Welcome to another beautiful Saturday everybody :) We have 174

readers this week, 4 up from last week :) Kat and I are still hoping to have 200 subscribers by the end of the year and at this rate we'll most likely accomplish it :)  If you want to help, tell a friend to head to:



http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/thefurbypost



and tell 'em to just click on the 'Subscribe to this list' link at the

bottom and we'll be one member closer to our goal.  Thanks in advance :)



Table of Contents:

1) Statistics

2) News

3) Letter to the Editor

4) Special Notice

5) Mystic Fortress Updates

6) Furbish Word of the Issue

7) Fun Furby Facts

8) Closing

9) Unsub and Copyright Information

 



Here's some current stats:



Currently there are 1123 ebay auctions going on, 1945 on Yahoo!, and 114 on

amazon.com.  



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And now...onto the News: 



-Furby Reaching Stride Worldwide in Year Two!

Company Press Release

VERNON HILLS, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 8, 1999--With talk of ``What will

be the next Furby® for this holiday

season'' swelling around toy stores, studio executive offices and newsrooms,

it has become clear that nothing beats the real

thing. Furby is leading the feature/interactive plush category, representing

more than 50% of the unit and dollar volume,

according to TRST (Toy Retail Sales Tracking Report). While imitators issue

press releases touting first month sales of several

thousand units, Furby's success continues to soar. 



According to a printed report from the NPD Group, the news bodes well for

the Furby franchise. The NPD data ranks Furby

fourth in a listing of the top 20 Licensed Toy properties by dollar share.

This accomplishment comes at a time when the vast

majority of Furby's sales to date are based on toy sales. 



The best is yet to come, according to Tiger's President, Roger Shiffman,

``The excitement around Furby Babies has just begun

and stores are really beginning to fill their shelves with Furby party

goods, tee shirts, pajamas and more. And worldwide, the

picture is phenomenal.'' 



Shiffman knows of what he speaks. According to NPD, Furby is already the

best selling toy this year in Japan, with two million

units sold. In Japan, Furby is the only non-video game toy listed in Japan's

top 10 selling toys. Germany is touting Furby as its

no. 1 seller. Per the research organization, Furby has been the number one

selling toy in these countries for the past six months.

The happy, furry creature currently speaks seven languages: English,

Italian, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, and, of

course the universal language of ``Furbish®.'' 



According to David Medhurst, Managing Director for Tiger Europe, there is

significant room for growth worldwide as the toy

reaches the millenium. ``Throughout the U.K. and Japan, product continues to

sell as soon as it reaches store shelves. As we

move forward and begin to add more languages and build the brand with

innovative extensions, the market will continue to

expand.'' 



In the U.S., Furby Babies are the best selling toy in the FAO Schwarz

Holiday Catalog, one of the most popular gift books in

the country. 



As to why Furby has taken the world by storm, Shiffman responds, ``For a toy

to gain the level of success that Furby has, you

really need only look to one source, the kids. There has never been a toy,

at any price, let alone the affordable Furby price, that

provides the magic, the love and the fun. That's why as more and more try to

duplicate Furby it becomes more clear that the

kids voice will not be silenced. The challenge we look forward to every day

is how to earn their respect by continuing to create

toys that wow and light up young eyes.'' 



Could Shiffman be dropping a hint as to what's in the future for Furby? We

know that before year end, the company will be

introducing a Gizmo character to interact with Furby and Special Limited

Editions: Holiday Furby and Millennium Furby. As for

2000, Shiffman is holding his cards, ``You'll have to wait until Toy Fair in

February, but be sure that Furby will be well

represented and may have a new _______.'' 



(Source: Quoted from company press release, from Yahoo News.)

Full article here: http://www.mimitchi.com/html/furbn66.htm



-Furby in the Thanksgiving Parade

It's the last parade of the century and Furby will be making his appearence

known! Starting at 9:00 a.m.,

November 25th, you'll travel back in time to take an exciting journey

through the decades, from the costumes and

choreography of the early 1900's to today's sizzling music and dance.



Furby is listed to be appearing in the form of a Giant Helium Balloon.  For

details on the parade, times, channel, etc refer to this new article:

http://www.mimitchi.com/html/furbn65.htm







-Furby Homepage

Furby.com has added it's latest website feature.  You can make your own

Furby website on their site.  It's easy and it's fun, no need to know HTML.

