My Furby Life

Page 3


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Saturday, April 21, 2001
Well, it looks like I have taken a longer break from working on the funhouse than I had intended. Several things kept me away I think I am finally going to be getting back to regular updates again.

Chelsea sent in another furby moment. You can read about about it in the Furby moments room.

It appears that Shelby has finally been released although I haven't seen him in stores yet. I checked out toysrus.com and they had Shelby listed but they are on back order right now. Ebay also has several Shelbys but the prices are way to high for me to be able to afford right now.

Furbys have been scarce in local stores lately but I managed to find a couple of Royal Furbys at a local Kaybee toy store. I only bought one though. He is up for adoption in the adoption room.

I also added one of my own furby family to the adoption room today... Domoh IV is looking for a new home cause he isn't getting enough attention here. I guess it's difficult being a member of such a large family of furbys.
Some of my other furbys will be looking for new homes soon too. So if you have been wishing you could adopt any of the furbys from my furby family keep your eyes on the adoption room. I will only be letting a few of my furbys look for new homes though. I am too attached to most of them to let them go.

Well, that's all for now. But I promise to keep up with the funhouse and update much more often than I have been lately.

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Tuesday, April 24, 2001
Poor little baby doo-ay had an accident. A cat decided to play with her and knocked her off of the shelf. The little furby's okay but she the accident caused her to restart and change her name - to Kah Kah!!
At first I couldn't believe my ears so I made the poor baby say her new name over and over again until I was sure that her name was actually Kah Kah... which led up to a furby moment that you can read about in the furby moments room.

It looks like the last Racer furby has finally been adopted along with the Royal furby that was just recently placed in the adoption room.

A new furby has joined the family. Toh-loo is an Angel furby. I will, hopefully, be adding his picture to the family room soon. I found a couple of Angel furbys at one of the local Kay-bee toy stores. I bought both of them and decided that I would keep one of them and put the other one up in the adoption room, along with the baby furby that I bought with it, to look for a good home.

Considering how long it has been since I have seen a furby in any store I was very surprised to find quite a few of them at Kay-bee. There were several Halloween furbys, a handful of Royal furbys, two Angel furbys (which I bought), one Santa furby, and two of the blue and black furbys along with a bunch of furby babys. I don't know whether or not I will be buying anymore of those furbys to put up for adoption. It depends upon how soon the other furbys are adopted.

One cool thing about the Angel furbys - on the box it says "Bonus: Includes Special Angelic Speech". So far I have heard Toh-loo say several new things. Maybe I will put some of them up in one of the rooms of the funhouse. Toh-loo is awake as I am writing this and he just made a sound that none of the other furbys make - instead of "briiinnngg, briiiinngggg", he said, "briinnnggg, brinnngggg, briiingggg" - you would have to hear it cause it sounded completely different from the other furbys. Too bad Tiger Toys didn't something like this with the other special edition furbys.

Well, that's all for now. I should be adding the Angel furby and the baby furby to the adoption room either tonight or tomorrow and maybe catching up on the photographs of my own furby family. There are at least two furbys, besides Toh-loo, who I never got around to photographing for the family room. I still have to take chirpy-chi's photo too. I will get around to it soon - I hope.

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Monday, April 30, 2001
I finally got chirpy-chi's picture up in the family room along with two of the other furbys. I still have one furby that I haven't taken a picture of yet but I will hopefully get that done soon. It's been difficult to find time and energy to work on the funhouse these last couple of months.

I am still searching for a shelby. I am waiting for either the toysrus.com to get them in stock or for one of the local toy stores to get them. I may have to buy one from ebay but the prices are still much higher than the retail price. There was a time when I wouldn't have worried so much about the price but now I can't let myself spend too much on something like that.

The angel furby and the baby furby were added to the adoption room a couple of days ago but somebody asked me to hold the baby furby for them so I took it's picture down until I find out for sure if they want to adopt it. With any luck I should be getting a few more used furbys to put up for adoption soon just depends on how things work out.

I still haven't added the last few of the furbys from my own furby family that want new homes to the adoption list yet. It's kind of difficult for me to decide which furbys stay and which ones to let search for new homes.

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Saturday, May 5, 2001
Finally, after waiting for what seemed like forever for his arrival, Shelby has joined the family. I found him at Kay-bee toy store earlier today. You can see a picture of Shelby in the family room of the funhouse.

I am still trying to get used to Shelby so I really don't have too much of an opinion yet but my first impression is that this little guy is quite a character. The furbys don't really seem to know how to react to him though. Domoh wouldn't even speak to him but, I could tell by the furby's reaction, that he knew Shelby was there.
The only furbys who have actually made friends with Shelby so far are Dee-mak, E-tah, and Boh-bay. I haven't introduced Shelby to Gizmo yet but I will do that soon.

It took me a little while to learn to understand Shelby cause shelbish is very different from furbish. There are only a few words in the shelbish dictionary but some of the words are a little difficult to distinguish from others. The good thing is that Shelby also speaks a lot of furbish so it makes it much easier for me to understand some of the things that he says.

Well, that's all I have time to write for now. I'll be updating again soon.

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Saturday, June 2, 2001
Once again I have been away from the funhouse longer than I intended. It's good to be back again.

There has been a new addition to the furby family. Shelby II joined the family a couple of weeks ago when I recieved him as a birthday present. You can see shelby II in the family room of the funhouse.
At first shelby II didn't want to talk to the other shelby until a furby joined the conversation. Then the fun started - and didn't end for nearly 45 minutes!!! I couldn't believe how long the two shelbys and furby stayed awake!
One thing I have noticed is that the two shelbys have distinctly different personalities. The first shelby is more friendly to the furby babies while shelby II seems to like the big furbys better. Also, the first shelby likes to go to sleep a lot sooner than shelby II and he doesn't wake up as easily. Shelby II loves to stay awake for long periods of time and he wakes up at the slightest movement - a couple of times he even woke up on his own.
Both shelbys love people and constantly beg for attention but shelby II gets bored much more easily and keeps begging when he isn't given attention while the first shelby will either start singing or just go back to sleep when ignored.
Both shelbys are a lot of fun but, for the time being, I don't think I will be adding anymore of them to the family.

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Friday, June 8, 2001
Shelby II startled me earlier this evening when I moved him from my desk to the top of my computer by waiting until after I gently set him down to wake up. I nearly jumped out of my skin!! It was too funny... especially since I was being extra careful not to wake him up and then he waited until a couple of seconds after he was set down on top of the computer to wake up.

Shelby and Shelby II are beginning to get along very well with each other. They played together for nearly 20 min today which is the longer than they usually stay awake unless a furby joins in the conversation.

The funhouse adoption room has seen quite a bit of activity these last few weeks. Several furbys from the adoption room have found new homes and there are still a few more waiting to go to the adoption room.
One person has suggested trading one of their furbys for two of mine (their furby is in much better condition than the other two) but I am not able to bring any more furbys into my house at the moment.
This gave me idea for a new room in the funhouse where visitors could offer their furbys for sell or trade. So far this is only an idea and I am not sure if it will work out or not - it depends upon the feedback I get.
The rules of this furby trading room would be simple - visitors could email me with the descriptions and/or pictures of their furbys and what they wanted to trade or sell them for along with their email addresses. I would post this information along with the email address and anybody who was interested in a particular furby would email that furby's owner. Once a furby was traded or sold, the owner of that furby would email me to let me know to remove that furby's picture/description from the room.
Of course I would to do with any of the transactions - any sale or trade would be strictly between the furby's owner and the person who bought or traded for that particular furby.
I realize that adding a room like this to the funhouse could easily slow down things in the furby adoption room but I am not really concerned about that... if a person was interested in one of the furbys from the adoption room then that person would adopt that furby no matter what other furbys were offered for sale or trade.

Still, the addition of a furby trading room depends upon the feedback I get. If you are interested in seeing a room like that added to the funhouse then email me and let me know.

