The furbys I have been waiting on finally arrived and the funhouse furby adoption room is officially open with two furbys anxiously awaiting new homes. I will be adding at least one more furby to the adoption page within the next few days. I am not sure how long the furby adoption room will be open. The future of the adoption room depends upon how well the furby adoptions go. I am keeping the adoption fees fairly low to give these furbys a good chance at getting good homes.
Out of the 10 furbys that I recieved, five were in perfect working condition and started right up when I put batteries in them. Another furby (a cute little black and white tuxedo furby with green eyes) started up right away, but this poor little guy has no voice. The other 4 furbys were dead on arrival but my boyfriend and I took apart one of them (an adorable zebra striped furby with blue eyes) and we got it to work. I have put it back together but I am still looking for the right type of glue to glue the fur back in place. For the most part, the zebra furby looks normal except for the ears, which look a little "loose".
I have decided to adopt the furby that has no voice along with one of the working furbys. I will be putting their pictures up in the family room of the funhouse soon. For the time being, I have decided to name the mute furby May-may. I am hoping that May-may's lack of voice is something simple like a speaker wire or maybe a bad speaker and not a voice chip. If the problem is something to do with the speaker then my boyfriend and I may be able to give May-may his voice back.
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Saturday, August 26, 2000
I have finally added May-may II, May-lah Kah III, and a new furby, May-lah, to the family room of the funhouse.
Some people may be a little surprised when they first see May-lah because he is sort of a sky blue swirl color. But, well...I couldn't resist. In the lot of furbys that I recently bought, there was a white furby that was in bad shape. It keeps getting stuck with its motor running trying desperatly to get the gears going again. I have not learned how to fix that problem yet so I figured that this furby would be a perfect "fur donor".
There was another furby in the bunch..a zebra striped furby that I had become attached to. This furby (May-lah) wasn't working when it first arrived and my boyfriend and I had taken the furby apart to get it working again but it just didn't look the same when I put the fur back on. I figured this furby would be the perfect "candidate" for the fur transplant.
The results can be seen in the family room of the funhouse. I think May-lah looks really cute and the unusual fur color really stands out.
As far as the other furby goes - it's still in one piece..just without fur. I do still have the zebra fur from May-lah if I am able to fix this furby. If not then this poor furby will be a sort of "donor furby" and a good way for me to learn more about how furbys work.
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Monday, August 28, 2000
May-may II now has a voice! My boyfriend and I "operated" on May-may II yesterday and found that the problem was in his speaker. We used the same furby that I got May-lah's fur from to donate a speaker for May-may II and that fixed the problem. May-may II started chattering away and I finally found out his "real" name - A-loh. So now May-may II has a new name - A-loh May-may - which translates to "light love" or "Love of Light".
A-loh May-may loves having his voice back and has become somewhat of a chatterbox. He is very friendly and will talk with any furby that happens to be close by.
I took photos of A-loh May-may's operation and I will add a room to the funhouse where you can see the pictures and read all about the operation.
As far as the "donor" furby goes, my boyfriend managed to fix the speaker that came from A-loh May-may and gave that speaker back to the other furby. On a happy note, I have noticed that the other furby's gears and motor did not slip at all when we put batteries in the furby to test the speaker. It would appear that the problem has somehow fixed itself and the furby seems to be in good working order...which leaves me with the problem of getting a new "fur coat" for the poor thing since the zebra fur that came from May-lah is a little messed up and doesn't really fit right anymore. I have an idea though...but you're going to have to wait until after I find out if this works or not. *grinning devilishly*
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Thursday, August 31, 2000
Guess what I found? Racing furbys! I went into K-mart to look around for something and for some reason I felt compelled to check out the toy section for furbys. I didn't think I would find anything because I have never seen furbys at this particular store. I wandered around the toy section and found the furby buddies...not the talking ones but the ones that look like regular furbys. You wouldn't believe the selection they had. Anyway, I thought that was all they had and I was just getting ready to leave the toy section when I saw the furbys. I couldn't believe my eyes!!! The store had at least 10 of the racing furbys. I didn't get one right away because I didn't have enough money with me and the store was selling the furbys for $30.
