Furby

Wikipedia

Furby (plural Furbys or Furbies, according to Tiger. Co.) is an electronic toy, more specifically, a robot, made by Tiger Electronics which went through a period of being a "must-have" toy following its launch in the holiday season of 1998, with continual sales until 2000. Furby sold 1.8 million units in 1998, and 14 million units in 1999. Altogether in its three years of original production, over 40 million units were sold, and its speaking capabilities were translated into 24 languages. Furbys were the first successful attempt to produce and sell a domestically-aimed robot. A newly purchased Furby initially starts out speaking Furbish, a unique language that all Furbys are programmed to use, but their Furbish usage declines as they gradually start using English. English is learned automatically, no matter what culture they are nurtured in. In 2005, new Furbys were released, with voice-recognition and more complex facial movements, among many other changes and improvements. The Emoto-Tronic Furbies (Furby, Furby Baby, and Funky Furby) continued to be sold until late 2007, when these toys became extremely rare.

History
Birth of the Furby
Dave Hampton and Caleb Chung spent nine months creating the Furby (in addition to nine months spent designing the toy). Early on Tiger Electronics showed an interest in their interactive creatures, and Roger Schiffman bought the rights to it. Furbys first public appearance was at the American International Toy Fair in 1998.

Furbys originally retailed for about US$35, and upon release Furbys flew off the shelves in toyshops. Catapulting demand for these toys during the 1998 holiday season drove the resale price over US$100 and sometimes as high as several hundred dollars. Furbys sold for over US$300 in newspapers and in auctions. Nicknames were given to them, and sellers assigned rarity values to them. Some people continue to call their Furbys by the terms wedding Furby, tuxedo Furby, snowball Furby, biker Fur read more at » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furby