Somewhere in the toy universe, a stuffed electronic hamster and owl did the dirty; only to 9 months later produce our lovely little robot friend Furby.
Honestly, all I knew about Furbies were that they scared the crap out of me. Yeah, they’re amusing for a while—“Me Furby! Hungry! Let’s dance!” Cool. Awesome. Glad you can dance, Furby. But even as a child I understood the concept of cause and effect. You talk to the Furby, it talks back to you. When you don’t talk to the Furby, it shouldn’t have a reason to speak. So when my pink and white Furby would start babbling its special language from inside my closet, I started to think there were some other factors at work here.
“Furbish is the language spoken by the Furbies. It is similar to English, but with different grammar structure,” says the side of the Furby packaging.
Really? Furbish? What world do we live in when a battery run toy has its own secret language? Apparently a world in which u-nye-loo-lay-doo is an actual invitation to hang out.
But surprisingly– there’s a legitimate technology behind the random noises and the eye batting stares. Furbies can communicate with each other via an infrared port located between their eyes. They start by speaking only Furbish, but as they “grow up” they are programmed to speak less Furbish, and more English. Except their version of “English” is most just fragmented sentences and incorrect word arrangement.
In 1999, there was even a widespread rumor that as the Furbies “grew up”, they gained the ability repeat any phrase someone around them said. Because of this rumor, Furbies were banned from several intelligence agency offices.
Because that devious Furby is totally the one who’s going to leak the newest CIA mission.
From 1998-2000, Furbies flew off the shelves like crazy. They sold for $35, but some people even bought them for $300! Not only could you purchase the Classic Furby, but also…
Fuby Babies— smaller, can’t dance, but do switch to speaking English more quickly
Furby Friends—Furbies based off of movie characters (Gremlins, Star Wars, E.T.)
Emoto-Tronic Furbies—upgraded with voice recognition system, have on/off switch (Well, THAT explains a lot); from Fuby Island (I was curious of their origin)
Emoto-Tronic Funky Furbies—can sing three new songs, can be taught dance routines (uh, what?)
…but none sold as many as the original. 40 million Furbies, all across the globe; all batting their eyes and asking you yet again if you would “Feeed mee?” with a quick press of their tongue and pet of their fake fur.
Well, me thinks Furby sales took a dive for the better. Now please, go get a real friend and put that creepy hamster back in your closet.
Enjoy this classic Furby Commercial