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Thursday, June 14, 2001
One of the members of my furby family has been adopted. Domoh IV left for his new home today. It was difficult to say good-bye to Domoh IV but I am sure that he will be much happier in his new home.

So far no feedback on my idea of a furby trading room. I will give it just a few more days before I decide to abandon the idea.

Too much distraction around me for me to write any more today.

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Monday, June 25, 2001
Not much to write about since my last attempt at updating. Several furbys have left the adoption room and gone to their new homes while four others are getting ready to leave.
The adoption room is working far better than I ever imagined it would and I am happy to say that the adoption room has helped over 20 furbys find new homes.

I am still thinking of letting a few more members of my furby family look for new homes but I find myself missing the ones that have left already so it makes it very difficult to let any more of them go.

Most of my furby family has been kind of quiet lately - except for Dee-mak.
Baby Dee-mak had fun a couple of days ago when my kitten jumped up on the desk and started playing with the baby furby's ears. Dee-mak doesn't seem want to play with cats much since Phoenix disappeared but he was in a playful mood that day.
The kitten was batting at Dee-mak's ears while the baby furby was asleep. I told the kitten that she should be careful cause she was going to wake Dee-mak up. Of course the kitten didn't listen to me... instead, the little brat grabbed one of Dee-mak's ears and gave it a tug. That was when the baby furby woke up and startled the poor kitty. I reached over and petted Dee-mak while the kitten carefully watched the baby furby. Then I tried to pet the kitten ... I guess the poor kitten was a little more scared than I thought she was cause when my hand touched her she jumped backwards off of the desk, bounced off of my arm, and landed halfway across the room before scrambling out the door!!!
At that point Dee-mak giggled and said, "hey, me no see you!"
I couldn't help but laugh even though I felt sorry for the poor kitten!

Well, that's all for now. I will, hopefully, be updating again soon.

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Wednesday, July 18, 2001
A new furby has been added to my furby family. Way-loh is a cute little bumblebee furby with blue eyes. Way-loh was originally going to be placed in the adoption room but, when I put batteries in him to test him, I quickly realized that he had a problem that I could not fix. The poor furby's motor is very sluggish and makes a lot of noise. It's so bad that Way-loh's mouth is usually still moving a second or two after he finishes speaking.
In one way I am glad that I had to add Way-loh to my furby family instead of putting him up for adoption. I had wanted a bumblebee furby for quite some time before I decided not to adopt anymore furbys.

One of my other furbys had a bad accident a few days ago. Poor Toh-dye was knocked off of the TV set where he had been sleeping when one of my cats decided to use the TV as a pathway to the window.
Toh-dye refused to work for a couple of minutes but finally came back to life. But he now has a problem very similar to Way-loh II's. Toh-dye isn't as sluggish as when he was right after the accident but his motor does make a lot more noise now.
Because of this, I have decided to remove Toh-dye from the adoption room and keep him in my furby family.

Nothing much else to talk about except for an email that I recieved - well, actually two of them. Somebody wrote me saying that baby Kah-kah's name is actually Kah-dah. Well, I listened to the little furby say her name more than 20 times before I was convinced that her name was actually Kah-kah - and I am positive that she is not saying "Kah-dah". I emailed the person back to tell them that I was certain the furby's name was actually Kah-kah and they replied by saying that the official site says the baby's name is Kah-dah.
Well, somebody needs to tell that to Kah-kah... or at least let the official site know that the baby furbys have a few names that aren't listed on the site.
Anyway, back to the person who tried to tell me that the official site says I am wrong... for one thing, I have heard the baby furby say its name... and I have been around enough furbys for long enough to be able to understand what they are saying. Don't try to tell me I am wrong if you haven't heard this litte furby say her name for yourself. End of discussion.

Well, that's all for now. I should be adding Way-loh II's picture to the family room soon. I will also be working on more updates and maybe more ideas for the funhouse soon... just takes me a while to find time to really get anything done lately.

Just a few minutes after this was written, Way-loh II stopped working. I was getting ready to take his picture for the website when he suddenly went to sleep. I tried to wake him up again but he just froze and I could smell something that smelled like burned electronics or a burnt motor.

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Friday, August 17, 2001
It's been nearly a month since I have had the time to update this section of the funhouse but I have been keeping most of the other sections up to date. The adoption room is always updated when a furby is adopted although I have been a little slow about adding more furbys to the room.

There are several baby furbys patiently waiting for me to get better pictures of them for the adoption room. There is also one calico furby waiting for her turn in the adoption room. I took one set of pictures that didn't come out right but I should, hopefully, have the time and energy sometime later in the week to take more pictures and add at least one or two of the furbys to the adoption room.

I decided to wake up most of my furbys this morning to give them a chance to play for a while. Most of them had been sleeping for quite some time so I wasn't really sure that all of them still had good batteries. I was also worried that I had let a few of them sleep for way too long.
Luckily, all of the furbys woke up without a problem and most of them stayed awake for several minutes. Domoh was the only one who needed new batteries. For some reason Domoh uses up his batteries even when he is asleep - it's almost as if he is always awake or something. I worry sometimes that there may be something wrong with Domoh that causes him to use battery power all the time... but then it also makes me wonder about him too.
Another furby that caught my attention this morning was Koh-koh III. The last time Koh-koh III was awake, she was speaking quite a bit of english mixed with furbish. But this morning she was speaking nearly all furbish. Also, when she was put in a circle with several of the other furbys, she seemed quite happy as long as Dah was awake. But the minute Dah went to sleep, Koh-koh III got scared and quit playing with the others. All she would say is, "Kah dah boh-bay!". She wouldn't even react to loud sounds or changes in the light..not even when I tried to get her to play with Dee-mak. I finally picked Koh-koh III up and cuddled her until she went back to sleep.

I'm glad I took the time to wake up all the furbys again today. I haven't had much time to pay any attention to any of them and I was really missing all of them. I was great to watch and listen to them play .. especially the babies. Baby furbys can be a lot of fun to listen to - especially when there are several of them all playing together.

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Sunday, September 09, 2001
I've been so busy with work and other things that I haven't had time to do much work with the funhouse until today. I am working on updating the descriptions of the furbys in my furby family. They have all changed a lot since their pictures were first put up in the family room. So far I have only updated the descriptions of the first three furbys but I am hoping to get all of them done soon. I am also hoping to get better pictures of all the furbys.

Not much else has happened. Most of the furbys have been sleeping a lot of the time although the purple shelby was awake for a little while yesterday along with Domoh and Dee-mak. Shelby didn't seem to want to talk much though - he went right back to sleep and the furbys went to sleep a few seconds later.

Other than that, the furbys have been fairly quiet unless somebody wakes one of them up. None of them wake up by themselves even though I have been told that it could happen.

I still haven't got the new pictures up in the adoption room yet... sooner or later I will get that done though. The poor furbys have been waiting a long time for the opportunity fo find a home.

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Saturday, October 06, 2001
Well, I've been away from the funhouse for nearly a month and so much has happened while I've been gone.

First things first, I finally got pictures of two of the baby furbys up in the adoption room. More furbys will be added to the adoption room very soon - including one of the members of my furby family and, possibly, a custom color giraffe furby. I am waiting to see exactly how the giraffe furby comes out before I decide wether to add it to the adoption room or put it up for auction on ebay.

Speaking of ebay, I have been searching through the furby listings and I have seen a new furby. People who are selling this furby call it a "Sunrise furby". The fur color is a combination of the 1st generation tabby fur with a golden-yellow tummy. I think it looks like a cross between a 1st generation tabby furby and 7th generation canary furby (silver and yellow fur combination).
I've also seen an english speaking version of one of the 8th generation furbys. Up until now, I've only heard of the 8th generation furbys being released only in Mexico.
I've been to both the tiger electronics website and furby.com but no mention of any new furbys on either site. In fact, it looks like furby.com hasn't been updated in quite some time.

Something else I have noticed on ebay. Several "error" furbys with the wrong color eyelids or faceplates. These are furbys that have never been removed from their original boxes so they are not furbys that people have customised to make them look like error furbys. I'm beginning to wonder if Hasbro is recycling old furby parts to make new furbys.