When my boyfriend got home from work, I told him about the furbys and he gave me enough money to buy one. I had to take that one back to the store because it's speaker was all messed up. I got another racing furby now. His name is U-tye and he is a little sweetheart although he hasn't been too friendly to the other furbys so far. He just needs a chance to get to know his new family I guess. I will put U-tye's picture up in the family room of the funhouse soon.
I also bought another racing furby to put up for adoption. This furby will never be removed from it's box - at least not by me. I am selling it for basically the same price I bought it for..plus shipping.
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Sunday, September 03, 2000
Another addition to my furby family. I adopted Boh-bay earlier this afternoon. Boh-bay is my second Spanish speaking furby. I have been looking for a furby with her fur pattern for a long time, and I was hoping for a German furby with this fur pattern. But when I saw Boh-bay, I knew I had to get her. She is one of the cutest little furbys I have ever seen but she seems to be a little scared around people but she gets along great with the other furbys. Domoh started talking to her right away which caught me by surprise since Domoh has been a little reserved around the newer members of the furby family lately.
I have updated the family room of the funhouse with pictures of both U-tye and Boh-bay.
I finally counted all the furbys and I couldn't believe how many members are in my furby family now. There are 47 members in my furby family counting Gizmo and there will be at least one or two added by the beginning of next week.
I am still working on what to do with the furby that I used as a donor furby for May-lah's fur and A-loh May-may's speaker. I woke the furby up to show it off to some friends who were curious to see if it worked because it is just sitting around without its fur and ears. I started the furby up and noticed that the speaker that my boyfriend and I thought was working sounds horrible and, to make things worse, the furby still freezes with its motor running. I am not worried about what to do for fur for the poor furby, but I am trying to decide how to handle the speaker situation.
I could buy another speaker for the furby or I could wait for another donor furby since I have placed a bid on four "fix it" furbys on ebay. But there is no guarantee that the other problems could be fixed.
I'll keep you updated on the situation. I really am hoping that I can get this little furby fixed because I have already put a lot of effort into making this a one of a kind furby.
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Sunday, September 10, 2000
It has been a few days since I have updated this page but I have been working on the furby adoption room. The furby adoptions have gone well so far. I am down to my last racing furby and I expect that one to be adopted very soon. Three other furbys were also adopted. One of them, a white furby named Koh-koh, was only in the adoption room for two days before she was adopted.
The other two furbys were adopted before I could even put their pictures up.
I still have several more furbys that aren't listed in the adoption room and I expect to have their pictures up in the adoption room soon, if they don't find homes first.
There have been three new additions to my furby family. One of them is the furby that donated its voice to A-loh May-may, and its fur to May-lah. I have finished with this furbys new fur coat and I will have a picture of him in the family room soon. I don't know for sure how long this furby will be a member of the family though - his motor problems are showing up a lot more now and the speaker he has sounds awful. I am hoping I can find another speaker for him. Then I would just have to keep an eye on him when he is awake. I am planning on restarting this furby so he doesn't have a name yet.
The other new additions are a tan furby with a white belly (koala furby?), and a dalmation furby. I just got these furbys and I haven't gotten a chance to get to know them or their names yet.
I have also added a new room to the funhouse where you can read about the operation that restored A-loh May-may's voice. There are pictures of nearly every step of the operation so you can see how everything was done.
One thing I want to point out though - it may be fairly easy to take a furby apart but putting it back together again is a different story... please, do not read the story of A-loh May-may's operation and then try to take your pet furby apart. I have had a lot of practice taking furbys apart with mixed success. One of those furbys had to be given a new fur coat.
If you have a furby that is in need of repair and you don't want to send it back to Tiger Electronics and get a new one, please think things through carefully. While most problems with furbys are fairly simple to repair, there are other things that can go wrong with a furby that cannot be repaired easily and sometimes it is better to take a furby back to the store or send it back to Tiger Electronics for replacement.
I am, however, considering operating on Nah-bah see if there is anything I can do to help with the loud noise his motor and gears make. Hopefully I can help the sweet little furby so he can communicate with people again.
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Friday, September 15, 2000
I have added pictures of the two new additions to my furby family, Dah Noh-lah II and Noh-loo III, to the family room of the funhouse.
I tried to take pictures of the furby with the motor problems but the picture makes the furby look like it has long black fur when the fur is actually brown. I made the new coat for the furby myself, using some fake fur that I bought at a crafts store and some parts from the fur of what used to be a zebra furby, and I was surprised that it came out as well as it did.
