Furby
A Furby is an electronic soft-toy made by Tiger Electronics which went through a brief period of being a "must-have" toy following its launch in the Holiday season 1998. 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.
The plural of Furby is Furbys, and 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 main hook was their apparent "intelligence" and learning ability as they developed their language skills. It was thought, falsely, that they repeated words said around them; this led to several intelligence agencies banning them from their offices. They can also 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, but are programmed to speak less and less Furbish and more and more English the more they "grow". The Furbish phrase "WHOA! Me big sleep!" would translate into English as "Whoa! I slept for a long time!"
Simple electronically powered motors close the Furby's eyes and lift it off the ground in a faux display of mobility. However, Furbys could positively 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, as well as teenage pyromaniacs, who would often burn the devices while listening to them continue to speak their normal language. Here's an example : http://fishbash.com/videos/play.php?id=34
Furby friends
In 1999 the Furby babies line was introduced. Furby babies are smaller than the original, have higher voices, and can't move their feet, but switch to speaking English quicker. Novel Furbys were also released such as the 'Gizmo' Furby from the movie Gremlins, '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 (a clam) was released in 2001 and can communicate with Furbys and Furby babies.
New furby
The second generation of Furby was released in October 2005. They're bigger than the previous version, and also have been given a more emotional face and a voice recognition system, which make them able to communicate with humans nicely. Unlike previously released Furbys, just one order is necessary to make them 'sleep'.
Furbish-English Dictionary
Although he can 'understand' other phrases and words, new furby will answer without problem the following:
- wee-tah-kah-loo-loo: Make a joke
- wee-tah-kah-wee-loo: Tell me a tale
- wee-tee-kah-wah-tee: Sing a song
- oo-nye-loo-lay-doo?: Want to play a game?
- oo-nye-ay-tay-doo: Are you hungry?
- oo-nye-boh-doo?: How are you?
- oo-nye-way-loh-nee-way: Go sleep
- oo-nye-noh-lah: Show me a dance
- kah-may-may-oo-nye!: I love you!
- doo?: What?(says this when it's called)
Furby Island
Is a new movie that is supposed to be released 2006. It is an animated movie.
See also
- External links
- Official site (which will redirect to a page hosted by Hasbro)
- NSA bans Furbys from premises
- The "infamous" Furby Autopsy
- Anatomy of a Furby dissection drawing (in an old medical style) by artist Kelly Heaton.
- CNN article about the upcoming Furby (CNN article written in February 2, 2005)