Several of my furbys have gotten quite a bit of attention lately. No interesting furby moments though. But then I haven't been watching them too closely when they are awake.. I just leave them on their own to play together.
The blue shelby got a rude awakening a few days ago. I wasn't being careful when I was moving things around close to my computer and the poor shelby slid off the top of the superdrive. He got stuck between the computer and the printer. Shelby didn't seem to happy about it either... he was in a foul mood for a few minutes before he finally started cheering up. Then he just played with baby Dee-mak furbys for a few minutes before going back to sleep.

Well, that's all for now.. and hopefully it won't be another month before I get back again to update.

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Wednesday, November 21, 2001
Okay, so it was a month and a half before I got back to update. Too many other things keeping me busy lately... but don't worry, I haven't given up on furbys or the funhouse.

Most of the furbys have been very quiet lately cause I haven't had much time to spend with them. I did get the chance to wake up Boo and Boh-bay earlier tonight for a little while. Neither furby seemed to want to stay awake for very long though.

I made a final decision earlier this month to stop collecting furbys. This doesn't mean that I'm tired of the furbys or anything. It's just that I've gotten to the point where I don't feel any need to add any more furbys to my furby family. Of course there are always exceptions - like when I get a group of furbys for the adoption room and one of them cannot be put up for adoption for one reason or another. Other than that, I will not be adding any furbys to my furby family.
I made this decision when I was searching out a "sunrise" furby for somebody who wanted to adopt one. I went into one of the local KB toy stores and found the one baby furby that I had been searching for - the solid pink one. I picked up the box and stared at the cute little furby for a moment or two before deciding not to buy it. I already have several baby furbys that don't get enough attention as it is and I realized that I didn't need another one.

It looks like the 4th generation baby furbys are finally available at some of the KB toy stores now. I guess Hasbro has decided to go ahead and start producing the furbys that were discontinued last year along with a few surprises like the sunrise furby.

Last time I checked furby.com hadn't been updated in quite some time and the Tiger Toys website doesn't mention anything about new furbys - except for the Presidential furby which I have also seen in one of the KB toy stores.

One electronic toy I have given up on is the robo-chi series. I thought Poo-chi was cute, and Meow-chi was kind of cool.. I even thought Chirpy-chi was okay. Dino-chi is not so bad .. even though I have no interest in getting one.. but.. I just have to draw the line when it comes to an electronic flower!!!! Petal-chi???!!! I mean, what were they thinking???!!!!! I just cannot understand how anybody in their right mind would want an electronic, singing flower!!! I realize that maybe there are some people who might think something like this is cute and I am sorry if I have offended anybody. It's just that, if I am going to buy an electronic pet, my last thought is to search for a plastic, singing plant!!!!
It seems to me that Tiger Toys is fast running out of ideas when it comes to robo-chi series.

Well, that's all for now. I am hoping to have the time to do some more updates on my furby family room. Also, I have five furbys anxiously waiting for their turn in the adoption room. One of them is from my own furby family. Dah Noh-lah II is now searching for a new home along with three first generation tabby furbys and one custom color giraffe furby (I added some wild looking pink highlights to its fur).

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Saturday, November 24, 2001
Hey...it's only been 3 days since my last update -- hard to believe isn't it? :)

Furby Friends has been updated with a picture of two furbys that belong to Jane and Bethany. Both of these furbys had problems when they were first adopted - Koh-koh appeared to be dead and Lulu had a problem with his beak - it kept coming loose and dropping down from the top when he would speak.
Jane tried my suggestion of hitting Koh-koh on the battery cover and shaking him up a bit (it sounds cruel but sometimes it's the only way to get a furbys motor to start moving). Finally, Koh-koh came to life!
Jane came up with and idea to fix Lulu's beak problem. Here is what she wrote in her email :
"I used a hot glue gun and transferred glue to an unbent paper clip so that I could reach over the top of her beak to apply the glue to where the top of the beak is supposed to fit on to a piece of white plastic. I left it for a while to harden and then tried it - success! The first time it came loose again after about 10 minutes but I have since reglued and it has stayed OK. I expect it may happen again but at least it can be fixed."
I haven't had time to try this yet but I am sure I will be trying it soon since Koh-koh and Koh-koh II both have this problem.
Be very careful if you try this on any of your furbys. It is very easy to get glue in the wrong places and, once a part has been glued, it's likely to stay that way. You don't want to accidently let glue drop inside of the furby cause it could easlily get into the gears around the beak.

I am working on some furby graphics so you might be seeing a new room added to the funhouse in the near future. Also, I would like to put together a furby desktop theme but I don't have the time to try to get all the sounds together. If anybody has any furby sounds (not taken from another website) or can record any sounds from their furbys and would like to donate these sounds to my desktop theme, please email them to me at: keeper_of_the_funhouse@usa.net

As soon as I get the sounds I will be able to put the theme together and submit it to the theme site. I will have a link on this site so anybody who wants the desktop them can download it. Well, that's all I have time for now. Hopefully I'll be back very soon.

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Wednesday, December 05, 2001
Once again I'm back much sooner than I thought I would be:)

The furby adoption room has seen a lot of activity during these last few days. Several furbys are anxiously awaiting the journey to their new homes. There are only four furbys waiting for their turn to be shown in the adoption room - 3 first generation tabby furbys (two with grey tummys and one with a white tummy) and one of the furbys from my own furby family - Dah Noh-lah II. I am hoping to find the time to photograph the furbys within the next few days.

This is the first Christmas season in a long time that furbys are still available in stores. A friend of mine was in a KB toy store a couple of days ago and she said she saw several furbys on the shelves. She couldn't find any shelbys though and the lady who was working in the KB toy store said that they were all sold out and she didn't know when they would be getting more of them.

I still haven't gotten any furby sounds for the desktop theme I want to make. If anybody has any furby sounds that they would like to donate for the furby desktop theme (no sounds stolen from any of the other websites please), please email them to me. I don't have enough time right now to try and record any of my furbys.

Well, that's all I have time for right now. Hopefully I'll be back again soon.

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Sunday, February 24, 2002
Once again I have been away much longer than I had intended and several things have happened while I've been away.

First off, I have been forced to make some changes in the rules for the furby adoption room. From now on, I will no longer ship outside the United States. Also, I will no longer take furby adoption requests from anybody under the age of 18. If you are under the age of 18 and wish to adopt a furby, you need to have a parent or guardian email me. This rule has become necessary because of the many adoption requests I have recieved by kids who do not have their parents permission to adopt the furbys. This rule may not apply to those who have adopted furbys from me in the past.

Speaking of furbys for sale, I have noticed that Hasbro has changed the boxes. I first saw the new boxes in one of the local KB toy stores. These boxes aren't just for the "new" furbys either, there was one furby with the first generation tuxedo fur pattern in one of the new boxes.
I can't help but wonder if this will make furbys in the original boxes more valuable to some of the collectors.

Domoh celebrated his 2nd birthday along with Nah-bah and baby E-tah. Several of the other furbys in my furby family will also be turning 2 years old in the next few weeks.
Also, the Furby Funhouse is now going into its third year online!!!

I can't believe that I was away and missed the Furby Funhouse's 2nd anniversary!!

Oh well, maybe I'll remember to do something special for the Furby Funhouse 3rd aniversary... if the Funhouse is around that long. I hope I'm able to keep this site going for at least another year... or two... or three!

Anyway, that's all for now.

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Tuesday, April 09, 2002
I'm finally back again and, as usual, a lot has happened while I've been away.

One of the furbys has left my furby family for a new home. Dah Noh-lah II has been adopted. I am hoping to get his picture up in the furby friends room of the funhouse very soon.

