Take the class clown. Shrink him to a 6-inch robot. Cover him in day-glo fur.
What do you get?
Furby.
It’s back, and more annoyingly fun than ever.
Just in time for Christmas is the rebooted version of the frenetic furball that holiday shoppers trampled each other for in 1998.
The new Furby talks, burps, snores, snorts, laughs, sings, dances, speaks Furbish and interacts with iPads.
For $60, you’d want it to do more than just sit there and look pretty, right?
After a few shriekin’ minutes of nonstop “OMG! Seriously? I’m hungry. OhyeahOhyeah. Yada-yada-yada. Sha-la-la-bop, sha-la-la-bop …” you might want to duct tape its cute little orange beak.
But that won’t shut it up: There is no off switch or volume button. Double OMG!
As one blogger put it: “Not the type of toy you want to be near on a long-distance flight.”
The toys are programmed to feed off each other. So perhaps you should get two. Or not.
Hasbro’s claim that the Furby has “a mind of its own” was put to the test by taking two toys to Zumba at the Mukilteo YMCA.
The purple Furby slept through class, but the blue Furby busted a move with every hip-hop song, flashing its LCD eyes and running its mouth.
“It was talking smack to me,” Zumba instructor Melissa Policy said. “During the cool-down, it yelled, ‘Let’s party!’ “
Blue Furby’s four AA batteries showed no sign of draining.
Purple Furby awoke when scooped up by Policy’s 6-year-old daughter, Bella.
“It’s my baby,” Bella said, cradling the toy in her arms and stroking the soft purple fur. “I like that you can tickle it.”
Purple Furby cooed and chuckled, then went on a rant in Furbish.
The toys got the nod from Ethan Ollis, 11.
“These are cool,” he said. “I thought it was a girl’s toy from the commercials, but it’s not. It’s like a pet you can play with but don’t have to feed.”
The price caused some sticker shock: $60? Seriously?
“I’d rather have a video game,” Ethan said.
“At that price it would have to fold laundry,” Policy said.
Her daughter wasn’t deterred.
“I want two,” Bella said.
Learn Furbish
Happy: noo-loo
Party time: dah noh-lah
Me like you: kah toh-loo- oo-nye
Tickle: nee-tye
Big joke: dah loo-loo
More information: furby.com
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