Furby TV Commercials (1998 - 2023) Timeline

Furby is an American electronic robotic toy that was originally released in 1998 by Tiger Electronics. It resembles a hamster or owllike creature and went through a period of being a "must-have" toy following its holiday season launch, with continual sales until 2000. Over 40 million Furbies were sold during the three years of its original production, with 1.8 million sold in 1998, and 14 million in 1999. Its speaking capabilities were translated into 14 languages.
Furbies were the first successful attempt to produce and sell a domestically aimed robot. A newly purchased Furby, or a Furby has been reset starts out speaking entirely "Furbish", the unique language that all Furbies speak, but is programmed to start speaking English words and phrases in place of Furbish over time. This process is intended to resemble the process of learning English.[1] The updated Emoto-Tronic Furby, with voice recognition and more complex facial movements, was sold by Hasbro between 2005 and 2007. Another updated Furby with black and white LCD eyes and a mobile app was released for the holiday season in 2012. Another updated Furby with color LCD eyes, known as Furby Connect was released in 2016. The last new version was released in 2023.
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Dave Hampton and Caleb Chung spent nine months creating the Furby (in addition to nine months spent designing the toy). After two attempts at licensing the concept, they invited fellow toy and game inventor Richard C. Levy to join their efforts to sell Furby. Levy brought Furby to Tiger Electronics and Tiger's Roger Shiffman bought the rights to it. Furby's first public appearance was at the American International Toy Fair in 1998.[2][3][4][5]
Furbies originally retailed for about US$35,[6] and upon release, they sold very well. Catapulting demand during the 1998 Christmas period drove the resale price over $100, and sometimes as high as several hundred dollars. Furbies were sold for over $300 in newspapers and in auctions. Nicknames were given to the different aesthetic varieties, and sellers assigned rarity values to them.
The significant aftermarket demand (and price) for the toy resulted in cases of fraud in which customers paid for Furbies that were never delivered. Parental battles, arguments, and fights increased rapidly as supplies dwindled, and when retail supplies ran out, buyers turned to the Internet, where Furbies could be purchased for two, three, or more multiples of their retail price. During one 12-month period, a total of 27 million Furby toys were sold.[7]
Revivals
2005 saw the reintroduction of Furby with the release of the new Emoto-Tronic Furby.
On April 12, 2012, it was announced that Hasbro would be making a new line of Furbies. The new line was released in September 2012.[8] As of December 2012 there were sixteen colors: teal, white, black, purple, tangerine-tango, yellow, aqua, navy blue, plum, pink, pink/teal, orange/blue, black/pink, blue/yellow, teal/purple, and gray/teal.[9] Furbies were one of the eleven toys named the top toys for Christmas 2013 by the Toy Retailers Association at the DreamToys Convention where they unveil their predictions for the most popular holiday toys annually.[10]
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