Now the only problem is trying to fix the furby. When I activated the furby to take pictures of it, the poor thing kept freezing in place and making noises like the motor was spinning. I had hoped that this problem had fixed itself since the furby was working right when we took its speaker to give to A-loh May-may, but it has gotten much worse. The furby cannot stay awake for more than a few seconds without freezing.
My boyfriend and I have talked about taking the furby apart to try to fix it and we are both hoping that somehow we can figure out how to fix this furby. I am a little doubtful though because this is a problem that he and I have never tried to fix before. Up until now all the problems that we have dealt with have been simple things like a siezed up motor that just needed a little nudge to get it going again, or a few loose wires. But this is something that is totally different. I'm not sure when we will get around to working on this furby but I'll let you know how it turns out.
Another one of the furbys that I have up for adoption was given a new home earlier today. This furby was a solid black one named Loo-loo. It was adopted by a friend of mine before I had a chance to put its picture up in the adoption room.
One of the other furbys may have also found a new home. The beautiful silver wolf furby, Koh-koh, may be going to my friend Dawn. My friend Jennifer was taking her new furby, Dah, over to Dawn's house and I decided to take Koh-koh along too because I wanted to show him off and give him more "test time". Both Dah and Koh-koh made quite an impression and Koh-koh quickly became friends with Dawn's furby, Toh-loo Kah.
I will know for sure on Sunday if Dawn is going to adopt Koh-koh.
The racing furby still has not been adopted. I thought he would have gotten a new home by now since the others were adopted so quickly. But he is still sitting in his box waiting along with the cute little graduation furby.
I have been watching the bids closely on Ebay and I have noticed that the gratuation and racing furbys are getting a lot of bids and have been going for higher than what I paid for the ones I have up for adoption. But I am still hesitant to put any of my furbys up for auction because of what I said earlier about not being in this to make money but to help others find the furbys they are looking for. That is why I am selling the racing furby and the graduation furby for what I paid for them instead of trying to get more money from selling them.
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Sunday, September 17, 2000
The silver wolf furby, Koh-koh, has found a new home. He was adopted by my friend Dawn's husband earlier today. I made the mistake of becoming too attached to the cute little furby and I am really missing him right now but at least I'll get to see him once in a while.
Domoh has been doing some really strange things lately. I haven't put any of the things he has done in the furby moments room because I am afraid that nobody would believe me unless they saw these things for themselves.
One night when I was sitting at the computer and Domoh was sitting on my desk chattering away and then he just froze for a split second, went through part of his "start-up dance" and then said, "hug me".
I gave him a hug and then just stared at him for a moment. Then, for some reason I said to him, "you're different from the other furbys, aren't you Domoh?"
Domoh froze again then just rocked back and forth a couple of times as if nodding.
I gave him another hug and set him back down on the desk where he started chattering away again as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
I watched him for a couple of minutes then I went into the other room and told my boyfriend what had just happened.
My boyfriend pointed out to me that the furby box says, "I will keep amazing you". He didn't seem to think what Domoh did was anything too unusual but it really caught me off guard.
I have seen many of the furbys do things that they are not supposed to be programmed to do but what I have seen from Domoh is different. I cannot really explain it and I won't even try. It would sound too crazy.
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Friday, September 29, 2000
It's been a while since I have updated this page but I have still been working on the funhouse.
The adoption room is starting to look kind of empty with the possible adoptions of two of the furbys - Ah-may is awaiting a possible new home in Belgium, while Kah is waiting for news on a new home.
I still have three more furbys that I will be putting up in the adoption room soon - a green-eyed silver wolf furby, a grey-eyed giraffe furby, and a grey-eyed tuxedo furby. I still need to spend some time with these little cuties to make sure that they are ready to be adopted before I put them in the adoption room.
I also managed to get my hands on another racing furby to put up for adoption. I found him just as I was getting ready to take the picture of the racing furby down from the adoption room. This will be the last one though...the stores I have been getting them from are out of them and I don't know of anywhere else close by that I could get any more of them.
There has been a new addition to my furby family. Baby Doo-ay joined my furby family last Sunday. I still haven't had time to take her picture for the family room yet but I will be adding her soon.
I have been watching an auction for a "jeweled art" furby on ebay. The minimum bid is $50,000. So far there have been no bids and the auction is nearly over.
