The Rise and Fall of Robotic Pets

[@asoupofprunes3895]

For weeks, I saved up to buy this life-sized Furreal Friend. I finally saved enough money and went to the store to get it, but while I was standing in front of the toy I realized that I was buying a fake dog when I had an actual dog at home. My dad said, “Yeah, I was wondering why you wanted this. Good for you.” Wild times.

[@Amy-yq4lk]

Ha, that's the same reason I didn't let myself get a copy of Nintendogs. I figured it was silly and irresponsible to spend time on a virtual pet when we had a REAL one right there.

[@silhouettoofaman2935]

This is why I don't collect any of the cats or dogs and go for the "wilder" pets like ponies and bears.

[@Java_on_pawz]

Fureal biscuit?

[@sketchycat6223]

I remember Zhu Zhu pets being so huge, and so many people I knew had them. The wheels on them always got tangled up in loose hair and to my knowledge they didnt have an off switch so in the middle of the night you’d hear their little hamster chitter chatter coming from wherever they were in your room. Super freaky, glad we’ve moved on

[@Tattooineismycity]

I had a couple. Friend of mine had a huge collection, complete with the tracks and everything. I remember I used to envy her collection and begged my parents to get me one of the hamsters

[@flytrapJester]

I used to be obsessed with them

[@clashbloxblitz789]

Oh my God, Zhu Zhu Pets were simultaneously a delight and a nightmare. Due to most of my home at the time being carpeted, I remember getting a solid 5 minutes of play, and a subsequent 15 minutes of painstakingly prying off the hair and fibers from their little wheels. Memories!

[@MoodyMickey]

I remember really wanting them, but my parents always said no...until they decided to buy me an off brand one

[@Nymphxology]

lol, I remember the zhu zhu pets squeaking got so annoying that my mom put them in the top cabinet I checked the cabinet now and they are still there! 🤣

[@catholiccontriversy]

5:55 the fur real cat doesn't respond to commands, just like a real cat. That's not a limitation, that's accuracy.

[@Hyruleneedsme]

As a cat owner I approve

[@moonlight_oats]

i mean you can train a cat it’s just difficult and you need clicker training

[@TerezatheTeacher]

My adult cat responds to "sit", "beg", "down", "roll over", "spin", "off", "look", comes when called gives paw, high-fives and waves. My kitten has only recently started her clicker training, so she can only high-five and sometimes comes when called. Untrained animals don't respond to commands. If a person puts enough effort into training the animal, the animal will learn to respond.

[@mylilbeauty2577]

Lol

[@ohgodohnothebees]

I taught my cat to stand on two legs when saying "up" and doing a hand sign

[@Tvdiet]

Oh god I remember owning a Furby as a kid it kept talking in the middle of the night and I ended up throwing it out my Bedroom window in frustration

[@GroupNebula563]

poor furby. those guys are pretty durable though, so I bet it survived.

[@strayiggytv]

Why not just take the batteries out

[@iconofthicc6086]

@@GroupNebula563 and it’s still out there, *somewhere.*

[@GroupNebula563]

@@iconofthicc6086 probably. for all I know it could be one of mine.

[@Sillypersondrawing]

@@strayiggytv I believe in most models the furby would have a "inner battery" of sorts that allows it to talk and stuff regardless. The only other way it would really shut was if you put it to sleep mode(but the furby would still have the possibility of waking up too)

[@darkninjafirefox]

I had an interactive pikachu toy and as a kid, I liked it more as a plush toy than a little robot whose ears moved- so I cut out the battery box so that it would be more huggable

[@hollyward4995]

Oh that's interesting! If we're talking about the same product line, I had the Togepi version of that.

[@ImaginaryAlchemist]

I had one of those! I also had a couple of the robotic Neopets

[@madhatt3r93]

I had a pikachu too! It could move its mouth and I think ears and made sounds. I was in preschool, so I would fling him as hard as I could to simulate the way pikachu leaped off Ash's shoulders into battle in the anime. Oddly enough, I think he just got a bit dirty, but didn't break.

