TBT: Furby (i.e. the mutant chicken from hell)

Let's just say the first time I got a mini Furby in my Happy Meal, I wasn't exactly happy:

I thought perhaps McDonald's had made a mistake, like the many times when I asked for a "boy toy" (let's be real-- Hot Wheels are waaaaay better than those sad excuses for Barbies) and they looked in the back seat of the car like "Is your son hiding in the trunk...? Because that's a girl."

I was more than a little befuddled-- this, er, thing that was sitting on my three-year-old lap looked like someone had stuck fish eyes on a hamster, glued a beak on the front and then slapped on bald cat ears as an afterthought. This was freakin' real-life Frankenstein's monster in a FLIPPING HAPPY MEAL. My three-year-old self thought something along the lines of WTH IS THIS?!

Needless to say, I got rid of it pretty quickly. Goodwill and gone.

However, Furby and I were destined to meet again.
In 2005 at Christmas, my grandparents got all the younger cousins something I had hoped I'd never see again. FREAKING FIENDISH FURBIES. My sister was one recipient. She petted it, and talked to it, and it sang "Twinkle Twinkle", gradually changing the lyrics from all Furbish to English as it "learned" from her. Learned. *shudder*

I'm planning your death, human.

After this little revival they seemed to be finally gone. But since I've seen them yet again on the shelves, meaning there must've been a third revival, I thought I'd do a bit of research. So here comes the weird.

Flaming gay or just on ectasy?

The first Furby was designed by two guys in 1998 who worked for Hasbro. It took them nine months to design the cretin, and they even had to enlist help from another professional toy designer. NINE MONTHS TO DESIGN A CREEPY MUTANT.

Why does this McDonald's Furby have (bananas? fries?) on its head?

In the Christmas season of 1998, Furbies were in such high demand tha stores coudln't keep them on the shelves. People resorted to buying the mutants from private sellers for anywhere from $100-around $300 (they retailed at $35). I don't understand this.

Twenty-seven million Furbies were sold in the first twelve months they were out. But after a few years, the activity died down. Until their revival in 2005. These Furbies, called Emoto-Furbies, were bigger, "cuter" (that's Wikipedia speaking, not me), and had better facial expression. However, they didn't react to loud noises (like older Furbies), and had more limited communication with Emoto-Furbies than the originals had with each other.

What's worse is the 2012 revival Furbies-- currently still being updated and manufactured-- have an app as well as the ability to have their personalities programmed based on how the owner interacts with it. You raise the Furby and teach it things, and how to act towards it determines its personality. It's practically a child. Eek!

Interesting fact: "According to the omniscient Wikipedia, "The originals are still popular with many hackers as they can be dissected and made to do interesting things. In particular, their advanced audio capabilities and various sensory interfaces make them popular with the circuit-bending community". Weird.

That's not the strangest thing people have done with Furbies. This was so crazy, I had to copy it directly from the page:
On January 13th 1999, it was reported the National Security Agency of the United States identified what was believed to be a spy that may have infiltrated its inner sanctums, describing it as "being less than a foot high, covered with red and orange fur, with watchful eyes and big ears". The description matched Tiger Electronics' Furby, which managed to beguile some of the NSA's employees that they brought it to work to ease stress. Shortly afterwards, the establishment banned Furbies from entering NSA's property due to concerns that they may be used to record and repeat classified information, advising those that see any on NSA property to "contact their Staff Security Officer for guidance." Roger Shiffman, the owner of Tiger Electronics, stated that "Furby has absolutely no ability to do any recording whatsoever," and would have gladly told the NSA this if he was asked from anyone from the spy agency. Additionally, Dave Hampton demonstrated that Furby's microphone can't record any sound at all, and can only hear a single monotonous beep if a loud sound is produced around Furby, and no words or waveforms can be made out at all. He too was never questioned by the NSA, and he could have answered both questions easily. The ban was eventually withdrawn."

In short, it may be possible to program Furbies to be spies. Or minions. For all we know, when we go to sleep at night our Furbies quietly chant "First the arms of unsuspecting children, then the world!" as they tap their feet with their limited mobility capacity. Or maybe it's not.