Review of Furby 2012
Old Furby, Meet New Furby!
Out With the Old, In With the New
I'm sure most of you have heard by now of Hasbro's new and improved version of the Furby toy, which originated in 1998. The original Furby was the first toy of it's kind to be released into the public. For those who don't know, Furby started as a cute furry robot who spoke a language called "Furbish" when you first brought him home. Over time, Furby would start speaking more and more English, making it seem as though Furby was learning from the child playing with it. There were also other Furbys, and variations of Furbys released over the years. In 1999 Furby babies were put on the market, followed closely by Furby friends (Shelby), and Emoto-Tronic Furbys in 2005. But the 2012 Furby by far is THE biggest change since the original version in 1998,and even has his own iPhone App. He sure has come a long way!
Let's play, Furby!
What can 2012 Furby do that is so great?
Well,for anybody who has yet to purchase one of these little gems, that would be a great question. The new Furby in some ways is a lot like the old Furby. He still speaks only Furbish when you first bring him home. He still has that loveable,but somewhat annoying tone of voice. He's still silly and quirky, and even an adult will find themselves laughing along with their kids. But that's about all that has stayed the same. Because now, Furby not only comes with one personality. He has MULTIPLE personalities, all in one Furby. (It's not as scary as it sounds).
Personality #1- The sweet, loveable Furby. This Furby has a sweet girly voice,and has a personality as sweet as pie. Little girls will love this one. But if they get bored, there are always more personalities to be explored.
Personality #2- The valley girl Furby. Also a hit with the girls. This Furby personality says "like", and "OMG" a lot. It's whole personality is that of a valley girl. Comical and cute,and a little annoying. But still fun.
Personality #3- The goofy Furby. This one is my personal favorite,I can't help but laugh at its antics. When in the goofy personality, Furby will burp and toot a lot, and believe me, he has no problem laughing at himself!! What I find strange is that we seemed to also get a girly goofy Furby personality once. It had more of a girly voice,but was not either of the first two personalities. It acted silly,but said different things than the boy personality. We haven't had Furby change into that one again,and he didn't stick with it for very long when he did. But I'm hoping to hear it again,because I though at first that he only had 4 personalities! I'll write more on that one later once I make sure it wasn't a Furby fluke!
Personality #4- Evil Furby. If you're kid is picking on Furby a lot,don't be surprised when his eyes slant and he becomes rather....well....evil. He gets a little tired of having his tail pulled and being shook around, and his evil laughter, (which really isn't all that evil, where evilness is concerned), will have you cracking up.
Besides having a personality problem,the new Furbys are much more expressive with their eyes. Instead of mechanical eyes,they now have bright,LED eyes,that express emotions and thoughts in many different ways. When the eyes and ears move,you no longer get that loud mechanical sound of gears moving. Also Furby will dance when he hears music,and sometimes will even try to sing along. He doesn't have the ability to actually match words,but he does his best anyways. He is more difficult to wake up too,which is a gift from god if you remember how easy it was to wake the old Furby. But last but not least. The iPhone App.
With the iPhone Furby app,you can FEED your Furby. You don't just stick your finger in his mouth to feed him anymore, although you can still do that if you wish. Now you whip out your phone and make him a sandwich fit for a king! Or a dirty sock. Or a popsicle. Or any number of other yummy and weird creations you can find. He will be sure and let you know if he doesn't like it. But I've noticed each Furby personality likes different things. The evil personality Furby once enjoyed a snack of smelly gym socks,and was pretty happy about it. Weird.
A look at a sweet Furby,and an evil Furby
Is it worth the money?
So all in all, would I suggest that other people go out and buy a new Furby for their kids? Absolutely!!! My daughter is 9, and has gotten a lot of enjoyment out of it so far. For $60, he certainly has a hefty price this time around, but I feel that most kids will think he's pretty cool. The only con is that he can't yet be used on Android smart phones. They are supposed to eventually fix that issue though. So, happy Furby shopping everybody!!!