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Friday October 14, 2005

Soft toy bigger, better than before

By YIP YOKE TENG

SOMEONE who chats with you any time of the day, sings songs or tells jokes when you are down and plays games with you when you are bored, this may sound like the perfect friend, but it is actually available off the rack, in the form of the latest version of the soft toy, Furby.

“Furby became a historic bestseller and a cultural phenomenon when it hit the market in 1998,” said Hasbro's Toy Malaysia general manager Ng Chai Lee at the launch of Furby in Subang recently.

Hasbro’s Toy Malaysia marketing manager Albert Tan holding up two of the new Furbys’.
He said 40 million pieces were sold globally.

“The new Furby is so much more advanced than the original.,” added Ng.

The evolved Furby is driven by “emoto-tronics” - a combination of advanced robotic technology, puppetry and realistic life-like reactions and movements.

The new Furby is bigger and more advanced than the 1998 version that took the world by storm.
Like a too-good-to-be-true companion, the cuddly creature has advanced voice recognition that makes it able to obey commands like “sing a song,” “tell me a joke” and “go to sleep.”

It can speak hundreds of words, speaking English and “Furbish.”

It has a flexible beak, rolling eyes and movable ears and brows for a wide range of facial expressions.

The new Furby, which is double the size of the original version, comes with an “ off” switch. Alternatively, you can ask it to go to sleep, and it will close its eyes and snore.

The Furby is available at Toys'R'Us stores and leading department and toy stores.

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