Theeeeeeey're Back!

(Source)

Yes, parents, your worst nightmare has returned, that creepy creature that won't stop talking, the Furby. 

Some of you may wax nostalgic for these minions of your childhood, however, when the Furby came along 14 years ago,  I was 17. If I'd had Furby Fever, that would have been social suicide. 

It's not to say I was free from the annoying toys of childhood. Growing up I had something called a Chubble.  I like to think of it as a primitive Furby.  It was light reactive, and the ONLY way to turn it off was to yank the 9-volt battery from it's butt. 

I'll be honest, when Furby was introduced, the only thing I wanted to do was dissect it.  I swore that they were minions of the devil, because, let's face it, they looked like furry demons, and they lack an off switch. Tell me that's not downright diabolical. 

Fast forward to the reinvented Furby.   Unlike the original Furby which just wobbled, blinked, and spoke in a nearly unintelligible robotic voice, this thing moves, speaks more clearly, and it can show emotion because of the LCD eyes.  It is way more interactive, and it's also way more creepy.  I like to call this the Skynet Furby because of the way it can interact with the Apple iOS (and eventually Android). 

Engadget has a pretty neat hands-on review, complete with 2 videos that will show you just what you're getting yourself into if you invite one of them into your home.  I'm thoroughly convinced that you could program this version to be an evil minion.  I wonder if my engineer brother wants to try that out. No? Was worth a shot.

Rumor has it that this is going to be a pretty popular toy this year.  So, parents, brush up on your Furbish, and for heaven's sake, don't get it wet, and don't feed it after midnight.

JP