Choose from a variety of cute Furby pictures, backgrounds, and write what

you want to appear on the page.  You need to be a member of TTF (it's free

to sign up if you aren't a member) to make your own homepage on Furby.com.





-Furby Wallpaper

In the News section of Furby.com they mention that soon Furby Wallpaper will

be avabilable for download, so you can have a picture of your favorite Furby

on your desktop!  This doesn't seem to be on the website yet, but I'd keep

checking back within the next couple of weeks.





-Furby Postcards

Furby.com has improved their postcard service, adding animated cards and new

pictures to choose from.  You can even write your own msgs now and select

what language you want your postcard to be sent in!  Unlike the old system,

you can always preview your postcard before sending it.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Letters to the Editor:



Nothing this issue, but if you have a question you'd like posted send it

along to 



MAILTO:"capngo@earthlink.net"



and we'll have it answered as soon as possible.



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Special Notice: We have another survey for the readers over at:



http://www.onelist.com/surveys/thefurbypost



I'd appreciate it if ya take some time to fill it out, and  it'll change with every issue and it'll really help me decide what areas need to have the most time spent on them :) The results showed that 74% of those who voted read the horoscopes and thought they were a good idea, and a total of 94.1% just thought they were a good idea over all, thanks to all the people that voted :)



Also, the next issue will have a list of online Furby and Furby related sellers to make holiday Furby shopping easier for all the readers :) if you have a seller in mind go ahead and send information to:



MAILTO:capngo@earthlink.net 



Thanks in advance :)



------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Mystic Fortress updates:



-Online Poll

The online Furby Poll has been updated and we'd love to hear your responses

to it.  It only takes two clicks to complete, so if you'd be so kind

as to fill it out, the URL is:

http://www.mimitchi.com/html/fpoll.htm 



-News Update

Added 6 new news articles in the News section.  Some of them are covered in

this issue.  For the news index go here:

http://www.mimitchi.com/html/fnlinks.htm





-Top 50 Sites Vote

Do you enjoy Electronic Furby website?  Vote for me as a Top 50 Website!

How do you do this?  Go to http://www.mimitchi.com/ or

http://www.mimitchi.com/html/furby.htm and click on the text link

toward the top that reads "Click here to Vote for this site as a

"Search4Free" Top 50 page!"  

Or go here: http://www.search4free.com/cgi-bin/hyperseek/vote.cgi?ID=941600349



A new browser will take you to the current catagory listings where my site

is in the voting list for Entertainment.  On the left side of the page is

the contents, if you click on "Top 50 Sites" you will see where I am placed

in the top 50!  Thank you for all the support, it makes the whole ride

worthwhile! -Kat



------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Furbish Word of the Issue:



-Furbish Word of this Issue

"Way-Loh" it means sleep in Furbish.  This word is often misheard.  It was

often heard to be 'bueno', thus came along the rumor of the spanish easter

egg.  The spanish easter egg doesn't exist, but there is a all

spanish/furbish speaking Furby available!



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-Fun Furby Facts

To help increase compliance with the HbA1c test for Diabetes Patients,

particularly among children, the company has worked with Tiger Electronics,

Ltd./Hasbro, Inc. to create a ``doctor'' finger puppet based on Furby(TM),

one of the world's best selling toys. Children are typically affected with

Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes, the disease's more severe form. Through

an exclusive agreement with Tiger Electronics, Ltd./Hasbro, Inc., all

diabetes patients will receive a Furby(TM) finger puppet when they purchase a

BioSafe HbA1c test kit. In addition, those who comply with the recommended

number of four tests a year will receive a complimentary electronic

Furby(TM) toy. 



To read the full article go here: http://www.mimitchi.com/html/furbn69.htm



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



That's it for this time :) Hope everyone enjoyed it. As always if there are any

questions, comments, or suggestions I'd love to hear them so send them along to:



MAILTO:"capngo@earthlink.net"



And I'll get back to you as soon as possible :)



Also, remember to send in Furby stories and Furby page links and I'll be

happy to put them up here with credit :)



Kat, Head of Research

Brendan, Editor in Chief of The Furby Post














Written and composed by Brendan Quinn. The rights to all artwork and creative information included on this particular page and all pages related to The Furby Post are reserved by Brendan Quinn. Furby, Furbish, and all related is ®, TM,& ©Tiger Electronics, LTD. USA.
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