The Biggest Christmas Toy Crazes In History

When it comes to annoying toy crazes, few were equal to Tiger Electronics' Furby. This animatronic toy, which looks vaguely like a combination of an owl and Star Wars' Salacious Crumb, responded to movement and noise with hoots, squawks, and random movement. Perhaps The New York Times put it best when it wrote, "If the Pet Rock and Tickle Me Elmo had mated, in a union sealed with a Mood Ring, they would have given birth to a Furby."

As reported by Bustle, Furby was first introduced for the holidays in 1998. There was no off-Broadway for Furby in the toy world. It immediately went to the big show, debuting at FAO Schwarz in New York City. Very quickly, the store sold out and had a backorder of 35,000 Furbies. That year, 1.8 million units were sold.

This, however, was dwarfed by the 14 million that sold the next year. Within three years, 40 million Furbies had been sold. However, the fad faded fast and by 2005 Furby was a has-been. This has not prevented Hasbro, which bought Tiger Electronics, from attempting reboots of the toy starting in 2012. These versions developed different personalities depending on how they were treated. These too were a hit, but not quite as much as the original generation. There is a fairly strong market for vintage editions of this unique toy, and in 2023, Hasbro announced a 25th anniversary Furby that plays K-pop.