Hasbro, a big US toy company, has brought back the famous Furby robot, which was a great hit when it first came out 25 years ago.
The company hopes that children of the next generation will “find their own curious little creature.”
The new Furby has the same big eyes, yellow beak, and brightly colored fur as the old one. It also says strange things and reacts to hugs, pats, and tickles.
The news comes at a time when the toy business is seeing a drop in sales.
Hasbro’s vice president and general manager, Kristin McKay, said, “Over the past few years, we’ve done a lot of research to find out what kids want in a new Furby.”
The new toy can do more than 600 different things. It can do things you tell it to, imitate sounds, dance, and be “fed.”
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When it came out in 1998, Furby quickly became a favorite around the world.
Hasbro says that more than 40 million were sold in the first three years after they came out.
The first Furbys had eyes that could see infrared light, which let them talk to each other.
The toy could also “listen” to talks and be taught to say a few words with a pat on the head.
Over the years, changes have been made to Furby, like replacing its IR eyes with two small LCD screens.
Hasbro also made an app for phones and tablets that could translate what Furby said into English.
But as the Furby craze died down, it was taken off the market in 2016.
The toy company is trying to boost slow sales by bringing back Furby.
Hasbro said in its most recent quarterly earnings report, which came out in April, that it thought the market for toys and games would stay flat or go down this year.
The company that makes the famous Monopoly board game said that sales of its NERF blasters, Play-Doh, and Peppa Pig toys fell by 14% in the first three months of the year.
