Might Quit

I love this blog, I really do. But half of my images keep disappearing, no matter how many times I re-upload them. I can’t do this anymore: I might restart my blog on Squarespace.

Merry Christmas (and Happy Holidays)🎄

Just a quick post to wish all of you a joyful, relaxing, and lovely holiday season! Whether you plan to spend it with family and friends or alone, I wish you a grand time. 💗

See you soon, cowboys!

Hey y’all! <3

First of all, to those of you who may be new: welcome to the Hog Blog, where I’ll talk about toys, dolls, and other strange stuff I find interesting. I’m putting this notice here not just as an introduction, but as a little… warning? Depending on where you read my blog, it could glitch and refuse to show certain images. I’ve found that reading on a laptop/tablet is best, because the format looks better and it’s less likely to mess up.

(Also, I would like to sincerely apologize in advance, because there are ads on this page that I can’t control. If I could buy a member’s plan, I would, but I currently can’t. )

I work really hard putting together content which I think you guys will enjoy. So, let this be your formal welcome into my lil corner of the internet, the Hog Blog! ❤

Mechanical Friends

Animatronics is the use of cable-pulled devices or motors to animate a replica of a human or an animal, or bring lifelike characteristics to an otherwise inanimate object.
Wikipedia

Chuck E. Cheese, the classic grooving animatronic mascot

An automaton is a self-operating machine, or a machine or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a predetermined sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions.
Wikipedia

Queen Mary Antionette Automaton by David Roentgen

A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer— capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically.
Wikipedia

Why does it matter, some of you ask in disdain. It has circuits and wires. It is nothing more than a machine! And that may be true. But there’s still a distinction between the three terms I mentioned, and I think it’s time someone talked about it.

Machine replicas are cool. So when I saw Queen Mary Antionette funking out on her hammered dulcimer, I thought, “Wow. We need more royal robots like her.” But to my surprise, she wasn’t a robot, but instead an automaton. I dove into research.

Distinction

Robots do not have to look like living things, while animatronics do. Automatons can look like living beings, but it’s not a necessity. I’ve seen an old secretary’s cabinet be classified as an automaton because of it’s self opening nature. They are all pretty similar; for example, a robot can resemble an animal. But basically:

Creepy as hell robot dog that can open doors.

Robots can be incredibly intelligent (AI) but can also be used to repeat the same function over and over (like factory robots.) The thing is, automatons are robots, except they have a specific sequence to follow and other robots either act more independently or can go on repeating a procedure until they are turned off. The water does get murky sometimes, and you may be asking, what about that humanoid above? Sophia is a true robot instead of an animatronic because she is eerily intelligent, and can express her thoughts clearly instead of just singing and dancing.

I sincerely hope I explained all this accurately and clearly. I’m not an engineer in any way, but just a kid with a laptop and a burning curiosity. So see you next time, cowboys. Hope you enjoyed. ❤

The Furby Fanatics (Plus Furby Facts)

Furbies are coming back and I’m all for it.

Anyone growing up in the late 90s/2000s knows what furbies are. I had one, you had one, Suzie from down the street had one. More than once, furbies lost their mainstream appeal, one of these dark periods being quite recently. But now, a brand new furby fandom has arrisen on the internet. Furbies are once again being collected, loved, customized, and for the first time ever even memed. The furbies have taken over the internet – as well as my heart.

Tumblr and the Legacy of the Long Furby

I would consider Tumblr to be the birth place of the modern furby community. I mean, if you were to type in the tag “furby” you’d get many blogs dedicated solely to furbies. Among these, one of the most notable is (of course) the creator of the original long furby, Furby Fuzz (https://furbyfuzz.tumblr.com). But what exactly is a long furby?

The original long furby by Tumblr user Furby Fuzz. ^

A long furby is simply a custom furby which is elongated in the middle using “fur”, stuffing, and a flexible “spine”. It takes a lot of craftsmanship to construct a long furby, and honestly, I’m not exactly sure how to do it myself.