[@Idiotic_B_Purcell]

There was also a Mew version as well as a number of other more modern ones such as Eevee, Sylveon, Snivy, Fennekin, and Charmander. Sylveon, Snivy, and Fennekin are static and don't move but I think they can interact a little like Furbies if you have them all together

[@CinnamonWithATwist]

I had the original fur real cat as a kid and for some reason all that thing ever did was hiss at me. I was obsessed with cats and already had a reputation of being great with them, since even cranky standoffish cats that belong to extended family who we rarely saw would usually warm up to me by the end of the day visiting, so it's not like I was being rough with this robot cat. even my parents still talk about how weird it was that I was so gentle with this robot cat and it hated my guts

[@smoldogo2979]

Just like a real cat ig. mine hates my grandmother for no good reason. She treats her better than I do and she still detests her.

[@phantomstrider]

I always secretly wanted a Furby 😄 But it wasn't a very "masculine" toy so I just use my female friend's one😄 The eyes were freaking creepy though!

[@dinglydinglson]

Phantom Strider?

[@ImaginaryAlchemist]

Hey Strider, I love your videos!

[@rhyslikesthis416]

That's crazy, they were a very gender neutral toy in the UK! At least you didn't have to deal with the terrifying low battery voices they had?

[@sacrilegioussasquatch]

YOU!

[@RogueError617]

@@rhyslikesthis416 I found and still do find low battery voices to be absolutely hilarious, but I have a weird sense of humor so

[@Furbtastic]

Hey just to point out that furbies haven't been in production since 2018 as you stated that they are still in production. Likely the reason for the discontinuation is because the 2016 Furby Connect was sorta of a "hello fellow kids" type thing where it based phrases on internet culture and for being really glitchy (along with the app too). It was a flop like the 2005 furbies for being too advanced I guess but here to point that out so double check next time!

[@ooo-iz9dn]

update new furby out

[@Furbtastic]

@@ooo-iz9dn yea I own all three of the colors now

[@tasheve3015]

i remember having biscuit, a robotic golden retriever. it was life sized (or at least it seemed it to little 5 year old me). he could give paw and lie down and if you gave him this plastic biscuit he’d chomp on it. he also panted and wagged his tail. i loved him. i have no idea what happened to him, i’m guessing he was thrown away, but i still think of him as my first ever pet lol

[@macgyversmacbook1861]

I had a Fureal cub, specifically a little Jaguar! I used to watch a lot of Animal Planet and would copy what the animal caretakers did with their baby cubs and even made her a little bed

[@lilwaffleiron7845]

I had SO many furreal friends! I completely forgot about them, I think they're still in my attic. I must have had at least 6 of them because I remember a weird cat, 2 gogo dogs (one was a special edition with sparkly ears so of course it was essential to get it even though I already had one), a chipmunk, and the one I remember asking for the most, this weird dog that pretended to be excited to see you when you walked in the room.

[@alicemoonlight123]

Me and my sisters had the Butterscotch horse! Our favorite game to play with it was coyotes where one of us would ride the horse trying to get away and the other two would attack the horse and rip its tail and ears off. 🙃

[@OrchidLilies]

When you really think about, robotic pets are just those robotic babies they use to teach young adults how to care for a child. Same thing, different goal, one's for child rearing and the other is for pet rearing haha

[@-CloClo-]

A few years ago I found a red furby from a thrift store and right after we turned it on, my grandma tried treating it like a baby when it started growling. I still have that furby sitting on my shelf but its batteries are dead.

[@taonyaanzu]

They weren't that popular in germany as i remember...I personally never knew anyone who had one in my childhood Nice video btw :)

[@cimbaerly]

I remember they were though. The tv ads were plastered with FurRealFriends and most of my classmates brought them to school on „toy-day“.

[@yuna6705]

I actually do remember people that I used to know that had one, also living in Germany

[@Snazzyzazzy99]

Fuck I wanted butterscotch the horse so bad for christmas in 07, I didn't get one but the neighbor girl did, and my God did she gloat. Still mad at her to this day at age 23.