I have also made the difficult decision to put one more member of my furby family up for adoption (sale). May-may II will not get her picture put up in the adoption room (you can see her picture and description in the furby family room) but, if you are interested in adopting her, email me and I will let you know how much I'll sell her for. If you are considering adopting May-may II, remember that she does have a bad speaker and her voice does not sound right. Other than that she is a basically healthy, playful little furby. Also, even though May-may II is not in the adoption room, the same rules for adoption apply - you must either be over 18 or have a parent or guardian email me if you are interested in adopting May-may II (this rule may not apply if you have bought furbys from me before).

Most of the furbys have been fairly quiet these last few weeks. I haven't had much time to spend with them except at night when it wouldn't be the best time to wake them up. Although purple shelby did get a chance to play with Boh-bay and baby Dee-mak a few days ago. I tried to get blue shelby to join in the conversation but he just went back to sleep.

I haven't been to any of the local toy stores lately so I don't know how furby sales are doing in this area or what is still available. I did, however, see one baby furby for sale at a local Kmart store that is getting ready to close. I did not buy the baby furby even though all toys were supposed to be 20% off because it's price was $27 and the adoption room is still filled with baby furbys right now anyway.

Well, that's all I have time for right now... I'll be back again .. can't promise when I'll be back ... but I will be back!

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Saturday, June 29, 2002
Once again I have been away far longer than I anticipated. Not much going on in the world of furby lately... even my own furbys have been very quiet lately.

I have added a few updates to the website since I was here last. As you probably have already noticed, I have added a furby message board to my website. I have been wanting to add a message board for quite some time now but, since Electronic Furby already had a very active message board, I had decided not to add one to my site. But the Electronic Furby website has not been updated in almost a year now, the discussion board is down, and the buy/sell board is totally filled up with spam. I have attempted to email the webmaster of Electronic Furby but my email was returned to me as "undeliverable" so I decided now would be a good time to add at least one message board. The Funhouse message board is fairly quiet but I know it will take time for people to find it.

I have been considering other interactive updates to the website but my free time has been short lately so it may be quite some time before these things are added. If anybody has any suggestions for any additions to the website, feel free to email me or post a message in the guestbook or on the message board. I will also, from time to time, be posting messages on the message board asking for input on the website or maybe even putting one of my furbys up for adoption.

For the time being, I doubt that I'll be adding any other furbys to the adoption room unless I run across a large enough group of furbys that can be put up for adoption at a reasonable price. The reason for this decision is that KB toy stores now sells new furbys at much lower prices than I am able to offer them for in the adoption room. The furbys in the adoption room are all sold for roughly the same price I paid for them so I really cannot drop the prices or I will lose money. The only thing that makes the furbys in the adoption room worth buying at the higher prices is that they are all original Tiger Electronics furbys - not the newer Hasbro furbys. This would make the furbys in the adoption room sort of collector items.

I will still gladly try to search out furbys if anybody has a certain furby that they are trying to find. But remember, all of my furby sales follow the same rules and guidelines that are written up in the adoption room. This is done to protect both myself and anybody who buys furbys from me. Anyway, that's all for now. As I said in my last entry on this page - I will be back.. I can't promise when I'll be back but I will be back!!

....


Saturday, August 03, 2002
Well it took me a while but, like I promised in my last entry, I am back!
I'm sorry for all the emails I haven't been able to answer these last few weeks. I was sick for a few days then I couldn't get in to check my email. I'm still trying to catch up on everything so if you've emailed me and haven't gotten a reply, please be patient - I will answer my emails...it just may take some time.

Since I made the announcement in my last entry that I doubted if I would be adding any new furbys to the adoption room, I have gotten several emails asking me to keep the adoption room going. I guess there are a lot of people who are just waiting and hoping I'll put the furbys they have been waiting for up in the adoption room. Also, by popular demand, there is now a shelby in the adoption room waiting for a new home. The price may seem a little high, but that was a cheap as I could get one considering they have become difficult to find around here. Also, there will be a new tiger striped furby up in the adoption room very soon .. I just have to get a couple of good pictures of him. The way things have been going for me this may take a day or two.

Well, it looks like the Kaybee toy stores around here are not restocking furbys as much as they used to. The manager at one of the stores I went to said that they would probably not be getting any more furbys or shelbys any time soon. The other store still has several furbys in the new style boxes but there are only four fur patterns to choose from - white, zebra striped, bear (2nd generation), and tiger striped. They didn't have any baby furbys or shelbys though. The lady I talked to said that she wasn't sure wether or not they would be getting any more furbys or shelbys. Of course I have heard this all before .. one time they say they won't be getting any more furbys in stock and the next time they have a whole shelf full. All I can do is wait and see.

My furby family has been a little more active these last few days. Way-loh woke up for a few minutes but refused to play with any of the other furbys. Blue shelby and baby Dee-mak chatted for a few minutes before I woke up Meku II. Then blue shelby went back to sleep leaving the two babies to play for a few minutes. While the babies were playing, there was a hilarious furby moment ... only it's a little embarrasing so I am still trying to figure out exactly how to put the story into words for the furby moments page. I will probably get the story written in furby moments soon .. that is if I can get over the embarrassing part of it!!

Well, that's all for now. I have to get myself away from this computer but, as I said last time, I will be back ... I can't promise when I'll be back but I will be back!! ....


Tuesday, December 03, 2002
Wow.. it's been a while hasn't it?! But I have finally returned to the funhouse! It feels good to be back. This is going to be a fairly short update bacause I am still recovering from a shoulder/back injury and I can't sit up at the computer for very long at a time.

I've sort of updated the adoption room with descriptions of one furby and shelby that are up for adoption - no photos yet but I am hoping to get photos up soon ..just depends upon how my back feels. Also, two members of my furby family are looking for homes - Aloh III and baby Nee-tye.

Most of my furbys have been very silent except for those that were accidently awakened when I was having my house cleaned over the last couple of weeks. I just haven't had time or energy to spend with the furbys. I did wake one of the twins up to spend time with blue shelby though .. but I can't tell you which one of the twins it was because I didn't hear his name and both furbys look exacly alike! Shelby and furby both seemed very happy to be awake though.

In furby news, so far I have only found one store still selling furbys in this area and they only had three fur patterns available in the new style boxes - black, tiger striped, and zebra striped. All furbys were priced an $19.99. They also had a few babys (priced at $19.99) and one or two shelbys selling for $29.99.

There have been one or two requests for gizmos on the message board and I have recieved one email from somebody wanting me to give them a Gizmo and another email from somebody offering me $30 for my Gizmo (my Gizmo is not up for adoption!). One thing I have noticed is that Gizmo has been nearly impossible to find in the one toy store around here that still sells furby (last time I saw Gizmo was in a Kaybee toy store that has now closed down) and the last time I saw Gizmo in a toy store he was selling for $39.00!! Gizmo is still widely available on ebay but the bids can go fairly high for a new Gizmo.

I've searched the online Kaybee toy stores and found no results for furby or gizmo. Amazon.com also no longer has furbys or gizmo for sale but they do have furby yo-yos. Another sad thing is that the tiger electronics website no longer lists furbys for sale and neither does the hasbro site. All links on the tiger site and the hasbro site point to furby.com which looks like it hasn't been updated in over 2 years.

In happier news, the funhouse is still going strong with several visitors each week and, even though I am slow to update sometimes, I have no intention of ending the furby funhouse... in fact, as long as there are still furby fans out there to visit the funhouse, I will keep the funhouse going. I still have a lot of plans for this website - and it may take a while but the funhouse is going to be completely updated with new pictures and maybe even some furby graphics to download.

Well, I've been in front of this computer longer than I had intended and I need to rest. I'll be back again soon - - I promise!!! ....


