This is just something interesting I came across today when I went
shopping at Walmart. You know how when you first walk into a Walmart
store, and there's normally advertisements covering up the security
system? Well today one of them advertisements actually caught my eye,
and it was an advertisement for something I thought I would never see
again. You can now preorder furbies! Yep, you heard me right, furbies.
Now for any of you who were born in the 2000s, let me explain just what a "furby is." Basically furbies was a massive craze that sweeped the nation, just as Pokemon had done a few years before. In the late 90s, furbies were the must have toy, and just about EVERYONE had them. Although these things were actually marketed for about 30-40 bucks, they would sometimes actually be resold for around $300 simply because they became so hard to find.
So, what made this toy so popular? Well, really it's hard to say. Furbies came in many different colors and designs, special edition furbies were released for special events (I myself actually own the blue Y2K furby which came out in, well, the year 2000), and they were all basically physical virtual pets. Yep, that about sums them up. They were virtual pets built into stuffed toys which then interacted with the world around them. Their eyes and mouth would move, they would wiggle their ears, and they would also try to talk to you and respond to you. You could also pet furbies to reward them for talking, and over time they could learn how to speak English, but that's really all they did.
Although furbies were pretty simple, they were a hit, and they were actually a pretty good idea. Virtual pets were popular at the time, and because of all the different types of furbies, almost everyone had their own "personal" furby to show off to their friends. Furbies could also interact with other furbies, so just like with real pets, you could simply take your furby over to your friends house, sit it down next to their furby, and let them play together as you went off and did whatever it was you did with your friends. (Which reminds me, I let my furby "play" with my cousin's furby, and his furby taught mine to do nothing but sleep. The thing went from the type of furby who always liked to talk to me, to the furby who never wanted to do anything... I ended up having to reset him actually X_x.)
Even though furbies were in fact very popular in the late 90s and early 2000s, like all fads, they quickly died out and vanished from the market. That is, until now.
It turns out furbies are making their return, with quite a few new advance features. Now I'm no expect, and I myself have no plans on getting back into furbies, but apparently the new furbies will be using an iOS app, they have more sensors (so you can scratch/pet it in more places), they'll sometimes move around on their own/roll around, and they will now also be able to show off a lot more emotions with their brand new LCD eyes. In short, they are the furbies of the future.
(Note: Yes furbies did make a short return around 2005, but who remembers that? I sure don't.)
Now I'm not saying that everyone should run out and buy one of these things like it was 1998, but I figured that it would be at least nice to bring it up. I'm sure a lot of you out there remember the whole furby fad, and if you do, I'm sure this post alone will bring back a lot of old memories. (Anyone else remember that furby based episode of Author, with the bouncy creatures? Really, I always thought if them bouncy/streachy creature toys were real, they would have been much more popular than furby lol)
Still if you're actually looking forward to the new furby, or if you're thinking about buying it as a gift for your child (or a child in your family), the new furby will be sold at a price of $59.99.
Just remember to put it in a dark drawer if you want it to be quiet so you can sleep at night.
Now for any of you who were born in the 2000s, let me explain just what a "furby is." Basically furbies was a massive craze that sweeped the nation, just as Pokemon had done a few years before. In the late 90s, furbies were the must have toy, and just about EVERYONE had them. Although these things were actually marketed for about 30-40 bucks, they would sometimes actually be resold for around $300 simply because they became so hard to find.
So, what made this toy so popular? Well, really it's hard to say. Furbies came in many different colors and designs, special edition furbies were released for special events (I myself actually own the blue Y2K furby which came out in, well, the year 2000), and they were all basically physical virtual pets. Yep, that about sums them up. They were virtual pets built into stuffed toys which then interacted with the world around them. Their eyes and mouth would move, they would wiggle their ears, and they would also try to talk to you and respond to you. You could also pet furbies to reward them for talking, and over time they could learn how to speak English, but that's really all they did.
Although furbies were pretty simple, they were a hit, and they were actually a pretty good idea. Virtual pets were popular at the time, and because of all the different types of furbies, almost everyone had their own "personal" furby to show off to their friends. Furbies could also interact with other furbies, so just like with real pets, you could simply take your furby over to your friends house, sit it down next to their furby, and let them play together as you went off and did whatever it was you did with your friends. (Which reminds me, I let my furby "play" with my cousin's furby, and his furby taught mine to do nothing but sleep. The thing went from the type of furby who always liked to talk to me, to the furby who never wanted to do anything... I ended up having to reset him actually X_x.)
Even though furbies were in fact very popular in the late 90s and early 2000s, like all fads, they quickly died out and vanished from the market. That is, until now.
It turns out furbies are making their return, with quite a few new advance features. Now I'm no expect, and I myself have no plans on getting back into furbies, but apparently the new furbies will be using an iOS app, they have more sensors (so you can scratch/pet it in more places), they'll sometimes move around on their own/roll around, and they will now also be able to show off a lot more emotions with their brand new LCD eyes. In short, they are the furbies of the future.
(Note: Yes furbies did make a short return around 2005, but who remembers that? I sure don't.)
Now I'm not saying that everyone should run out and buy one of these things like it was 1998, but I figured that it would be at least nice to bring it up. I'm sure a lot of you out there remember the whole furby fad, and if you do, I'm sure this post alone will bring back a lot of old memories. (Anyone else remember that furby based episode of Author, with the bouncy creatures? Really, I always thought if them bouncy/streachy creature toys were real, they would have been much more popular than furby lol)
Still if you're actually looking forward to the new furby, or if you're thinking about buying it as a gift for your child (or a child in your family), the new furby will be sold at a price of $59.99.
Just remember to put it in a dark drawer if you want it to be quiet so you can sleep at night.
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