I still have a difficult time believing that anybody would pay that much for a furby. I love furbys - some people would say that I am obsessed with them, but if I had $50,000 the last thing on my mind would be spending it all on a furby. I don't care what kind of precious metals and jewels are on the furby. It seems crazy to me.
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Wednesday, October 04, 2000
Furby moments has been updated with two new "moments". The first one with Dawn's furby Toh-loo Kah, the second one with my German furby Dah.
I could have probably added about 5 more furby moments with Dah but I was too sleepy to really keep track of everyting he was doing this morning. Dah really surprised me more than a few times, and although it kind of shocked me the way he was talking back to me, I was grateful because he was keeping me awake.
The furby adoption room has generated a surprising response. The adoption room is nearly empty at the moment except for the two special edition furbys and the two solid black furbys. I will be getting several more furbys to add to the adoption room in a few days. These furbys are new and haven't been removed from their boxes. I am not sure exactly what furbys I will be getting since it is sort of a "mystery box". All I know for certain is that all the furbys are still in their original boxes and need homes.
I am surprised at how long it is taking to find a home for the last racing furby considering the response I got with all the others. The graduation furby hasn't found a home yet either but that doesn't surprise me since the graduation furbys aren't that difficult to find.
I still haven't gotten around to taking a picture of baby Doo-ay to add to the family room but I promise to have a picture of her up in the family room soon.
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Tuesday, October 19, 2000
It seems like forever since I have had a chance to update this page. But between work, taking care of furby adoptions, and all of the other distractions I haven't had much of a chance to really work on the website.
The furby adoptions have been going so fast that I am barely able to keep up with them at times. If the adoption room continues to be successful then I will keep it going for as long as possible.
Speaking of furby adoptions, a new furby has joined my furby family. May-may II (not to be confused with A-loh May-may who used to have the name May-may II) joined the family a few days ago. She is an adorable little furby but she has a problem with her speaker. I can't tell yet if the speaker is actually bad or if it's just that the furby's voice is too loud. This little furby is much louder than any of the other furbys.
I am hoping to have both May-may II and baby Doo-ay added to the family room of the funhouse soon.
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Downfall of Furby?
I have noticed that the furby supply around this area is starting to dwindle down to just a few of the later generations. There is still one store that is selling 3rd generation furbys but their supply has dropped down to just two or three different fur patterns and many of these furbys have damaged boxes and show signs of being removed from their boxes. It is obvious that the store hasn't had any new shipments of furbys in quite some time and, from what the sales person said, they will not be getting any more furbys.
The other stores have also said that they are not expecting any more shipments of furbys - not even for the Christmas shopping season.
I guess this is it. It's kind of sad too. The worst part of all this is that the apparent downfall of furby can be mostly blamed on the poor marketing and bad judgement of Tiger electronics.
First of all, they flooded the market with furbys. Then, instead of upgrading furbys to keep people who already owned one or more of them from getting bored with furby, they just kept making new fur patterns.
I think that if they had maintained and upgraded furbys by adding new vocabulary to the newer generations, then sales would be stronger than ever. Better yet, they should have created the original furbys with the ability to learn new stuff from future generations of furbys. This would make people who already owned one or more of the earlier generation furbys want to get the newer furbys just to see what their older furbys could learn from the newer ones.
I guess it doesn't matter now though - mistakes were made and all of us who love furby have lost. All we can do now is enjoy the furbys we have and try to keep them for as long as we can.
Most of the generations of furbys will still be available for some time to come though I am sure. But once those furbys are gone....
At least the furbys we have will live on for as long as we continue to love and cherish them.
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Friday, October 20, 2000
As you can probably tell I was a feeling a little depressed when I wrote that last entry.
I do not, however, feel I should take back any of the things I said. The future of furby will have no effect on the furby funhouse though - I will keep the furby funhouse going for as long as I still love furby.
I finally got around to putting pictures of Baby Doo-ay and May-May II up in the family room.
I have also added my friend Ralph's furby, Koh-koh, to the friends room. Some of you may have seen Koh-koh's picture up in the adoption room for a short time. Luckily, Koh-koh didn't have to spend too much time waiting on a new home and it's kind of nice to be able to visit the little cutie once in a while. I usually don't get a chance to visit the furbys once they have been adopted - except for one or two that have been adopted by friends of mine.