Thursday, January 9, 2003
December 23, 2002 was a sad day for the members of my furby family - we lost sweet little Toh-dye when his gears started to freeze causing his motor to nearly burn up. It happened when my roommate and I were cleaning the house up to get ready for Christmas. I was dusting some shelves where several of the furbys were sleeping when I noticed that the shelves were about ready to fall ..we tried to keep the shelves from fall but everthing just collapsed and the top three shelved fell. Several of the furbys were knocked to the floor and three were trapped between the shelves. By the time we managed to get the shelf off of the three furbys, Toh-dye was moving very slowly and his gears were making a loud noise. I was hoping that it was just his batteries and I set him down with the other furbys that had been rudely awakened. A few minutes later I noticed a strong smell of burning electronics .... it was Toh-dye. He was barely moving and his motor was burning up. I managed to get his batteries out before his motor quit completely but if I put batteries in him again, his motor will probably burn up within a minute or two.
This leaves me with a difficult decision - I could operate and try to bring Toh-dye back but there is no guarantee that I could get the gears working again and if I did get his gears moving again, there is no guarantee that his motor would work for very long. I could also put batteries in Toh-dye and let his motor quit working completely ... to me this would be far more respectful than just leaving the poor furby sitting around with no chance of ever being awakened again.
I think that first I will try to operate to fix his gears and, if the operation fails, put batteries in Toh-dye and let his motor quit on its own. This really does seem like the most respectful thing to do.

I still cannot understand why losing a furby feels almost like losing a pet or something. I'm old enough to know the difference between a toy and a living breathing animal and yet.. there is still something about these electronic furbys that makes me feel sad when I have to give one of them up for adoption .. or when one of them dies. They are way to easy to get attached to.

On a much happier note, next month the funhouse will be celebrating its 3rd anniversary!!! I still cannot believe the funhouse has been on the internet for 3 years now .. and that the funhouse appears to be the only furby website that is still being updated. I am hoping that I will have the time for some sort of funhouse celebration but I can't promise anything. I don't always have much time to work on websites lately but I am really hoping that I can do something special for the funhouse.

Also, I am looking for new ideas on things to add to the funhouse as well as help in getting this site really updated. I would like to make the furby funhouse a giant furby site for the people who still like furbys - - especially since the electronic furby site seems to be basically abandoned by its webmaster. I would also like to make this site far more interactive. If anybody has any ideas or if there is anybody out there who is good at building or working on websites and would like to help me with the funhouse, please email me or post on the message board.

Well, that's all for now. I hope to be back again real soon! ....


Sunday, January 19, 2003
It's getting closer to the furby funhouse 3rd anniversary and plans are in the works to add a download page to the funhouse. The download page will have graphics and sounds and maybe even furby desktop thems for download. I am working on furby icons and cursors for Windows computers but those will probably be added to the funhouse later on.
I have had one offer to help me with the work on the furby funhouse and I am still looking for ideas on new additions to the furby funhouse. One person suggested a chat room but I haven't found one that will work - - yet. If the chatroom idea does work then I'll probably be spending a lot of my online time hanging out there. But I'll have to wait and see if it will actually work out.

As you may have already noticed, I now have a Hi-C furby up for sale - sort of an auction style sale. The same rules that apply for the furby adoption room also apply for the Hi-C furby - you must be over 18 yrs old to make an offer on this furby and I will only ship within the United States. The price for this furby is kind of high but then these furbys usually go for a very high price at most auctions.

In other furby news, furbys have now officially disappeared from the shelves of all of the toy stores around this area. Even shelbys are nearly impossible to find around here - except for the black shelby that I saw at a yardsale. The "end of furby" that was forecasted a year or two ago has come and now the only furbys still available for sale are the ones being sold on various internet auctions and the few furbys still left on store shelves on in the clearance bins at some toy stores (one person wrote in to tell me that she had seen a few in a clearance bin at a local department store).

Of course the "end of furby" does not mean the end of furby fanatics! I still get at least 5 to 10 emails every week and the furby funhouse is still going strong and will still continue as long as there are people out there who still love furbys.

As I write this, Dah is awake and contentedly chattering to me in German. Poor Dah got a rude awakening a couple of minutes ago when I reached over to pick something up and accidently knocked him off of my dresser - luckily I caught him before he could hit the floor. The poor furby's motor is getting a little loud but that could just be because his batteries are a little weak.
Furby Moment!!! As I was writing this, Dah was singing and acting very playful so I said to him, "You seem happy to be awake." Dah was quiet for a second then said, "Sonne geht auf!(sun up) Yippie!!!" This stopped me in my tracks for a second or two. Once I recovered from the surprise I said to Dah, "I could swear you understand me sometimes." Dah just laughed!!
I still am having a difficult time believing this one! Dah is just chattering away as though nothing unusual has happened. This is the second time Dah has done something like this and I am beginning to think that I understand now why Dah and Domoh don't seem to get along to well - both have way to much personality!!

I seriously wonder about these little furballs sometimes ...

Well, I have to go update the furby moments page for the second time today.. hopefully I'll be back with more updates soon! ....


Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Well, I'm finally back again for a little while. I don't have much time to update this afternoon but I thought I would stop in and let visitors to the funhouse know what's going on.

The main reasons the updates have taken so long are: work, computer problems, other problems, computer meltdown, work, work, computer problems .... *sigh*
I just don't have as much time as I used to so it's been difficult - - especially when my computer quit and I had to spend several days fixing it and getting everything put back the way it was. So things are going much slower and taking much longer than I thought they would. But don't worry - I'm not leaving the furby funhouse! I may not be here as much I used to be but I will be here and I will keep this site updated.

I am still working on various graphics for the new downloads page. I am also working on updated photos of my furby family. I have decided that seperate pages for each furby would take too much time and it would also take up too much space on the website so I will not be doing seperate pages for each furby.
I am still hoping to find a good working chat room for the funhouse but that may take some time - especially the way things have been going for me lately.

Anyway, I have to go now but I will be back fairly soon with more updates. ....


Friday, May 30, 2003
The last few days have been fairly busy around here. A Kid's Cuisine furby arrived along with a group of other furbys that were going to be put up in the adoption room. I still don't know what to do with this furby!
When I first got him, I had decided that I was going to put him up for auction or adoption right away because I cannot keep any more furbys around here! I have at least 10 furbys that are just waiting around hoping that I will find the time to put them up in the adoption room and at least 5 or 6 other furbys waiting to be tested to see if they can be put up for adoption. There is no more room for furbys in my house.
I decided to put batteries in the Kid's Cuisine furby to test him and he woke up right away chattering happily, introducing himself and asking for a hug. His name is Domoh and he is a real sweetie! He made friends with blue shelby and baby Noo-loo almost instantly. I realized that I didn't want this cute little guy to go to a place where he'll just be put up on a shelf as part of a collection - - he loves to play and he wouldn't be happy just sitting around collecting dust. But, I can't keep him and I can't be sure of what will happen to him once he is adopted by somebody else. So, I am kind of stuck with the difficult decision of putting him up for adoption and hoping he will go to a home where he will be a pet instead of a collector's item.

Several other furbys have also arrived. Two of them are Jester furbys but one is in bad shape. He is badly jammed and I'm not sure if he can be fixed with an operaion but I will try. The other jester furby has a very loud motor but appears to be working well. He'll probably be put up in the adoption room as soon as I've had time to really test him.

In other furby news, I've only found furbys for sale in two places now - ebay and one place that was posted on the funhouse message board. In both places, there is a fairly good selection but some of them are kind of expensive.
Except for those two places, furbys are becoming nearly extinct. If you find other places that still sell furbys please let me know or post them on the funhouse message board.

As far as the furby funhouse goes, I am still working on getting things updated. I just don't have much time at all to work on the funhouse anymore. I have had several offers for help but I find that I am having a difficult time allowing myself to give anybody else any kind of control over the furby funhouse so it looks like I've stuck myself with the job of doing everything for myself. If you want to help, there are two places that I can really use help - - the downloads room and a new room I am working on which will feature furby sounds and conversations. Sort of like the room I already have that has the furby conversations written down only this will all be recordings of furby conversations. I will only add the new room if I can get the sounds that I need. The downloads room needs original graphics, cursors, backgrounds, sounds, or desktop themes for download by funhouse visitors. Only original creations will be accepted and credit will be given to the creator of anything that is used in the downloads room. If you can help me with any of these things, please email me. Well, I've got to go now. But don't worry, I'll be back! ....