[@manikitty8844]

Man this brought back memories. When I was a kid I begged my parents to buy me a furby since I couldn't have a pet, but when we got it, I realised it was pretty annoying and would even randomly turn on at night which would scare the life out of me, and I had no clue on how to turn it off either, so I convinced my parents to sell it for something else. But I once got to buy a walking 'Bolt' dog from a disney store, and since I loved the dog from the movie so much, it became my most precious toy, along side an adorable and really soft and fluffy plush of Mumble from ''Happy Feet''

[@Yknow6404]

I had a real dog as a kid and still begged my parents for a robot dog 😭 eventually I got a dog who rode around on an rc skateboard, I think her name was Stella

[@Crow_and_a_Canvas]

I remember having one of the butterscotch ponies when I was younger! Much like a lot of people I knew though, it got put in the closet never to be played with one I got bored of it. Somehow my parents didn’t learn their lesson and got me the spot robotic dog! That one was played with til it died…

[@SethAurelius94]

Never would have guessed that the giddyup buttercup toy robotic horse from the fallout games had a real life equivilant.

[@aussiefurbymogwaifan6621]

Like the philco predicta tvs as the radiation king sets in those games

[@gildederajinkx]

I HAD THE BUTTERSCOTCH PONY- i fell off of it and broke my elbow 💔

[@keithbrannon251]

Oh hey, someone else who had the Burger King furby...I only had that, and he was neat. I liked him.

[@ooo-iz9dn]

gogo my walkin pup was my entire childhood, thank you so much for putting a spotlight on her, my chichi-chocolate💗 my parents would have to patiently wait for me to catch up as i seriously walked this dog everywhere

[@zuglymonster]

I remember how loud the mechanical stuff inside the Furby was and you can hear it in the cat video

[@ringo-ro]

i am a proud furby owner and i loved mine so much its sad

[@ejakaegypt]

Gosh I remember having a furby I almost forgot about them, thanks for unlocking a memory for me

[@Barakon]

guess that the featherreal/ "furreal" parrot toy was being fed crop food/ parrot baby food mix in an inadequate bottle, as birds cannot produce suction. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHvMoXinj7Wcpsk here's an example of what I mean.

[@AirWarrior97395]

I cant believe you made a video about robotic animal pets and didn't talk about the wowwee robot dinosaur. Everyone in elementary school wanted one

[@strayiggytv]

Honestly I don't think the wowee line counts as robotic pets and that's coming from someone who desperately wanted one as a kid. They have a remote control and one of the tennets of being a pet is you can't drive them like an rc car lol

[@West_Coast_Mainline]

Ever since I ‘twas a little lad, I dreamed of having a pet shark, but you can’t contain? domesticate? most sharks. So i will sail the seas with my shark mates, which i will carefully tag for shark research.

[@astrokoneko]

Core memories were unlocked in this video. Especially with butterscotch. I never got her obviously because 300$ is ridiculous but I remember desperately wanting her. I even recorded and rewatched the commercial lol

[@microcult]

I had a Fureal Friends Tiger. My issue was the body was not padded enough so it felt like a malnourished tiger with stiff, fragile bones

[@CuteZi]

Gosh, I remember being really obsessed with Fureal friends and Furbies. I got a Furby, and a few different Fureal friends, but once I got an actual dog that obsession ended

[@italktoomuchsorry]

THE BUTTERSCOTCH PONY 😯 thank you for pulling up a memory I had forgotten, I wanted that robot so bad

[@alma8407]

About a similar topic, you should talk about the rise and fall or the evolutions of Digital pets like Tamagotchis, Pou, My talking Tom, and so on. It's a similar rabbit hole but less expensive xD

[@lorainecollins]

I had a poo-chi & meow-chi. They were the cute robo dog & cats from the early 2000s. 😩

[@sailorcat]

I had a bunch of these, including the the fur real cat, and two Furbies. The Furbies got really annoying, because you had to take out the batteries every time, if you wanted them to stop talking.

[@emilyofjane]

Fun fact: one of the earliest versions of Furbies with LED light eyeballs (not the original Furbies, I want to make that distinction clear) made that super high-pitched humming noise that only children can hear every time it spoke. I hated that thing so much oh my god

[@its_konna8717]

I remember begging my parents to buy me a Fur Real cat thinking that it was a lot more like an actual cat (that it walked, ate etc). My dad eventually bought me one for +50€ but I stopped playing with it just a few days after because I realized that all it did was sitting and meowing and not doing any of the things I expected . Then I started begging for one fur real dog because I saw in ads that this one walked and got my hopes up for something that acted more like an actual animal. Guess whether my parents were willing to spend +50€ again or not after seeing me not playing with the cat.