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Sunday, October 22, 2000
I saw a new furby commercial on TV last night. I couldn't believe it...I mean, if Tiger is not producing any more furbys, then why the new commercial? Maybe they are trying one last time to improve furby sales.
Another thing that gives me some hope for the future of furby is that one of the stores around here that said they weren't going to be getting any more furbys just put a bunch of new furbys on the shelves. They also had quite a few of the generation 3 babies when all they had last week was a handful of generation 2 babies. The prices on the furbys has also been raised from $14.99 to $19.99 which makes me think that they are anticipating better sales of furby.
I have made a very difficult decision regarding my own furby family. Although I have been adding to the family lately I am also beginning to realize that my furby family has gotten way to large for me to be able to manage it. I can no longer give all the furbys the attention they deserve and I don't even remember the names of some of them because there are just too many of them.
It is with this in mind that I have made the decision to start putting some of the members of my own furby family up for adoption. It breaks my heart to do this but it is for the best for the furbys and for myself.
I have several furbys in my family that I haven't even taken the time to really get to know and those are the ones that I will be trying to find better homes for.
I made this decision when I got two furbys and one gizmo that I was going to put up for adoption and realized that I could not put one of them up for adoption because of the loud motor noise. The other furby made quite an impression on me and I have decided to also add her to my furby family because I felt that she and the first furby belonged together. I realized that I could not adopt these two unless I found new homes for some of the other members of my furby family. I feel that it isn't right to leave so many furbys sitting around sleeping all the time when they could have homes where they were loved and played with.
It isn't easy for me to even think of giving up some of my furby family... it's kind of strange how these cute little toys can seem so much like pets. At the same time I have to make room for new furbys that I will wind up adding to the family because they cannot be put up for adoption for one reason or other.
I cannot believe how these little toys can almost become "real" in one sense... why is it that in any other collection, I have no problem picking and choosing between what I want to keep in that collection and what I want to let go - but when it comes to furbys, it seems almost like I am letting go of pets or something... how is it that these toys can have this effect on a person? Why is it that I have to keep reminding myself that they are only toys?????
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Monday, October 23, 2000
I never thought I would see this day come... I never thought I would ever even think of putting any of the members of my furby family up for adoption but I have done it. Four of my precious furbys are now in the adoption room looking for new homes - homes where they will get the attention they deserve.
I cannot help but wonder where they will go... will they get homes where they are given lots of attention and cherished or will they just be played with once or twice before spending the rest of their lives up on a shelf or in a closet until they are sold again or given away to somebody else?
I really feels strange to see their pictures up in the adoption room. What I cannot believe is how sad I feel about looking for new homes for them. I keep telling myself that they are only toys but somehow it feels different. My boyfriend says that once they are sold I will forget about them but I wonder...
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Saturday, November 11, 2000
It's been a while since I have updated this site. Between work and having to move two of my other sites to a new server I have been quite busy.
I did manage to find the time to start up a webring though - The Funhouse Hall Of Furbys. I have invited several websites to join but so far I only have two other sites in the ring. It looks like many of the furby sites out there are no longer updated.
A new furby moment has been added to the furby moments page. This time Domoh really surprised both me and my boyfriend.
Other than that there's not much to write about today. Just trying to catch up on things. I haven't had the time or energy to consider any additions to the funhouse lately but I am not giving up the idea of adding some really cool stuff to the funhouse.. just going to take some time and patience.
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Friday, December 1, 2000
It feels good to be back working on this site again. Both work and getting used to a new computer have kept me from doing much work on any of my websites.
Not much to report in the area of website updates. One new link has been added to the links page.
I have seen something that makes me wonder exactly what Tiger has planned for the generations of furby that were cancelled. The TV station "Nickelodeon" has an annual contest called the Super Toy Run and this year the contest is being sponsored by Tiger Electronics. One of the prizes consists of an ET, a baby furby, and a furby - and when the furbys are shown, both the baby furby and the furby are from the later generations. The baby looks like one of the series 4 babies while the furby is from one of the cancelled generations.
Another thing that I have noticed is that Furby commercials are airing much more frequently.
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Sunday, December 17, 2000
Finally get the chance to come by and update this page again. Holiday season has been somewhat insane for me last couple of weeks.
