Furby is back.
After 14 years and a lengthy hibernation, Hasbro is reviving one of its most famous toys for this fall, with new technology, a hefty price tag ($60) and an app connection. This Furby is more huggable, with soft fur that hides touch sensors, and more expressive, with rubbery ears that twitch and a pair of backlit LCD eyes with mechanical eyelids that blink, look around or respond to the sounds picked up by Furby’s onboard microphone.
According to Don Cameron, a Hasbro engineer, novelty is an essential part of Furby’s appeal. “You never know what Furby might do or say.” For example, Furby can differentiate between the tone of your spoken language, the sound of another Furby or the rhythm of a song for dancing. Furby can understand high frequency audio codes to “talk” with your iPad or another Furby.
In case you missed the ’98 Furby phenomena, the reason the five-inch robot is both beloved by children and despised by quiet-seeking adults is that it learns and changes, like a real child, talking the entire time. The more you pull Furby’s tail or hang him upside down, the quicker the next stage might come. There is no off or mute switch; the only way to make the babbling stop is to leave the room or remove one of the four AA batteries.
Or you can wait for about two minutes until Furby dozes off. If Furby is bumped, those eyes may pop open, which is why there’s an old model Furby still living in our attic. In other words, this is not the type of toy you want to be near on a long-distance flight.