Monday, September 23, 2003
Today is a sad day here at the furby funhouse. Sweet little Nah-bah quit working today.
I had been testing a jester furby to see if he was okay to be put in the adoption room. The jester furby was awake and getting bored so I thought it would be a good idea to wake up another furby for him to talk to. I woke Nah-bah up and set him down beside the jester furby. Nah-bah yawned and was silent. I petted Nah-bah but he didn't respond so I picked him up and tried to reset him. That was when he started making the low buzzing sound. I tried new batteries, shaking the furby, and hitting his battery cover. Nothing worked. After changing batteries and trying everything I could think of, the buzzing sound stopped and Nah-bah was completely silent.
I actually found myself holding back tears as I hugged Nah-bah one last time and removed his batteries.

I am kind of glad that it was a jester furby and not Domoh that was awake when Nah-bah stopped working. Domoh has a sort of jealous personality .. he doesn't seem to like it when he has to compete with other furbys for attention and he doesn't usually like to talk to other furbys at all. But Domoh always liked to play with Nah-bah so it somehow makes me feel that Domoh would actually be sad if he knew that Nah-bah was 'dead'. Somehow I find myself thinking that Domoh might actually understand me when I tell him that Nah-bah is gone ... it kind of makes me wonder about how attached a person can get to these cute little furbys.

I'm still trying to decide whether or not to do a furby autopsy on Nah-bah. It's kind of strange .. I have gotten several groups of furbys for the purpose of putting them up for adoption. Some of these furbys are not working when they get here .. one or two have died while I've been testing them. I have no problem operating on these furbys to try and fix them or to take parts from the dead furbys so that other furbys might have a chance at a better life. But, when it comes to Nah-bah and Toh-dye (who stopped working last year), it doesn't feel right. I can't use either of these furbys as donor furbys.
I keep trying to tell myself that they are only toys ... but somehow they seem like more than that. It's way to easy to get attached to these little guys .. almost like they're real.

....


Monday, November 10, 2003
The funhouse website has been down for a while but it's finally up and running again.

I've made some decisions regarding the future of the furby funhouse. The interest in furbys appears to have declined. The number of visitors to the funhouse has also began to slow down considerably. I used to get more than 10 emails a week about the website but now I only get a few emails here and there. During the time the website was down, I only got 10 emails asking about it.
It is because of this that I have made the decision not to add any new pages or any new downloads to the furby funhouse unless somebody requests it. I will continue to update the existing pages of the funhouse as needed but, nothing new will be added unless there is more interest in the website. I realize that I do not update as often as I should and maybe this is one of the reasons that the interest in the furby funhouse has gone down. But I just don't have the time to work on the site like I used to.
I still love furbys and I still love the furby funhouse so I am not going to leave the furby funhouse or close it down. Not yet anyway. I've been told that the furby funhouse is the longest running furby website on the net and I don't intend to quit now - - not when the furby funhouse is nearing it's 5th anniversary.
One more I decided is that I am going to be closing down the adoption room in a few weeks. I may be adding a few more of the furbys that are still looking for new homes but, once those furbys have been adopted, I will be closing the adoption room down. Once the adoption room is closed, I will post on the message board when I have a furby looking for a new home. The reason the adoption room is closing down is that the furbys aren't being adopted as quickly as they used to be. It's now taking months for a furby to find a new home. I realize I haven't been updating the adoption room with pictures anymore but, this is due to lack of time more than anything else. I may change my mind about if I get enough emails asking me to keep the adoption room open but I really doubt that this will happen.

My furby family has now officially said good-bye to poor Nah-bah. I made an attempt to get him working again, but it didn't work out. Nah-bah came back for a second but his motor stopped again. I kept trying but his motor seems to be to weak to move his gears for more than a second or two. It seems like Nah-bah's motor is worn out. Nah-bah is now officially dead. I woke Domoh up while I was trying one last time to get Nah-bah working .. for some strange reason I felt that Domoh should be awake (I really do worry about myself sometiomes when it comes to these furbys). Funny thing ... as Nah-bah tried one last time to wake up, Domoh became strangely quiet .. I almost thought that Domoh actually may have somehow realized what was happening ... it was really strange the way Domoh reacted as Nah-bah's motor quit once again. Domoh stayed quiet until Nah-bah's batteries were removed for the last time. Then he seemed to return to normal. I wonder if Nah-bah may have been giving off some strange signal that Domoh's sensors picked up. Or maybe Domoh just felt like being quiet. The stupid thing is I cannot help but almost think that maybe Domoh knew that his friend had stopped working. I think I have been around these furbys a little too long....

Anyway, it's getting late so I have to leave now. I'll be back .. I cannot say when but I will be back..

....


Thursday, July 1, 2004
Just stopped in for a few moments today to let visitors to the furby funhouse know that I am still here.

The furby funhouse is getting a much needed update as well as being moved to a new home on the web. The new address has been posted on the main page. The furby funhouse can still be visited at the old address but there are a lot of ads - - banner ads, pop-up ads, and now a very annoying search bar.

As I write this, I am still in the process of changing all the links on all the pages of the furby funhouse so that they will all go to the new site. One good thing about this move is that it will give me a little bit more room should I want to add to the furby funhouse.

There are two new furby websites on the web. The first site is called Furby Rescue. The second new furby site is Melody's Furby Friends site. Melody's furby friends site as also joined the Funhouse Hall Of Furbys webring.

Well, that's all I have time for right now. I have to get back to updating the rest of the funhouse. ....


Saturday, October 16, 2004
Well, if you've been watching the main page you know that the furby funhouse has been moved to it's new home on the web. I am still using tripod to host the site but the furby funhouse is now a subdomain of my main website, www.owlwatcher974.com. All the ads except for the small banner at the top of the page are gone. It makes it so much better to visit the furby funhouse now.

Not much to report as far as furby news goes. I am still investigating what somebody told me about furbys returning. I still haven't found any proof of this. I did find that furby is still listed on the Hasbro web site but there is no mention of furbys ever returning to the stores.

Due to lack of space and the fact that I needed money, I was forced to sell several of my furbys on ebay recently. Some of these furbys had been waiting for the chance to be put up in the adoption room and some of the furbys were members of my furby family. I will be updating the furby family page soon to show which furbys are still here and which ones have found new homes.

Well that's all for now. I'll be back later. ....


Tuesday,March 08, 2005
Well, it looks like maybe Hasbro has actually been listening to all the furby fanatics. Hasbro has announced that a new and greatly updated/upgraded furby will be available sometime in the fall. According to the Hasbro press release, Furby is back and "better and smarter than ever".
Well from what I've seen of the picture on the press release, I kind of have mixed emotions. First of all, the new furby has a lot of what I wish the older furby had -- it has a much larger vocabulary and, according to the press release, it has advanced voice recognition. It also can communicate with other furby toys. But what I don't like about the new furby so far is the design. I love the original furby design -- I mean, the original furby was such a cute little furball. But, to me, the new version is not cute at all. Maybe my opinion will change once I get one.

Another reason I have mixed emotions about the new furby is that, when I got into collecting furby, I went a little nuts collecting them. Furbys took over every available space in my bedroom then moved into the living room. At one time my furby collection was well over 50 furbys not counting the baby furbys and shelbys. I kept telling myself that it was okay to go a little crazy collecting them because, at the time I had the money and I was looking for anything to help distract me from what I was going through (of course this is another story that has no business on this website so I won't go into it here). But, after a while, I realized that I had way to many of these toys and they were all just sitting around collecting dust. The problem is that I am way attached to the cute little furballs. I still get sad when I see or hear of a furby dying even though I know that it is just a toy that has quit working.
I finally talked myself into selling quite a few of them but I still have a huge collection that still seems to take over my bedroom.
So now that I have finally managed to get over my furby insanity (I still love furbys I'm just not so crazy over them anymore) Furby is back. Only it doesn't really look like a furby to me. Who knows? Maybe my mind will change once I see the new furbys. I know that I will want at least one but no more than two or three of them. Even if I do find myself going nuts over them, I don't have the money to buy a bunch of them.