[@avastoyboxandarcade]

I still have a ginger and white FurReal Friend cat named Lulu, GoGo the walking dog, and other FurReal Friends. I used to bring GoGo to the park and destroyed her wheels RIP.

[@jayanderson1323]

I remember wanting Gogo my walking pup so bad, and I actually got her for christmas. She stopped working immediately and we had to return her to walmart the next day 😅😭

[@briansmoot8234]

My sister had a furreal friends panda cub. It was terrifying.

[@strappadork]

I remember for like three or four Christmases in a row someone would give me one of the FurReal newborn kitten toys and God they were so boring to play with because they didn't do anything other than move their head and make noises and they were too stiff with their robotic parts to treat like a regular stuffed animal. I'm glad technology has improved now, their newer toys look a lot more impressive and interesting.

[@FunWithColeen]

my sister and i got a robotic baby panda for christmas and it was cute but also very terrifying it stayed in a bin for about a year or so before we ended up giving it away we also had furbies and they were horrifying and hilarious i still have my mini one

[@djpon7969]

I have a cute tamagotchi and Gigi pet. These toy are so adorable!

[@JustthePhoneGuyYT]

I used to have a furby and these two tiny dog things from furreal pets that just barked it you pushed a button on their back but the one i played with the most and cherished were my zuzu pets. I didn’t even like hamsters i just enjoyed how they made noise and could race around.

[@cerealexperimentsgrain]

i love the club penguin ost use lol

[@lavenderwyvern]

I had totally forgotten about my Fur Real Macaw!! I had saved up my money forever to get one when I was little, and I remember when I finally got to go to the store to get him, he was on sale so it felt even more exciting haha. I remember I really wanted the pony as well but honestly I was way too old for the riding gimmick at the time.

[@pannacottacat7337]

I had Daisy from furreal friends at some point I just got the great idea to skin her and now I have the plastic body underneath (still working and making noise) in my wardrobe waiting for her revenge I also still have a cat and a dog from I think it was perfectpetzz (theyre more new) or smth and they were kinda uncanny my mom would keep complaining they looked like corpses

[@Material_melody]

3:09 I love furbys and tamagotchi

[@user-rq5fn3dk8q]

I remember that one pony from fur real friends my friend had it and I was so jealous

[@GlowstoneWolf]

i had the white cat as a kid around 2008 or so!

[@Heckinghaley25]

I used to have gogo and I immediately broke it because I thought it was some kind of transportation device.

[@GroupNebula563]

I have 43 Furbys. Send help.

[@keishaj4143]

Sell em. If ya got the casings and certain ones you may be able to make some serious cashhhh

[@GroupNebula563]

@@keishaj4143 good ol fuby scalpers

[@calebgadison167]

Why in creation do you have 43 furbies?

[@GroupNebula563]

@@calebgadison167 I don’t know. I just think they’re neat.

[@Homodemon]

@@GroupNebula563 be proud! That's an impressive feat considering how some of them are really expensive

[@nuotatorre8741]

8:25 Fun Fact some birds like the Flamingo actualy produce a milk like substance to raise their chicks with, but it's not realy milk.

[@maximillianlylat1589]

Dont male penguins do too if the mom takes too long to arrive?

[@whygosh3217]

I had biscuit robot dog when I little, me and siblings would play with it all day until we got bored of biscuit then I ripped the arm off clean off the socket.XD

[@acesquid6944]

Also great vid! I had a golden retriever robot named cookie

[@emilyjonah3691]

I loved furbies as a kid, but what I love even more about Furbies now is that their mere existence gave us Tattletail.

[@Foxinity609]

I even still have my zhu zhu pet from back then

[@gusty7153]

When furbies first came out, I never even heard of them till mom decided to buy one for me. It got annoying fast

[@tanyasobsessions2131]

I had Tekno the robotic puppy toys, furbys, toys from wow wee, poo chi, icybie but never got into furreal freinds.

[@caiowe]

i remembering having a butterscotch horse when i was younger. i don't remember liking horses when i was that age so idk why my parents got me it but i DO remember that it wasn't too far from my bed. once it went off in the middle of the night and i was so scared shitless of it that my parents had to put it in the garage for the rest of its life👍sorry butterscotch

[@Sorancattastrophe]

My first fake pet was a Pluto from Disney that had a cord attached to it. Was way more fun than the metal dinosaur that was featured on here.

