On October 2nd, 1998, Tiger Electronics released the "Furby", which became one of the biggest toy fads in American history! A newly purchased Furby starts off by speaking entirely "Furbish", a specially made language created for the Furby toys. Over time, Furby learns to speak English by listening to its owner speak. During its 1998 holiday season launch, Furbies became one of the hottest toys in American history, selling over 1.8 million units by the end of the year. By 2001, Tiger Electronics had sold over 40 million Furbies, with 14 million being sold in 1999 alone. The Furby was discontinued by Tiger in 2001, but was ultimately re-released with more complex technology four times - in 2005, 2012, 2016, and 2023.