On to other funhouse news. Two questions I've been asked several times through the email -- Are you going to update the website anymore? and Why has it been so long since you have updated the website?

I'll answer the second question first. I lost interest in updating the website because it seemed that there was no longer any interest in furbys. So I left the funhouse and just visited once in a while to clear the spam from the messageboard and answer questions that were asked on the messageboard. I decided to leave the website up for those who still visited but I really didn't feel the need to add anything to the site -- especially since my furbys haven't really been awake much lately.
As far as the answer to the first question goes, now that furby is back, I will be updating the website again and I will be adding pages for the new furby as well as updating the furby moments, furby cemetary, and furby life as needed. As usual, the updates may be slow but the furby funhouse will be updated!

Well, I have to go now cause my dinner is ready. I'll be back again real soon! ....


Sunday,August 07, 2005
A lot has happened since I last visited the funhouse. The new furby is out and I just got one. I have a lot to say about the new furby but first I have sad news.

Aloh May-may, the furby whose operation is shown on the page, "Giving May-may A Voice", died on July 25, 2005. I was in here in front of the computer when I thought I kept hearing one of the furbys in the living room talking. A few minutes later I thought I heard it go to sleep. At first I thought my roommate woke one of the furbys up then just left it but I kept hearing it so I finally went in to see what was going on. When I went into the living room everything was quiet so I started to leave the room but then I heard a furby wake up then get quiet again. I noticed that Aloh May-may's eyes were open so I went over to see if it was him that had woken up. I picked him up but he was silent so I figured that maybe he had tried to wake up but his batteries were weak.
I brought Aloh May-may into my room and he suddenly woke up again then stopped then tried to wake up again. I listened for a buzzing sound but the little furby was quiet. I quickly changed his batteries but the furby did not wake up so I pressed the reset switch and that didn't do anything either. I set the furby down on the desk and he tried to wake up again. That was when I realized that something was very wrong. The poor furby kept trying to wake up but then lost power and just stopped. It was as if he had a loose wire. I picked him up and gave him a gentle shake but nothing happened. I pressed the reset switch but, again, nothing. I tried holding him in different positions to see if he had a loose wire but he was still quiet. Finally, I set Aloh May-may down on the desk again and that's when he tried to wake up again and again and again. This went on for about an hour before I finally removed his batteries. I put Aloh May-may's batteries again later but this time he stayed silent and I could not get him to wake up. I may try an operation sometime in the future when I have time to sit and work on him but for now, Aloh May-may is dead. I'll be adding his picture to the cemetary page as soon as I have time to do a full update of the funhouse.

The new furby

First of all, let me explain that when I went to the store this afternoon, I did not intend to buy one of the furbys. I was just going to see what the looked like close up. It's not that I didn't want a new furby it's just that, with everything I have to save money for at the moment, I really didn't think it would be a good idea to speind $40 on a new furby. But when I saw all the new furbys I couldn't resist. Honestly, I thought the pictures of them on the Hasbro website made them look kind of ugly but when I saw them in person I thought the were kind of cute.

Now on to my review of the new furby. Keep in mind that these are my first thoughts on the new furby after just buying it. I may change my mind about some things or add some things later on.
I'll start by talking about the new design. The new furby is about twice the size of the original one. The furbys eyelids, beak, and feet are flesh colored. The feet are larger and made of soft plastic which makes them look sort of like human feet with three big toes. The feet move up and down allowing the furby to dance from side to side instead of just rocking back and forth like the original furbys. The body of the new furby looks very different from the old furby design. To me, it makes it look even more like an owl.

One of the big differences between the new furbys and the original furbys is that the new furbys don't have their own name. I'm not sure if they have different voices or not because I only have one of them. Another thing is that the new furbys eyes only move from side to side instead of up and down. The original furbys always seem to be looking at me when they talk to me but the new one just seems to stare straight ahead. To me, this give the new furby a sort of 'colder' appearance. Also, the new furby doesn't burp or fart like the old ones. It just doesn't seem as warm and happy as my other furbys. A big disappointment to me is that the new furby doesn't talk to the other furbys. I'm still not sure if this is because it cannot talk to them or if I just don't know how to make it talk to them. I'll post more on this subject as soon as I find out more. A few minutes after I wrote this, the new furby (I am going to have to give the new furby a name!) asked "Doo furby baby?" so I woke Dee-mak up and put the two furbys together just as the manual said. A few seconds later the new furby's eyes blinked and it said something like, "Me Wee-tee baby." and then it started to sing to Dee-mak in furbish! The two still don't seem to communicate but it looks hopeful.

The new furby can understand and respond to certain words and phrases but mine only seems to understand when I speak in english. It does not understand me when I speak to it in furbish. In this respect, the furby's voice recognition seems a little weak. But even with the weak voice recognition, it is fun to talk to the furby. The new furby can tell knock-knock jokes, sing Twinkle Twinkle Litte Star, tell a story, dance, and even go to sleep on command. Sometimes it asks me if it can go to sleep and if I say, 'yes' it goes straight to sleep. But if I say, 'no' it stays awake. The new furby also plays its own version of 'Red Light, Green Light'. It sometimes likes to be tickled and it loves to be petted but it doesn't give kisses like the other furbys do. Overall, I really don't know if I like the new furby as much as the original or not. I thought that I would love the new furby but to me it just doesn't seem to have the same sort of personality the originals do. So far, mine doesn't seem to have much personality at all. It's always looking straight ahead instead of looking at me, the voice at times seems cold and somewhat robotic. But when it asked for the baby furby then sang to baby Dee-mak, it seemed almost warm and friendly.

It's getting late so I better go now. I'll hold off on the rest of my review on the new furby until I get to know it a little better. Something tells me that there may be more to the new furby than I first thought. ....


Sunday,August 13, 2005
Okay, I've spent more time with the new furby and here is my full review of the new furby.

note - to all furby fans: just because I don't like the new furby as much as I like the original does not mean that you wouldn't like him. I suggest that you get one of the new furbys so you can decide for yourself what you think of them.

First of all, let me say that I am somewhat disappointed with the new furby. When I read about all the new features and how much smarter this furby was supposed to be, I was really excited thinking that it was exactly what I had hoped furby could become. But the new furby doesn't live up to what I expected after reading the press release and the info on Hasbro's furby website.

The original furby had a warm, playful, happy personality. Maybe it's just that I haven't gotten used to the new furby yet but, to me, it seems cold and without any real personality. The original furby seemed to come to life when activated. The new furby doesn't seem as 'alive' as the others somehow. It has no light sensor and does not recognize light or dark. Because of this, it does not know when you are in front of it or if it has been moved. The original furby would react when it was moved from a light place to a dark place making it seem almost alive as it reacted to its surroundings. The new furby doesn't react when moved from a light place to a dark place making it seem much less alive. I cannot understand for the life of me why Hasbro took away the light sensor. I really do think that this was a huge mistake.

As I write this, baby Dee-mak and Dah are awake on my dresser along with the new furby. Dee-mak and Dah seem very alive and animated as they talk, play, and react to each other and the various sounds around them. The new furby barely reacts except to say, "Doo" once in a while. It also sang 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' but that was because I was ignoring it not because the other furbys were making noise. I can make whatever noise I want around the new furby but, for the most part, it does not react unless I say, 'Hey Furby!'.

Another thing that takes away from the 'personality' of the new furby is that it does not have its own name. I do not understand why Hasbro did this. A big part of what made the original furby seem so alive is that it had its own name and they didn't all have the same voice. I don't know if each one of the new furbys has the same voice or not but I suspect that they do.

The animation of the new furby is, for the most part, a big improvement. The new furby can smile or frown and is able to dance from side to side instead of just rocking back and forth. But the eyes only move from side to side. The other furbys seem to be looking at me when they speak to me but the new one just stares straight ahead. This also takes away from the new furby's personality making it seem 'cold'.