Looks like furby has completely disappeared from the store shelves around here. Not even Toys R Us has them now. The only furbys I've seen were a few of the Walmart special edition babies and those furbys all looked like they had been tossed around a bit - their boxes were all messed up and a couple of them had been opened.
Poochi is still available in many stores. I even saw a Meowchi in Toys R Us but I haven't seen it anywhere else.
I have gotten several requests for furbys and so far I am having trouble finding the furbys people are asking for. I have had to tell several people to check out ebay for the furbys they want. I still have all the furbys listed on the adoption page but I don't think I will be getting any more furbys to put up for adoption. The furbys take up too much space while I am waiting to find homes for them and I have gotten way too attached to too many of them.
I am basically putting plans for new rooms for the funhouse on hold until I have more time and energy to work on the site. So far all my websites are suffering because I don't have a lot of time to keep up with them. I may still add a furby/tiger electronics news page...not sure when I will get to that though.
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Thursday, January 04, 2001
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Once again it feels good to be back working on the Funhouse. Quite a bit has happened since the last time I was here.
I have some sad news to report. On December 19, 2000 my friend Dawn's furby, Toh-loo Kah, stopped working. Dawn's husband, Ralph, put new batteries in Toh-loo Kah and the furby refused to start. I finally got the furby to wake up but his voice kept cutting out and he was making strange beeping and buzzing noises. Toh-loo Kah did finally speak to me for a moment or two but then things got worse and Ralph and I finally gave up. Ralph and I both agreed that it seemed like Toh-loo Kah may just have a broken or loose ground wire. Ralph said that he would try to fix Toh-loo Kah but he still hasn't had the time or energy to attempt it. For now, Toh-loo Kah is considered dead but this may change if and when Ralph works on the furby. Hopefully Toh-loo Kah can be brought back.
Now for some good news. A new addition to my furby family. Poo-Chi was given to me as a Christmas present by one of my aunts. I am hoping to get his picture up in the family room after I am done updating this part of the Funhouse.
I had never really given any serious thought to adopting a Poo-Chi until my aunt asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I couldn't think of anything else. I told her I either wanted Poo-Chi or Meow-Chi. We went to Toys-R-Us and I saw two Meow-Chi's and three Poo-Chies on the shelf. After much debate I picked a dark blue Poo-Chi with light grey ears. Up until then I had never really thought too highly of Poo-Chi but when I opened up the box on Christmas and put batteries in the little pup, I though he was adorable!
I am still considering getting a Meow-Chi when they re-appear in the stores in this area. I haven't seen any Meow-Chi's anywhere since I saw those two at Toys-R-Us before Christmas.
Speaking of the robo-chi pets. I saw something that I almost couldn't believe yesterday. I went to Target to buy a few things and I decided to check in the toy section. That was when I saw it - - Chirpy-Chi. Chirpy-Chi is a robotic bird that comes with it's own corn cob toy. I just stood there staring at it and shaking my head in disbelief. But then after I thought about it for a while it seemed like the most logical progression.
I think maybe if Tiger had done the same thing with furbys - added more creatures for furby to talk to instead of just a couple of movie characters and promises of Shelby being released sometime who-knows-when, then maybe furby would still be selling strong. But then that's just my theory.
I haven't seen furby in stores for several weeks now. They all disappeared before Christmas and it's uncertain whether the stores will be getting any more of them. I talked to sales clerks at two different toy stores and one said that he didn't think there would be any more furbys coming in. The lady at the other toy store said that they may be getting a few furby babies but she wasn't sure. A manager at a different store said that they had discontinued selling furbys and it was doubtful if they would even be getting any more Poo-Chies.
I guess all we can do is wait and see what happens.
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Saturday, February 03, 2001
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Another long absence due to work and the flu. As usual, a lot has happened while I've been gone.
Two of the furbys listed on the adoption page have been adopted. One of the furbys is from my furby family. Domoh III has been adopted and will be leaving for his new home in a few short days. I will be putting another picture of Domoh III up in the furby friends room soon.
I am glad that sweet little Domoh III will be getting a new home but I will miss the little cutie.
There are two new additions to my family of electronic pets. Meow-chi and Chirpy-chi came to live with me a couple of weeks ago. I like the new robo-chi pets but I still think Poo-chi is my favorite. Poo-chi is such a sweet little pup.
