FURBIES

My Beloved Creechurs

meowmeowmeow these horrible little things are (believe it or not) the greatest creation to ever have graced the earth. imo. which is correct.

the year 1998 saw the Monica Lewinsky scandals, the unabomber represent himself in court, the knighting of Elton John, and straight from the brains of Dave Hampton and Caleb Chung the Furby (Furbee in Sweden) was born. The furby was an immediate hit with its colorful fur and dreamy eyelashes, and as of their 1998 october release the christmas season saw demand for these beaky bastards skyrocket. Prices online climbed to anywhere from 3-20 times the original retail value of $35USD, and to this day era 1 furbies (from 1998-2002) continue to sell for these prices. During the roughly 3 year span from the release till the discontinuation of the era 1 furby in 2002 a whopping 40 million+ furbies were sold. Owned by Tiger Electronics Inc under Hasbro (rip tiger electronics) the Furby brand ran from 1998 to the current day; the 2023 Furby release in celebration of the 25th anniversary being my own personal nightmare and an insult to the good name furby.

Era 1 (1998-2002)

Furby Features: Deep-Sleep Mode, Furbish -> English, Infrared "communication" Port, Full-Body Movement, Touch Sensors, Light Sensors.
Retail Price: $30-35USD
Slogan: "The more you play with me the more I do! I will keep amazing you!"
Colors: 48 Regular, 22 Special, 18 Fresh New Look, 19 Reg-Unreleased, 9 Special-Unreleased
Personalities: 1 that can change slightly 
Owned by me: Gen 1 witches cat, Gen 3 elephant 

About

These beautiful little monsters were incredibly impressive compared to most other toys on the market, with some features landing them in incredibly absurd situations. The best of which being their adaptive language learning. A fresh out of box era 1 furby begins speaking in "Furbish", a made up language with 42 pre-recorded words which allowed for hundreds of various phrases to be said in this other language. As time goes on and the furby "ages" they're programed to speak less and less Furbish and more English (or one of 24 languages available) to simulate learning. This however lead to the false belief that your furby was listening in order to learn English, and because of this in 1999 the NSA (U.S National Security Agency) banned furbies from its headquarters.
In this era we also get Furby Babies - a smaller and less interactive furby that "learns" English faster than the adult Furby.

Lore
(Furby Manual)

Snow Leopard Furby ! 

Era 2 (2005-2007)

Furby Features: Off On Switch, Speech Recognition, Communicates only with other era 2 furbies, Full-Body Movement, Touch Sensors, Spoon, More Expressions, Commands and Red Light Green Light.
Retail Price: $39.99USD
Slogan: "Your Emoto-tronic Friend"
Colors: 4 Original - expanded to 16
Personalities: 1  
Owned by me: 1 !!!

About

My personal favorite Furby; The Emoto-tronic Furby! (and also Funky Furby). This uncanny valley inhabitant is a mix between a pear and a body builder and my entire world revolves around his generally degraded beak. Yeah also their beaks are made with a softer rubber so they can smile or frown and this rubber is much more fragile than the rest of them, so if you buy one today theres a huge change its beak will just be absolutely fucked up and thats just. yeah. In this era we also get the emoto-tronic furby babies - a smaller bug-eyed creature with much less ability. I want one so bad.

Era 3 (2012-2014)

Furby Features: Multiple Personalities, Speech Recognition, Communicates with other era 3 furbies via ultrasound, Full-Body Movement, Touch Sensors, Light Sensors, LCD Eyes, Furby App.
Retail Price: $59.99USD
Slogan: "A Mind of it's Own"
Colors: 20
Personalities: 6 - Viking, Diva, Chatterbox, Princess, Crazy, Default

Owned by me: Gen 1 Phoenix, Gen 1 Taboo, Gen 2.5 Bermuda, Boom Polka dots

About

Era 3 brought the 2012 Furby, Furby Party Rockers (2012), Furby Boom (2013), Furby Furblings (2013), and Furbacca. Party Rockers are basically just furby babies for the 2012 furby, Furblings are furby babies for the furby boom, and furbacca is,, his.. own thing.... I have 2 2012 furbies, 2 long furbies made from 2012 furbies, and 1 long furby made with a party rocker furby!!!!!!

Era 4 (2016-2017)

Furby Features: Internet Access via App, Communicates with other era 4 furbies via Bluetooth, Full-Body Movement, Touch Sensors, Light Sensors, Color LCD Eyes, Furby Connect World App, New Look, Sleeping Mask.
Retail Price: $100USD
Slogan: "Furby Connects You to a World of Surprises"
Colors: 5
Personalities: 1

Owned by me: 1 Teal

About

Era 4 and its only addition of the Furby Connect saw a large amount of changes to both the look of the Furby as well as how one interacts with it. Eyes, beak, and forehead markings were all separated, ears and feet were now translucent, and the familiar hair tuft that had been left off in previous designs was now replaced with an antennae that lights up when moved. There were also no physical furby babies released in this era, as they were entirely digital and were "born" via the Furby Connect World app. This is not dissimilar to the egg hatching function in the Furby App from era 3, however furby connect relied much more heavily on the now discontinued app and imo that was one of their major pitfalls. (I have a furby connect and I love him thats my son.)

Era 5 (2023)

Furby Features: Off On Switch, Communicates with other era 5 furbies via "Furdar", Static Beak, Painted Eyes, Touch Sensors, Light Sensors, Glowing Ears, New Look, Voice Commands.
Retail Price: $70USD
Slogan: none
Colors: 3
Personalities: 1

Owned by me: none. ever.

About

Era 5 is evil and horrible and I hate it. The 2023 Furby released as part of a celebration for the 25th anniversary of the Furby and the 100th anniversary of Hasbro. The 2023 furby can say over 600 phrases and thats about all it has going for it. I hate it, even the furblings (furby babies) are horrible and I really have nothing else to say about these monstrosities.

Furbies are the best ever and I'll never shut up about them - adios