with 28mm wide tires and get a little bit of toe overlap. Last winter though I put a 38mm wide tire on the front and it made it worse but I didn't flip over and it didn't cause me to even come close to falling when making turns. I just had to be more careful in certain situations but you adapt to it just like when you first start riding fg and corner.

You'll be fine. If you can handle minor toe strikes without fenders you will probably be fine with them. Brief contact between the fender and your tire is not likely to stop the wheel dead, which is why I suggest improving your low-speed cornering rather than forgoing fenders. Sometimes it is necessary to partially turn, straighten the wheel as your outside foot reaches the foremost part of the crank revolution, then complete the turn. I often find I have to do this to avoid toe strikes when biking up handicap access ramps and other ped features with low-radius turns. Just part of riding fixed gear.

I had a bike for the last couple of years with quite a bit of overlap and there were only two scenarios that gave me trouble because of it: trying to learn to trackstand with the front pointing the other way; and departing from the sidewalk when dog-tired after work. No issues at all in normal riding.