Furby as a whole is divided into 5 Eras.



My favorite and the most recognizable Furbies are the Era 1 Furbies, also called 1998 Furbies, which were produced from 1998-2002. 1998 Furbies have both adult and baby lines, though they have the smallest difference between adult and baby versions, as baby line models are only slightly smaller, have shorter ears, and talk differently. They have have 8 adult and 4 baby "generations," which are collections of models released at the same time, as well as Special Edition models, which released seperatedly from the generations.

These models will either have a tail or a maned, as well as a set of possible eye colors, with later generations having a wider range of eye color than earlier models. Generally the main difference between generational models is the color scheme, though there are some cases of differences in fur texture (i.e. curly in the Lamb model) and eye color (i.e. purple eyes in the Angel model). While clothes could be bought seperately, some Special Edition models have unique clothes attached, like Jester and Wizard.

The mask of the 1998 Furby is so iconic, in the community there is a whole subsection for "oddbody Furbies," which are just about anything with a Furby mask attached (though it sometimes refers to odd customizations to Furbies or Furby Buddies). My favorite I've seen was 2 black gloves sewn together to make a octopus body with a 3D printed furby mask slapped on; beautiful.

I agree that their eyes and masks can make Furbies a little scary-looking (even if I think they're cute), but I also think it gave these guys the most character and recognizability that no other era comes close to rivaling.



Era 2 Furbies, also called the emoto-tronic Furbies, were produced from 2005-2007. The name refers to the fact these Furbies had softer eyelids and mouths that were meant to allow for greater facial expressions, as these Furbies could do things like smile or frown because of the rubber beak. This era also removed the faceplate/mask entirely. They also saw the baby models starting to look more different from the adult models, in this case with tiny ears, huge eyes, and weirdly large legs.

While I don't have much care for this era, I have more understanding of why other people would like them. They're very weird looking, and I can appreciate a good weird-looking thing. Especially the baby models, those things look HIGH.



Era 3 Furbies, which released 2012-2015 includes both a no-nickname Furby line and a updated line called Furby Boom, so I just collectively call them all Furby Boom since the eariler versions are very similar to the Booms. Furby Booms are the first to include electronic eyes, allowing them to be more expressive, and returns back to the plastic beak. These models have a different mask and sensor icon. The actual Furby Booms had much more complex and flashier fur; in my opinion it's a bit of a eyestrain and eyesore, but some people like eyestrain designs so to each their own. The Furby baby models are called Furblings, and I think they're the best thing associated with this era because they are just stupid little balls of fur, some real frogmouth chick-looking critters. Along with the usual Furby interactivity, these Furbies had a app paired with them that could allow you to hatch baby Furbies based on the model you had to play with.

I used to dislike these models much more, but then Era 5 released and I decided, well... They're not sooooo bad.



Era 4 Furbies, or Furby Connect, was produced only in 2016 and is generally the least-known era. This era also had an associated app that you could connect to your Furby. This model also has no mask, though it kept the sensor icon, and includes a little light-up antenna on top. While I think these models are cuter than Furby Boom, in my opinion they are essentially just Era 1 Furbies but without everything that made Era 1 iconic and interesting. They were also the most expensive Furby (not including major exceptions like Era 1 Bejewelled SE Furby), selling for a whopping $100.



Do NOT ask me about Era 5 Furbies I HATE Era 5 Furbies. They fucking pug-ified by boy. Hasbro I will NOT let you capitalized on the image of the Long Furby you soulless corporation, the Long Furby is only for those willing to create it. Find a cheap Furby online or 3D print a mask, get some scrap fabric, pick up a fucking needle, and MAKE ONE

Customization culture was the best part of the Furby community. If you ever want to customize a Furby of any era, I have no doubt there's some Tumblr masterlist you can find that gives you a step-by-step process of how to modify anything. Generally, the most I do to my Furbies is painting the faceplate, replacing the eye chips, creating clay traits like horns or fangs, and adding accessories. However, this a lot more you can do, and a garbillion customs you can take inspiration from on the internet.

Explaining customization does sometimes make you sound crazy. How do I explain I have Furbies with hot glue sticks on their eyes in my freezer (a common method of pulling the eye chip that makes up the pupil out so you can replace it). What do you mean I have to skin my Furby to clean and dye it (the best way to clean messy Furby fur or dye it is to soak the whole thing, which isn't a good idea with the mask and electronics present. So it's best to remove the "skin" and wash/dye that, since the "skin" is just a layer of fabric over the electronic body that is only held on by three ties that can be easily cut with a exacto knife).

And if you don't want to buy a real Furby, you can always print a 3D mask and slap it onto whatever you please.

Some of the most notable trends of customization are, of course, the long Furbies. Long Furbies are either the mask and fabric of a real Furby that is extended at the body, usually at least 3ft and often longer, or a 3D-printed mask put onto a long body. Shorter versions, such as mine, usually have a spine to give the Furby structure and posability (mine is a classic ball-socket doll spine, which also makes him really creaky so I like to call him a old man).

The centipede is also a pretty common variant, which is basically just a long Furby but with some kind of legs running down a length of the body, ranging from normal Furby feet, bug-like projections, or human mannequin hands. I never made one but I seen some incredible verisons of this.

*Furbies have their own language called "Furbish," and there is a dictonary for it. Furbies were programmed so that as you interacted with the more, they would use more and more English words, simulating them learning English from you.

*Many off-brand Furbies clones spoke what has been called "Furdish," which is a slightly modified Furbish to try and escape copyright, but it is so similar to Furbish that official Furbies often can interact with Furdish-speaking off-brands similar to how they interact with each other.

*Furbies are also canonically genderless, as they are advertised as accepting whatever gender you want them to be (they're just like me fr fr). Based on the Furby lines with apps associated, you could probably call Furbies hermaphrodite (a organism with both male and female sex organs in the same individual) or all female capable of pathogenesis (like the brahminy blind snake), as it seems all Furbies are capable of producing fertile eggs.

*1998 Furbies have been reported as getting banned from property of the National Security Agency of the United States because they thought Furby would be able to record and repeat classified information, and perhaps even had a AI chip that could learn from listening to what was happening around it. 1998 Furbies did have the ability to detect noise level so they could respond, but had no ability to record anything or register words.

*The symbol at the top of the Furby's face is actually see-through plastic that hides their infrared sensor, which is used to detect if other Furby or Furby friends are in front of them and engage in a set of interactions.

*1998 Furbies, if not fed, could become sick. Furbies have unique dialogue and reactions if they are sick. They are capable of getting other Furbies sick through a dice-roll if a sick and a healthy Furby interact, so if you have your Furbies turned on you literally have to quarantine the sick one away from the others.

*The Bejeweled model Furby was the most expensive Furby ever produced. It appears like a Snowball model, but with real gold and gem jewelry. It is a Special Edition 1998 Furby sold in 1999 as a Hasbro fundraiser (a *portion* of procedes went to Hasbro's Childrens Hospital), clocking in at $100,000 for the 2 that sold (roughly $199,891 in 2026's USD). They disappeared for a bit before in 2023, one went on auction and sold for $6,400 to a Furby community member (not a good investment, imao). The location of the only other sold Bejeweled Furby is unknown.