Furby

A Furby is an electronic toy made by Tiger Electronics which went through a brief period of being a "must-have" toy following its launch in the holiday season of 1998. more...

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Quickly selling out at stores, many people would wait in line for hours to be the first in the door on a day when a store expected to display a new shipment. Though it retailed for about thirty dollars, the demand for these toys during the 1998 holiday season drove the resale price over one hundred dollars and sometimes as high as several hundred dollars. There were 27 million Furby toys sold for a 12-month period.

In August 2005, Furbys were re-released, with voice-recognition and more complex facial movements.

The name Furby apparently came from the prototype which its creator David Hampton nicknamed 'Fur-ball'. In appearance, the Furby is a cross between a hamster, a cat, and a bat or owl.

Original Furby

The original Furbys were six inches tall. The main reason that many people liked them was their apparent "intelligence" and learning ability as they developed their language skills.

They can communicate with one another via an infrared port. Furbys start out speaking entirely in Furbish, a language with short words, simple syllables, and various other sounds (somewhat like Newspeak), but are programmed to speak less and less Furbish and more and more English the more they "grow".

There was a common misconception that they repeated words that were said around them. It is possible to have the Furby say certain pre-programmed words or phrases more often by petting it whenever it said these words. This feature led to a common misconception that Furbys were able to repeat words that they heard. As a result of this myth, several intelligence agencies banned them from their offices.

Simple electric motors and a system of gears close the Furby's eyes and mouth, raise its ears and lift it off the ground in a faux display of mobility. However, Furbys could not walk, as some were led to believe.

They are still popular with many hackers as they can be dissected and made to do interesting things. In particular, their advanced audio capabilities and various sensory interfaces make them popular with the circuit bending community.

Other Furbys

Furby Babies

In 1999 the Furby Babies line was introduced. Furby Babies are smaller than the original, have higher voices, and can't dance, but switch to speaking English more quickly.

Furby Friends

Novel Furbys were also released, including a 'Gizmo' Furby from the movie Gremlins, (which is ironic, because Warner Bros. was, at one time, enamored with a lawsuit against Hasbro for the similarities between Furby and Gizmo) a 'Yoda' Furby based on the Star Wars character, and an E.T. Furby from the movie of the same name. A 'friend of furby' called Shelby, who is similar to Furby, but looks like a clam and has a different personality, was released in 2001 and can communicate with the original Furbys and Furby Babies.

Read more at Wikipedia.org