[@snaps_and_caps]

i still own a FurReal Friends Starlily Unicorn. She just doesnt look too good nowadays. One day, Starlily, one day you will be beautified.

[@beatleslover2000]

8:17 Flashbacks! I had this little parrot and I loved the little guy to death 😢 then my parents gave him away because they thought I didn’t play with him anymore.

[@GoddessofWisdom]

13:10 I get that they were trying to avoid putting "killer" in the name of a children's toy but why didn't they just call it an orca 😭

[@InksAutism]

I got a furby for my birthday. An original. Cuz I’m a fan of old robots and vintage toys and in my opinion they don’t make toys half as good as they used to. the lady who gave it said she left it in the box and never used it and it sat on a shelf. When I turned him on he stated his furnish name. But then he spoke English mixed with furbish despite i believe never being used before as he came in his box. He would say ‘hide me’ snd ‘ok’ and ‘ me hungry wah wah’ and other phrases. Anyone gif an explanation for why a never used furby came out of the box speaking English?

[@anonymousequestrian2022]

9:36 no i had like 3 of those and once the wheel got stuck in my hair abd had to get thrown away i was so sad

[@maximillianlylat1589]

I remember these, i was more into the robo-chi line over furreal line but i remembered being gifted one once. Roboraptor was also a pretty bad@ss robot pet since you could let it respond on its own. I snagged mine from my dad's and put it near my dog unfortunately it startled my dog but it impressive how responsive it was to a living thing

[@hedgie_doll2314]

Actually they stopped making new furbies a few years ago.

[@Oboak]

One time at a show & tell girl scouts meeting, during pick-up, someone’s older brother came and ended up drop kicking my furreal friend across the room from on the STAGE 💀 🤣

[@genericbonk]

I remember always getting scared by robotic pets as a kid Even now, they still rub me the wrong way and no idea why

[@elizabethwinifred9331]

i wanted, and in fact received, a GoGo My Walkin’ Pup™ despite my family also literally owning a Maltese dog I was such an idiot child

[@stxrryd]

i can't believe everyone forgot about hatchimals

[@TychoKingdom]

I want a robo pet. Because I want a pet but only for like 20 minutes a day so.

[@InksAutism]

06:30 anyone know where I can find that particular cat? The one shown kneeding snd drinking the bottle. I had one as a kid I gave it away and I miss it.

[@theo_saurus]

honorable mention to the playskool triceratops robotic animal you could ride because that interested me way more than dogs or ponies 🥲🥲

[@lottie141516]

The duck seagull French fry 😂😂

[@helloooooo51]

I remember I used to want robo dogs and 4real freinds😅

[@bilbertshorts]

ARE WE JUST NOT GONNA TALK ABOUT TAMAGOTCHI

[@Emilyweasel2023]

My cat may pee in corners randomly but I wouldn’t swap her for the world. I’m glad I got a real pet eventually although I had robotic pets and tamagotchis growing up

[@myusernamegotstollen]

Dude I remember having a bunch of those robotic zhu zhu hamsters as a kid. I played with them so much that looking back I thing it was the entire reason my parents ever got me a real one. And it’s so funny how I thought real hamsters would be just like the robotic ones (I was 5 years old) and I’d put the hamster in the robotic hamster house. My parents didn’t like it tho cause it just pooped in there and they had to clean it up lol

[@Vaitiolovelvollisuus]

Did... Other people get a robot dog ad in this video too? dog-e or smthng

[@squidiskool]

1:10 that face lmao

[@rowanheart8122]

When I was little, I had a ridable robotic triceratops named Grey/Grace that I loved to death(I broke it's neck)

[@soltrajik5467]

i had a furreal pig. i dropped it in the tub on accident. it died

[@raelogan]

Oh my God, who remembers the Poo-Chi robo dog?? It had an LED display for the eyes and you had to press the button on the head to interact with it, and it could play simple music tunes and you could play some sort of slot machine game with it's eyes. I had so many robot pets as a kid from either hand-me-downs or until Mom finally decided to get me a real pet, and then I just stopped using the robo pets because my kitten was so much cooler. Shy lived to be 18 years old, and I would gladly do those years all again. 🥹