The original long furby inspired others to create their own furby mutants. Now there are many long furbies on the internet; as well as furbies with arms and legs, yarn long furbies, furbies with hair, thicc furbies, and… well, I could go on.

“If I saw an adult human carrying a furby around in real life, I’d be like damn, that person is living their best life. They give zero f*cks.”
Youtuber Strange Aeons

Furby History

Furbies come in many different shapes and sizes. But in their most basic design, what exactly are furbies? Are they birds with their beaks and claws? Are they fluffy mammals with ears? Are they angelic beings sent to unite humanity? Or perhaps demons, hell-bent on destroying it?

The only thing we know for sure is that they’re robots.

Furbies (or dare I say fur babies) were invented in 1997 by Caleb Chung and Dave Hampton. They soon got Richard C. Levy on their team to help with marketing. He was the one who sold furbies to Tiger Electronics, and they’re still the company who produces them to this day. Furbies were first shown to the world in the 1998 American International Toy Fare.

The reason furbies became so popular is because they were unique. Stuffies with voices who start off speaking gibberish but can pick up words the more you speak to them? I imagine the idea must have sounded pretty strange initially. But the public went wild for these electronic creatures, and furbies were a big commercial success.

Furby History Continued: Styles of Furbies

Although I couldn’t find the first furby ever made, this 1998 leopard furby is surely a classic!

Furbies have gone through 3 main eras. Here I’ll briefly outline each of these.

Let’s have fun!
First slogan for Furby

The first furby era is from 1998-2002. All of the furbies pictured in this post up to this point (except the long furby, of course) come from this era. They have plush ears, a tuft of hair on their heads, 3 toed paws (or 3 clawed feet, if you choose to look at it that way), and realistic plastic eyes. They can wiggle their ears, blink, and open their mouths, but that’s it for movement. If you’re wondering, the bit on their forehead is actually an infrared sensor which allows them to talk to other furbies.

The ‘new and improved’ furbies! The last furby is a funky furby, btw.

Next up are the 2005-2007 furbies, also called the emoto-tronic furbies.

These weren’t nearly as popular as the previous furbies, and just by looking at the above image I’m pretty sure you can figure out why. These new furbies featured creepy plastic feet, rubber beaks, even more realistic eyes, fluffier ears, and to top it all off, they were twice as big. Some parts of the re-design were better: the furbies were more advanced and had no tails (except for the funky furby line), which in my opinion made them cuter. But still, the 2005 furbies flopped. Could Furby make its second comeback?

The answer, of course, is yes.

Which brings us to the 2012-2013 furbies, which I actually consider to be the 2012-2016 furbies, because during this period of time furbies were produced every year. I’m unsure if any new furbies came out from 2017-2019, but here’s to hoping that it happens soon. Anyway, back to the furby info.

The 2012 furbies had LCD eyes which could change as the furby experienced new emotions, as well as rubber ears, a new design around the eyes, and a tail which you could pull to interact with the furby. These furbies looked pretty similar to the original furbies, and were successful in the stores. My first furby was a 2012 Orangutang Orange furby; although they didn’t have official English names, they were named by the fandom. Another cool thing about these re-designed furbies was that they had an app, with which you could play, feed, and take care of your furby.

In 2013 came the Furby Boom, an updated version of the 2012 furby, and in 2014 came the Furby Boom!: Crystal Series. I won’t focus too much on these, because this is turning into a bit of an essay, but I feel that I have to mention these furbies because they are part of furby history.

I just had to show what a crystal furby looked like, ok?

And lastly, in 2016 came the Furby Connect, probably the most abstract take on what a furby is since the emoto-tronic furby. Actually, scratch that, the 2005 furby babies were pretty strange too.

Well folks, that was it! How did you enjoy your trip to Furby Land? I’m planning on sticking around for quite a while. If you guys would like more posts on furbies and furby history, I would be happy to provide. In fact, if I ever get a Shelby I’ll make sure to review it in a pain-stakingly high amount of detail! And if I got anything wrong or could improve this article, please let me know down below.