now with pictures (click/tap) They furby was first designed and produced by Caleb Chung and Dave Hampton. After the rights to the furbys were bought by tiger electronics, it was showcased at the 1998 new york toy fair. It first went on sale during the Christmas of 1998 which lead to it being bought by many people to give as a gift during the holiday season. Due to this massive population, a new series of "furby babies" were released in 1999. This type of furby is smaller than the original, and has less features. However, it Begins to "learn" English quicker than an adult furby would, and has more phrases than an adult. Keep in mind that furbies do not repeat what you say, as that is only a common myth. They are instead programmed to slowly start speaking more English the longer they are awake. There were 8 generations of different 1998 furby colors released , with 2 unreleased generations. Alongside that, there were also special edition furbies, contest furbies, and a line of "fresh new look" furbies which had a Combination of parts from the previous generations, as a way to use up all the old factory parts. After the original 1998 furbies, there came the 2005 "emo-tronic" furbies. In my opinion, this is the only generation that is slightly creepy. The emo-tronic furbies had many issues, such as the material on their beaks (and possibly feet) wearing out rather easily or the strange placement of their battery compartment leading to it breaking often, they sold very badly. This makes them incredibly expensive in today's market, which is the reason they're the only furby generation I don't own. They also apparently have a voice recognition system (if I remember correctly) so.that you can "talk" to them, and ask them things like to tell you a story (I think, don't quote me on this.) their face was also designed to be more expressive, hence the "emo-tronic" name. (a combination of emotion and electronic) The 2005 furby also happened to have a furby baby, although it is really ugly imo. I have also heard that the 2005 furby babies are not very interactive. Now, we move on to the next generation of furbies in 2012. Now, I'm going to have to research this a little bit so this will take a while, but from what I know right now, there are three types of furbies in 2012. The furby boom, the 2012 furby (yes that is its name), and the furbling. From what I know, the furbling is this generations equivalent to a furby baby, except way less interactive then it's 1998 counterpart. This generation of furby is the first to have digital eyes and an app to Connect to. This concept would later be reused by the 2016 fueby connect. The only difference that I am aware of between the 2013 furby and furby boom is that they were released different years and have different fur colors. The furby boom was released in 2013. These furbies communicated in between each other and/or the app through high pitched sounds. According to some forums, the tilt sensor of this generation is often known to break. this is the only furby generation to have different Preprogrammed personalities that it can switch between. (My personal favorite is the princess one) Although unused coding for personalities was found on the 2016 furbies. (continued in notes and credits)
The furby connect is the next generation, created in 2016. This was actually my first furby, and I remember playing with it on the app when I was little. (pomegranate, my furby, is actually sitting on my shelf watching me type this.) I personally think this generation is one of the best, although it doesn't top the original. These furbies had led eyes and connected to the app/communicated using Bluetooth. They also came with a sleeping mask which allowed you to turn off your furby. This was the First time ever that furbies could manually be turned off without changing the batteries, and it prevented them from waking up in the middle of the night and scaring the crap out of you. (why I keep all my furbies without batteries unless I'm playing with them) This would end up being the last generation that has movable beaks. The most hated generation is probably the 2023 furby. This furby seems to have wiped the originality of the 1998 furby and replaced it with a girly cutesy vibe (think of that one "what corporations think is cute vs what's actually cute" meme) now don't get me wrong, this generation is pretty good still, ( I was gifted some myself) but it just doesn't feel like a furby. It has four main types of furby so far, hey furby, the dj furby, furblets, and mini furbies. (I think they're called that.) The Hey furby is the original 2023 furby. It has no moving beak, instead a button like beak, and no app. This furby has a system that recognizes vocal commands, however. The dj furby is basically the same thing as hey furby, except it resembles a caterpillar and has interactive buttons on its stomach. Furblets are like this generations baby furbies, however they are very uninteractive, only having two buttons that make different noises. The mini furblets are basically just mini figures with No electronics or interactivity. There is also reportedly a new generation coming out that will bring back the multiple personalities, but I am unsure about most of its features. This generation of furby uses voice recognition to interact with each other. I think thats all there really is to say about furbies. If you have any questions about furbies feel free to ask and I might be able to answer them for you! I hope you enjoyed my ramblings about furbies, and I'm sure there's a few things I missed so I'm sorry about that :(
