Flashback Fridays: Furbies

Photo Credit 9Gag

Every Christmas, there's that toy that every kid absolutely has to have. First there was the cabbage patch doll, then of course Tickle Me Elmo. In the winter of 1998, there was Fruby. No one was exactly sure what a Furby was, but it talked and "interacted" with you, and that was cool enough. You didn't even have to be reponsible for it like those annoying, needy Tamagotchis.

 However, there's one thing many buyers overlooked: the thing was so fucking creepy. Seriously. Was I the only one who though Furbies looked like some weird, devil spawn, cousin of Gremlins?

I remember my first, and only Furby. It was the pink "baby" one. It was just as creepy only allegedly cuter. Someone "generously" gifted it to me at my birthday party when I was seven. Like most toys, the novelty ran out fairly quickly. I soon moved on to cooler interactive toys like DivaStarz, not as creepy, and far more trendy.

However, my Furby somehow managed to live on...I swear Furbies continue to just keep going and going and going even after the batteries die. Case in point, a few years ago, I journeyed into my basement to retrieve something. As I made my was down the dark stairs while fumbling for the light switch,  I heard the little voice I can only equate to nails on a chalkboard screeching some gibberish of a language. My Furby had somehow resurrected itself. It was probably asking, "Why don't you love meeeeee?" Answer: because you're so creepy!!  You can bet I grabbed whatever it was I needed and made my way up the stairs faster than I ever had before. That thing went into the trashcan the next morning for sure.

Apparently, some people still have their Furbies. I have no idea why; maybe they put it out as decoration for Halloween. Our interactive technology has vastly improved, but I suppose they're a nice novelty for some. Watch as Furby meets the latest interactive technology, Siri: