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Saturday 14 December 2013

Review: Furby Boom


I remember when Furby's were first launched back in 1998 and not having any children then they were hardly on my radar and then when they were released last year again I didn't hear a peep from the kids about wanting one. But his year it has been a different story, I suspect that might be down to them currently being given as Happy Meal toys from McDonalds.

I had my suspicion that the kids might enjoy one but I had no idea quite how much the Furby would be loved. I agreed to review one thinking it would be a nice gift for Miss E at Christmas and that JJ could test it out and have a play prior to then. Stupidly I left it on the side in the kitchen on the day it arrived earlier this week and as soon as the kids arrived home they spotted it.


Family Toy to be shared
Miss M was the first to start shouting about it and whopping for joy that she had always wanted one. I expected JJ to look at it and dismiss it instantly as the one we received is pink and purple but no, he also started to shout about how gorgeous it was and he loved it and could he have the first go please. Then Miss E got a look in and she cuddled it tight and told JJ it was hers. As they had all found it I told them it was a toy to share and like a real pet they would have to take turns.

Set up
I handed the Furby to JJ to set up and read about as at 10 years he is good at that sort of thing and has more patience than I do. He straight away asked me for 4 AA batteries to power the Furby and luckily I had some, I'm waiting to see how long they last, I do hope it does not drain them too quickly. I'm used to practically everything being rechargeable nowadays. You need a tiny Phillips screwdriver to be able to access the bottom to put the batteries in but I found a metal skewer worked OK!

The Furby does not come with any kind of instruction manual which I found frustrating but luckily the kids were happy to go with the exploratory method of learning. JJ instantly downloaded the free Furby Boom app on his iPad and started to play. He had to hold the Furby 10 cm's away from the iPad and partner them and then teach the Furby it's name - bee-boo in case you are interested.


Interaction
The Furby Boom is all about the interaction. It starts by talking Furbish (a nonsense language of its own) and the more you interact with it the more it speaks English. It really is very cute if you can get past the constant stream of chatter. I do like it when the Furby refers to itself by its name and he tells you he is happy etc.

I do have to admit I was pleased when JJ found out that if you pull his tail for 10 seconds or more he tells you how tired he is getting and then starts to snore and goes to sleep.  The girls like it when Bee-boo dances and gets all excited.  The more you interact with your Furby the more you shape its personality and it becomes more and more fun the kids tell me.

Furby Boom free app
As I mentioned you can download a free app to play with your Furby Boom. This is available for both apple and android products. We had tom take a couple of trys to be able to scan the Furby successfully when we needed to but it got there each time in the end and we are only talking a matter of a couple of minutes.

You can check the health of your Furby when you scan it and make up medicine if it is poorly and it will soon tell you if you are doing something it does not like. if you are looking after your Furby well you get rewarded with eggs which you can hatch into Furblings and then look after them too. You can get up to 50 eggs in total and end up with a whole Furby Boom City.

I love it that you can pay with Furby without the app, it is still a great interactive toy and that is mostly how Miss M and Miss E will use it but JJ being that bit older loves the extra element that the app brings.

Conclusion
The Furby Boom is sold as being suitable for children of 6 years and older but with a little help I'm sure younger children would enjoy it too. The best price I could find at the moment is at Smyths toys where it s £49.99.

My kids really love their Furby and if they had received it for Christmas I know they would have been supper happy. It is so silly in what it says the things it can do that it really plays to a child's sense of fun. I'm happy to recommend this as a good buy.

Take a look for yourself at the Furby Boom and see what my kids are so excited about -




How cute is this? Hasbro sent us a Pannell family picture of us as Furby's -


Disclosure: We received the Furby Boom free of charge for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.

3 comments:

  1. Well if you were being totally honest you should have mentioned the very poor battery life, and the constant hassle to the parents, due to having to keep opening the battery base to reset it, or having to change the batteries a couple of times a day. We tried allsorts of heavy duty alkaline batteries which lasted only 90 mins and we've even tried the rechargeable NiMH batteries which last only about 2 hours and take 16 hours to recharge. It would have been a good toy if Hasbro had made it rechargeable, with an easy access point to plug in, and also the reset button on the outside, as it has to be pushed so frequently. The current model should come with spare screws for when the head gets ground out from constant unscrewing and rescrewing. I for one are most disaapointed that the battery feature ruins what would be a great toy, if it worked for more than minutes.

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    Replies
    1. Well we still have the same batteries in it now as when they arrived and yes I've had to reset it one but it took moments. Thanks for your comment, Michelle

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  2. I have six Furby Boom and love them so much! All six of them are French Editions and I have the one you own. It is sugested by Hasbro to NOT use re-chargeable batteries for Furby. All my Furby, Furby Boom and Furby Party Rocker have regular batteries and still work perfectly fine.

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Thanks for your comment, I will respond real soon. Mich x