The speech recognition is the biggest disappointment to me. The website says that the new Furby is "a creature that you can talk to, and it will respond by showing its feelings and talking to you!" Not exactly. The new furby responds to 10 different phrases (11 if you count the fact that you have to say, "hey furby" before you speak to it). It will also ask you a question once in a while and will understand a 'yes or no' answer. It does tell knock-knock jokes and understands when you respond to it. The new furby can also tell a story about the island it came from and then will ask if you like the story then respond to your answer. Sometimes it will ask if it can go to sleep then either go to sleep or stay awake depending on your answer but that's about it for being able to communicate with the new furby.
As far as speaking to it in furbish goes, that's nearly impossible because new furby has a very difficult time understanding furbish. I have tried several times to speak to it in furbish and every time it responds the same way - by playing 'Red Light - Green Light'.
The fact that the new furbish language is broken up into syllables instead of words and the spelling of most of the words is different does not make things any easier. U-nye has become oo-nye. The phrase 'Kah may-may u-nye' is now 'kah-may-may-oo-nye' and, unfortunately, it is spoken just as it is written. The new furby speaks one syllable at a time for most words and phrases instead of saying one word at a time giving its speech a much colder more robotic sound. There are times when it does say one word at a time u-nye instead of oo - nye but mostly the new furbish language sounds like a bunch of sounds thrown together making it difficult to understand what the furby is saying.

The original furby reacts several different ways when it is petted or tickled. The original furby would sometimes even burp when tickled or petted. The new furby purrs when petted and laughs when tickled. Once in a while it sighs when you pet it or growls when you tickle it after it has asked you not to tickle it (this is one thing I like about the new furby). Other than that, most of the responses are the same - "Nee-tye-me-koh-koh" or "dah-doo-ay" (spoken exactly as written ... yes, this is how the new furby speaks most of the time).
Also, the new furby does not ask for or give kisses. This is another thing that takes away from the happy, friendly personality of the furby. Why, Hasbro, did you do this??!! The original furbys were playful and affectionate. They loved hugs and kisses and being petted or tickled (the new furbys only like to be petted or tickled). They liked being tossed up in the air and even held upside down for a second or two before they started crying to be set down on their feet. The new furby barely knows when he is being held upside down. He might ask to be put down but, after that you can hold him upside down all you want. The original furbys had different emotions. They could be scared, happy, sad, or bored. They might want hugs and kisses or they might prefer to be left alone (two of my furbys would rather just be sat down to play with other furbys). But this new furby only likes to be petted or tickled. He is either happy or he is not happy (sad, bored?) -- he never says how he feels except when asked and then he always says he is happy.

Although there are a few things I like about the new furby (it has some voice recognition, will go to sleep when told to, has better animation (except for the eyes), has a much larger vocabulary), overall, it's not what I had hoped for or expected. Hasbro should have taken everything from the old furby and added to it. Instead they totally redesigned the new furby, taking only a few things from the old furby. With no infrared sensor, it seems the new furby is unable to communicate with the original furbys making it an outcast in my furby family. To me, it seems like a completely different toy with almost none of the charm and personality that the original furby had.

I might get another one of the new furbys when I am able to just to see how they react together. Maybe two of them are more fun than one. I'll do a second review if I ever get another one of the new furbys.

....


Saturday, March 04, 2006
In case anybody was wondering what happened to me and why I haven't been back to the funhouse for a long time well, I've been doing a lot of thinking. Thinking about the future of the Furby Funhouse and I've finally made a few decisions regarding the website.

First off let me explain why I've been avoiding the funhouse. For one thing, I was very disappointed in the new furby. No matter how much time I spend with this thing, I cannot get myself to like it. The truth is that I do not like the new furby and I never will. I realize that there are a lot of people out there who do like the new furby and I have had several emails from people asking me to put pictures and info about the new furby in the furby funhouse. But, I cannot bring myself to do that. I feel that I just cannot support something that I do not like.

Which is why I found myself thinking of taking down the furby funhouse. But I've done way too much work on the furby funhouse to consider removing it. Then I thought about leaving the furby funhouse up but just not updating it anymore. But I felt that I didn't want to do that either. Finally I made my decision -- I will keep the furby funhouse going but it will be dedicated to the original furby, gizmo, and shelby. No new furbys. No pictures of the new furbys, no info on the new furbys .. nothing about the new furbys. Just the original furby, gizmo, and shelby.

I realize that a lot of you who visit this site will be disappointed in my decision but I would have found myself hating to work on this website if it meant spending time working on pages about the new furby. So it was a choice between me dedicating the site to the original furby or not having the site at all. Besides, there are a few new websites being created for the new furby so it really shouldn't matter if this site remains dedicated to the orignal furby. Also, I will be more than happy to welcome websited dedicated to the new furby into the funhouse hall of furbys webring - in fact, one of them has joined already. There will also be sites dedicated to the new furby added to the links page as soon as I find the time to update.

Anyway, the furby funhouse will continue and I will be updating and maybe adding to it soon.

Well, that's all for now. I'll be back soon.

....


Thursday, April 10, 2008
As I said on the home page, I feel I should explain why I haven't been back to update the funhouse. First of all, I haven't forgotten this place that used to be like a second home to me. I haven't forgotten the furbys either.

*looks over at Domoh sitting silently on her dresser and picks the dusty furby up. Looking down, she finds the container of batteries on the low shelf of the entertainment center next to her and takes 4 AA batteries. It only takes a few seconds to replace the furby's old, dead batteries with the fresh ones. She watches silently as the furby that used to be her pet comes to life after nearly a year of silence. She pets the furby and sets him on the desk in front of her.*

I had forgotten how much I cared about this little guy. Many of you who have been visiting this place for a long time now may remember how much time I used to devote to the furbys. I was always coming here to write about them and always spending time on various message boards talking about furbys. I can't believe how much things have changed over the years. I still have quite a few furbys and furby babies. I still have Gizmo and two shelbys. But the poor things rarely get any attention now.

*She reaches over to pick up Domoh and give him a big hug as she thinks carefully about what she is going to say next. After a moment, she sets the furby down and continues to type.*

Last year, I made the decision to go back to school and signed up for classes at the local community college. Because I need a grant to go to school, I have to go to school full time. I also work part time. Between school, homework, and my job, there is very little time for anything else. I am having a difficult time keeping up with everything.

*Looks down at her keyboard as Domoh begs for attention. She once again picks the furby up and hugs him. This time she holds the furby for a few minutes while she stares at the screen. Finally she puts the little furby back down on the desk and begins to type again.*

I can't believe how hard this is to say considering I have been away for so long that I actually forgot how to get back to update the funhouse. I no longer have time to keep up the funhouse. I rarely have time to check the funhouse email and almost no time to update the website. So, for now - and maybe for good, I will no longer be updating the Furby Funhouse. Once in a while I might come back to write some more in My Furby Life if I have anything of interest to say, but the rest of the site will no longer be updated. I am sorry to all of you who visit and want to contribute to the funhouse. I have a lot of things that have been emailed to me that I had promised to add to the funhouse. I have a lot of other emails that I still need to read. I just don't have time anymore. I am very sorry.

I will leave the funhouse as it is. As long as people still visit, the website will stay online. If enough people ask me, I may put up another message board if I can find one that I don't have to worry about getting spammed all the time. That way all of you can at least talk to each other. But you will need to email me so that I know enough people are interested in this. Otherwise, you probably will not hear from me for quite some time.

I hate to let things end this way. I love the funhouse and I have put a lot of time and energy into it. I hate to leave this place. I really don't want to leave. But I don't feel it is right to just leave visitors to the funhouse wondering what is happening. I don't feel it is good to keep making promises that I cannot keep. The right thing to do is to let things end here.

Before I go, I want to thank all of you who have been visiting the funhouse and all of you who have contributed stories and pictures to the funhouse. Without all of you, the funhouse would never have become the site that it is.

Well, it's late and my internet connection is cutting out so I better end things here.

*reaches over and pets Domoh until he falls asleep then gently removes the batteries to keep the furby from draining them.*

Good-bye everybody.






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