They left a lasting impression on youngsters growing up in the late 90s and noughties, and now Furby is back for 2023. Albeit with a new, slightly less-sinister look than the original.
And the toy is topping Christmas wish lists for kids everywhere- making Amazon’s official Top Ten Toys list for 2023. Thousands of the colourful critters are flying out of delivery vans this week in the last minute Christmas panic shopping spree, as Furby is currently on sale on Amazon priced at £54.99.
The furry creature, known for its constant chatter, will be lurking under many a Christmas tree come December 25. So we decided to take a look at what’s in store for the next-Gen Furby owners.
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And whether there’s a way of turning the damn thing off. For when I asked friends and colleagues who had one of these furry creatures back in the day, that was the one thing they remembered from the toy.
Including one chilling unearthed memory that Furby would “wake me up at 3am starting to speak…. Scaring me so badly I couldn’t get back to sleep.”
Well, the good news is with the new improved, fifth generation of Furby from toy giant Hasbro, is that it does switch itself off if you don’t talk to it or press its head for a little while. And you can also manually switch it off with three presses of the magic heart on its forehead.
Gone too are the sinister LED, all-too-knowing eyes of the original Furby. Now they’re replaced by slightly glazed over plasticky orbs that are reminisicent of those adults might usually expect to see at a rave, framed with long fluttery lashes.
(Image: MEN)
Furby has also gone slightly more low-tech I’d say these days – you can’t hook him up to an App or the internet in any way as previous models have been able to do. Perhaps it’s for the best given the rise of AI and all that.
Instead, what you have, is a fairly large toy that is not exactly cuddly given the furry exterior masks a hard robot interior. Having said that, my two children were very keen to give him lots of cuddles despite Furby’s slightly lumpy form with his giant ears protruding out of the side of the head.
Indeed both my boys were very swiftly indoctrinated into the Furby cult after untethering him from the box. “He’s adorable,” said my eldest. “I love you Furby” said the younger boy – which they then decided they would both start chanting on repeat at Furby.
(Image: MEN)
Furby was happy to receive this praise, singing the high-pitched song “Besties for Life” back at them, and ending with the messages that we’re all now “Furby’s BFF”.
If you just leave him standing there he will say stuff like “Furby loves you so much” or “Furby’s so hungry”. Furby seems rather keen on pizza – and you can “feed” him a pizza token that comes in the box.
The small instruction manual states the more you play with him the more phrases you will unlock, which is something for us all to look forward to over Christmas.
The box states the toy is for ages 6+, although my four-year-old was just as enamoured with Furby as my eight-year-old. However, you need to have a fairly decent grasp of the English language to try and attempt to work out the Furby instructions and to communicate with the toy given his strange Furbish language which I can see would be better for kids over 6.
(Image: MEN)
Despite Furby’s gigantic ears, he seemed to be deaf as a post when I tried talking to him – or maybe Furby just didn’t like my voice. Because despite my many shouty attempts to make him do stuff as per the instructions, he’d say “Sorry I didn’t catch that” or “um-hum you’re so easy to talk to”.
We did manage to get him to do a rave-tastic “Dance Party”, where his ears flash and his feet wiggle around a bit. We also sort of got him to “Tell My Fortune” – although you have to ask Furby something requiring a Yes or No answer which is a little bit limiting on the questioning front.
We struggled to get the “Copycat” function to work all that well either – the words we shouted at him came back sounding very garbled indeed, but maybe that’s just the Furbish way.
Furby is undoubtedly one of the more expensive presents on the Amazon top ten list this year although the toy is currently reduced to £54.99 from an original RRP of £74.99, so it’s a sizeable investment for a parent or carer. But, from our testing, I’d say Furby will provide hours of fun for youngsters over Christmas.
Indeed if your kids are anything like my two, they will be fighting over who gets to keep Furby in their room each night. Just don’t forget to buy your batteries to go with him though as you’ll need four AAs to get him started.
Amazon’s Top 10 Toys for Christmas 2023
(Image: PA)
The Furby toy we tried here is one of the full list of Amazon’s top ten most wanted toys for Christmas.
We’ve listed the full top ten here in RRP price order – although prices have been fluctuating in recent days so you may find some of these have already gone in to sale. For those on Amazon Prime, you may still get Christmas delivery dates too.
1) Asmodee Dobble card game £9.99
2) Disney Platinum Limited Edition Mystery Capsule £10.00
3) Pokémon Trading Card Game Battle Academy £17.99
4) Barbie Magical Ballerina Doll £18.66
5) Hape Multi Musical Block Set with Five Musical Instruments £27.93
6) L.O.L. Surprise! Magic Flyers £35.00
7) PLAYMOBIL City Action Fire Truck £39.95
8) Numberblocks Step Squad Mission Headquarters Deluxe Playset £39.99
9) Furby Purple Interactive Toy Plush £59.99
10) LEGO Star Wars Ghost & Phantom II Set £149.99
