Furby

Furby (plural Furbies/Furbys) is an electronic-robotic toy with a beak, large ears, two feet, big eyes, and covered in fur. They were first released in 1998 by Tiger Electronics.

History[]

It's first release, known as the 1998 Furby or "Classic Furby" continued to be sold for four more years. It had a very successful run, become a huge fad during the end-of-year holidays of 1998, but popularity quickly started to diminish in 2001, and production was ceased in 2002. By 2005, Hasbro had bought Tiger Electronics and owned the rights to Furby, as well as Tiger’s other toys. They released a new, different model of the toy, known as the Emoto-Tronic Furby. They came with voice recognition, as well as several other new features. These continued to be sold for two more years. In 2012, Hasbro released another new Furby model, known to fans as the 2012 Furby, which soon went on to be revamped into the Furby Boom the following year. 2012 Furby and Furby Booms both came with their own mobile applications, and they could change personalities depending on the types of interactions a person would have with them. In 2016, Hasbro released a new Furby model called the Furby Connect, which was more advanced than previous generations, and had a heavy focus on its new corresponding mobile application, Furby Connect World. In 2023, Hasbro released the 2023 Furby, which some consider a major departure from the previous Furbys. As of 2023, this is the latest generation.

Furbys were the first successful attempt to produce and sell a domestically-aimed robot.

Beginnings[]

Dave Hampton and Caleb Chung spent around 2 years creating and designing the first designs and prototypes of the toy. Caleb Chung said he wanted to make a toy that would be a child's first friend, which may explain the unusual amount of empathy that is pervasive throughout the Furby community. Caleb Chung later went on to develop Pleo, the intelligent robotic dinosaur toy created by Ugobe Labs. Tiger Electronics soon bought the rights and started production. You can read more here: Furby (1998) Release.

Era 1 (1998 - 2002)[]

Furby Adult line (1998 Furbys)[]

The 1998 Furby is the first generation of Furby. It has 48 regular released editions and several other special edition versions. It has a tickle sensor, tilt sensor, infrared port and light sensor with realistic eyes, and some have tails while others have manes. They do not have an app or voice recognition.

Furby Babies line (Furby Babies)[]

The Furby Baby is a smaller type of the 1998 Furby. They have more vocabulary and have a higher-pitched voice. They change from Furbish to the native language much faster than normal Furbys. Upon turning on a Furby Baby for the first time, it will ask if you are its mother or father.

Era 2 (2005 - 2007)[]

Emoto-Tronic Furby Adult line (Emoto-tronic Furby)[]

The 2005 Furby (also known as the Emoto-Tronic Furby) is a type of Furby released in 2005. It is currently the largest type of Furby ever produced. These Furbys were more advanced, as they had voice recognition, and the ability to portray a wide assortment of emotions.

Emoto-Tronic Furby Babies line (Emoto-Tronic Furby Babies)[]

These have less features than the adult 2005 Furby, unlike the 1999 Furby babies. These were released in 2005 and have been sold as a twin-pack with Funky Furbys in 2006. These Furbys are smaller than the adults, and have a more baby-like appearance.

Emoto-tronic Funky Furby adult line (2006) (Funky Furby)[]

The Funky Furby is a "second generation" 2005 Furby. These have tails with different colors in them and could sing more songs than the original Emoto-tronic. These did not sell well, and were discontinued around the same time the 2005s were.

Era 3 (2012 - 2015)[]

Furby 2012[]

Main Article: Furby (2012)

In 2012, a Furby was released with an electronic connection to an app. This Furby did not have speech recognition. Its eyes were completely digital, and it had 6 personalities.

Furby Party Rockers (2013)[]

Main article: Furby Party Rockers

These Furbys don't have functional beaks and are quite small. They have lenticular eyes that change depending on the angle you look at them from, and their eyes light up as they speak.

Furby BOOM! (2013)[]

Main article: Furby Boom

This Furby is known for being extremely buggy, as its production was rushed to get them out by Christmas. However, it has many features, such as an upgraded app, different personalities, higher resolution eyes, and multi-colored fur patterns.

Furblings (2014)[]

Main article: Furby Furblings

These are tiny plushies with beaks that aren't functional, lenticular eyes that change depending on your viewing angle, and a button inside that makes it say an assortment of random phrases. These can interact with Furby Booms, and look the same, except smaller.

Era 4[]

Furby Connect (2016)[]

Main article: Furby Connect

The Furby Connect came in five colors. It has color LCD eyes, and an app that has features which are different from the Furby Boom and 2012 Furby app. It does not have a physical Furby baby like its predecessors, it only has Virtual Furblings in the Furby Connect World app.