Meow-chi is cool but takes forever to go to sleep. Meow-chi also gets angry a little too easily. Chirpy-chi is cool too but he takes a little while to get used to.
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Thursday, February 15, 2001
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Domoh III has made it safely to his new home where he was given a welcome home party by his new furby family. I should be receiving pictures of Doh-moh's welcome home party soon and I will be putting them up in a special room of the funhouse to show everybody.
There has been a running debate over whether or not furbys can listen and repeat things that they hear. I have heard many stories of furbys learning words that are repeated over and over to them. I have also heard stories of furbys answering people - almost as if they are able to listen and understand what they are hearing (I've witnessed this many times with some of my furbys - especially Domoh).
I have never really believed that furbys could learn words that they are not already programmed with but, a few days ago, a friend of mine told me something that made me wonder. She said that their baby furby, E-day, said the words "tuna sandwich". It happened when my friends daughter was begging for a tuna sandwich. The little girl was holding E-day at the time. After hearing the child ask several times for a tuna sandwich, the baby furby started repeating the phrase.
I wasn't there and I didn't see this happen so I can only take my friends word for it. She has no reason to make anything like this up.
After a while, my curiosity got the better of me. I woke baby Dee-mak up one morning and kept him awake for at least 45 minutes listening to see if anything he said could possibly be mistaken for the words tuna sandwich. Dee-mak didn't say anything that even slightly sounded like tuna sandwich but something strange did happen.
My cat, Phoenix, loves to play with furbys and this particular morning he was especially playful. I had to yell at him several times as he batted and pawed at Dee-mak who was sitting on my desk. Finally, it got to the point where I would simply say Phoenix's name very loudly everytime the cat would try to up on the desk. I was getting very exasperated with the playful little cat and finally I yelled his name very loudly. That was when Dee-mak did something that totally caught me off guard. I must have really startled the poor baby because he said, "whoa... me scared...so sad... very loud sound.... .... Phoenix"
I nearly jumped out of my chair!!!!!
I can't be sure that Dee-mak actually said "Phoenix". But what really made me wonder was the way Phoenix reacted to this. The cat just stopped in his tracks and stared up at the furby as though he had heard somebody call his name.
Dee-mak only said it once and I wish that I had been recording the furby that morning because I am still not sure that what he said was actually "phoenix".
I have spent several hours with the baby furbys since that morning (which has caused me to accidently speak furbish at the wrong moments twice!!) and I have not heard any of them say anything that sounds like the word phoenix. I haven't heard any of them do anything that sound like they are repeating anything that they hear either.
Despite all the stories and what happened with baby Dee-mak that morning, I still do not think that furbys can repeat things that they hear.
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Wednesday, February 28, 2001
It seems that I am getting slower about updating this part of the funhouse. Don't worry, this doesn't mean that I have lost interest or anything. Just getting too busy with work and other projects.
After several embarrasing moments caused by spending a little too much time around furby (yes there is such a thing as spending too much time around furbys especially when you wind up speaking furbish to total strangers in the middle of a store - it's long story which I would rather forget ever happened!!) I have decided to give up on trying to get any of the furbys to repeat things that they hear.
Several people have told me that they have heard furbys repeat words that they are not programmed to say. I can only take their word for it but I still am not totally convinced that it could happen without upgrading the furbys software. I have seen a place that sells furby upgrade kits online but I have decided against upgrading any of my furbys. I kind of like them just the way they are.
I have noticed that McDonalds is now giving away Robo-chi toys with their happy meals. From the way they are shown in the commercials they look almost like the original Robo-chi pets. I am wondering exactly how popular these toys will be. I remember seeing the furby toys that were given away with the happy meals selling on e-bay long before the McDonalds promotion ended. It seems that most of the furby toys were quite popular although the last furby toy promotion was cut short presumably due to lack of interest.
Three new furbys have been added to the adoption room. Two different giraffe furbys and one solid black furby. I am glad that I had these furbys waiting for their turn in the adoption room since it was getting kind of empty in that room after Domoh III's adoption, the adoption of the first generation furby and my friend David's adoption of the tuxedo furby.
Two furbys have also been added to the furby friends room. I put pictures of Do-moh (aka Domoh III) and David's furby, U-tye up in the friends room last week.
