I’m about to go on a pretty heated rant. Moj Moj fans beware.
What are Moj Moj?
Moj Moj are essentially little, simplistic, squishy toys that come in pretty colours and triangular packages. They definetly have a neat aesthetic going for them, and I’ll give them credit for the unique packaging. I know I mentioned the packaging twice now, so here, have a look;
They make me crave onigiri for some strange reason.
Pretty stylish. But pretty packaging aside, these wish-list toys are most definitely overhyped. And here’s why.
Stickiness
I know when you have a rubbery, squishy toy the stickiness can’t be avoided. For example, Mashems are very soft and stretchy but they also collect every hair they come across, and never let it go. Moj Moj are the same. Somehow, after being played with for about 20 minutes, they were absolutely COATED with tiny dust and whatever else particles. My hands were clean. The table was clean. And yet they still managed to get dirty.
Back to the material point; the Mojs may look totally adorable in pictures, with their dot eyes and perfect noses, but the reality isn’t like that. If you stretch them, the eyes will come off. If you squish them, the teeny designs on their backs will smudge. Don’t even get me started on twisting; that’s a sure fire way to completely damage the already imperfect paint.
Wrinkles
I only squished them for about 20 minutes.
They were wrinkled all over even before I did anything.
The packaging squished into them, making them wrinkled all over, and nothing seemed to help. Another problem I found with them was that they weren’t nearly as stretchy as they were in the Moj Moj commercials. They did stretch, it just wasn’t as impressive as it was supposed to be.
In case you were wondering, they are not pleasantly scented. Moj Moj all have a slightly yucky factory smell to them. They do not have names, either; just numbers and rarities. Even though I know there’s a LOT of Mojs, I really wish they WOULD be named. It’s a lazy move toy companies pull way too often.
Conclusion
I do not like these toys, and I will never recommend them. That being said, you are free to like and collect them if sticky squishies are right up your alley. Maybe I will get more in the future just to see if they’re all terrible. But in the meanwhile, I’ll sit over here hating Moj Moj and there’s nothing you can do about 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 can be absolutely terrifying.
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.
Above: The Snapstar Squad, made by the company Yulu.
I kid you not, the second I found about this doll line I instantly fell in love.
Six customizable and highly posable characters, each with their own personality and goals, as well as seemingly perfect clothing and makeup? It all seemed too good to be true. And indeed, as I scanned the Walmart toy isle shelf, I began to realize these new dolls may not be as pretty in real life as they initially appeared. But still, I refused to be dissapointed until I unboxed one.
Snapstar Izzy was the one I chose. I liked the fluffiness of her hair and she was described as a “master crafter” on the back of the box. The box itself was really cute too, should I mention, as it was shaped like a cell phone with a clear screen. She came with a purple phone, purse, and earrings as accesories. Oh, and I hope it’s not too late to mention the green screen.
❤
! Social Media Superstars !
The whole idea behind Snapstars is that they are all influencers. Each girl has her own social media account where she posts “selfies” with captions further reflecting her personality. Each account (as well as @snapstar.official) interacts with commenters and re-posts fan made pictures. All in all, it’s an excellent marketing strategy.
The dolls come with mini green screens for creating your own pictures and scenes. You can use these with the help of the Snapstar app, which offers other feautures such as adding makeup and different hair to the doll. This is certantly a creative premise for a doll line. But how good are the dolls themselves?
From left to right: Lola, Yuki, and Aspen dolls
Quality?
Snapstars have removable hair which you can mix and match on the dolls. Their heads are painted the same colour as their hair, and usually part of this colour can peek out under the wigs (which isn’t that noticable, but still slightly annoying if you want to create a clean new look). Every piece of their clothing is also removable, including shoes and earrings. They are very well articulated and can move their heads (all the way around) , shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips (even though the movement actually occurs a bit higher) , legs, knees, and ankles. Wow, that was a long list!
Snapstar Dawn
So far, I’ve only encountered 3 problems. These are:
The green screen has trouble with hair, and some of the green can shine through it. 😦
Occasionally, the screen of the phone accesory can come slimy or nearly off the phone (I haven’t had a case of this, but I know others who have). 😦
The hair can get really messy and hard to brush (since it’s a wig). 😦
But what about the actual characters?
So far, there are only 6 Snapstar dolls: Aspen (a world-travelling explorer), Izzy (a nature-loving crafter), Yuki (the feisty music enthusiast), Lola (the unicorn gal), Echo (a graceful glitter fairy), and Dawn (the fashion diva). Okay, I may have changed some of their actual descriptions, but Echo really does come off as fairy loving type.
Bedazzled Babe Echo is a dreamy damsel who floats through life with an easy-breezy outlook. Although she embodies the shimmering grace of a mermaid, she is never a “fish out of water”.
snapstarworld.com
My Final Opinion
I like these dolls. Although they’re not perfect, and I understand their big heads and unrealistic proportions may not appeal to others, this is a neat toyline I support. I hope in the future Yulu will improve their beginning mistakes, and Snapstars will continue doing well.
For all those of you who don’t know, I started out as an unsuccessful youtuber, but eventually realized making videos really wasn’t for me. So I decided to start a blog dedicated to the wonderful world of toys. Here I’ll discuss stuffies, squishies, dolls, figures, and adorable oddities, all while learning about all of these myself. Let the fun begin!
Fun Facts About Me:
I have an adventurous hedgehog (whom this blog is dedicated to) named Russel who loves boiled chicken and napping on my lap ❤
My favourite things to collect are Shopkins and Shoppies, though I’m open to many other types of toys.
I like drawing and creating art, but when it comes to doll repaints I’m an absolute newbie !
I’m a huge Sailor Moon fan.
Cursed images are one of my favourite things and I even have a cursed image wall where I paste some of the strangest ones I could find (if you think you have an interesting cursed image, feel free to send it to me) !
The Hog Blog 