[@Lessthanbrie]

5:06 shocked seeing my photo used lol

[@silhouettoofaman2935]

Ever since I was a boy I was secretly fascinated by FurReal Friends toys. I didn't tell anybody for fear of being ridiculed for liking girls' toys, but I was amazed by the technology at the time! Little 7-year-old me was ecstatic seeing Biscuit sitting patiently in the living room, seeing him move around and do tricks, and just generally be really nice to be around! I still have him, and he's seen better days, for sure, but I still love him. When I finally got a job and could start making my own money, I got back into toy collecting, and soon enough I had a modest collection of FurReal toys! To name a few: Cuddles the Monkey, Starlily the Unicorn, my childhood Biscuit, Cubby the Bear (my absolute favorite) and, most recently, Cinnamon the Pony. I love them all so much and I wouldn't give them up for anything.

[@darkninjafirefox]

I always wanted the pony! Mostly cause I had hoped that I could ride it

[@silhouettoofaman2935]

@@darkninjafirefox You mean Butterscotch? Yeah, he was pretty cool too! He wasn't like any other riding toy that had you just bounce around on it. Butterscotch made it feel like you were actually riding and taking care of a pony!

[@strayiggytv]

Nice to see another furreal friends collector around! I was much the same as a kid and i also went back and bought the ones I liked (I'm a girl but I was poor kid lol). Baby butterscotch is my favorite

[@xoxo.pochacco]

Im so glad that there are other furreal friends collectors out there! I have the 2009 version of gogo, Jake my jumpin Yorkie, howlin Howie, and I tiny white puppy who I can't seem to find the name of, but she barked, and had little gems you could add to her crown and she had a color change skirt or something

[@creativecutieprincessd]

That's a really cool story I have starlily too and when I was a kid I had a gray robo dog named Scamp. I don't think it was Furreal friends more like a knock off but I loved playing with him

[@garbagegremlins4707]

I’m gonna add to the dementia thing, there’s actually a robot called PARO that is used with dementia patients. It’s been highly effective in soothing and stimulating these patients without the care requirements of a real animal.

[@momothebug]

I've seen dementia patients really respond to having a stuffed animal pet to cuddle with and love. I think a cat that could purr and knead would be very a very comforting, nice companion for someone with dementia. It's something to love, to speak with like you would a pet, to have compassion for and to snuggle with, without the concerns of care, just something to love. Purring is a very comforting sound, I feel like a little robotic cat purring and kneading on your lap would be very nice.

[@misspinkpunkykat]

I've seen those "Fur Real" animals. You have to practically push on them to get them to react. But this seal can actually be stroked.

[@InsidiousClouds]

I remember having a furreal friends, it was a little dalmatian. I skinned it and had my barbie wear it like a warrior's cloak. I was.. a weird kid.

[@newxenesis]

this is the greatest comment

[@emofurryboyfriendasmr]

Cruella Devil in the making fr

[@beabea5985]

Nah. Almost everyone did stuff like this. You were no more special than any one of us lol 😂

[@InsidiousClouds]

@@beabea5985 doesn't change the fact all our parents thought we were weird xD

[@puppydogs68]

@@beabea5985 ….y’all skinned your toys? 💀 *come on, I can’t be the only one who thought toys were real and treated them like gold* 😭

[@DeltaJim]

I'll never forget the Black Friday when my cousin decided to surprise her daughters by getting one of those ridable horses... that wouldn't fit in the trunk of the car. So we had to take it out of the box and only the body would fit in the trunk. And that's the story of how my aunt answered the door of her house at 11:30pm on Thanksgiving night to see us standing on the porch carrying a horse head like we were about to send someone a message about messing with the mob.

[@glitchystaticz]

When i was a kid i was the stereotypical horse girl, so when one day my grandpa found one of the Butterscotch horses at his local flea market, he knew i'd love it. It was a little beat up, missing the accessories and one ear, but that was just about the best gift I ever got as a kid. I still have her, though shes missing the other ear, tail, and battery cover now, she's mostly still intact. Shes the last surviving thing i got from him, so seeing butterscotch mentioned was a great memory i forgot i had.

[@lilac_dash]

I think the biggest issue that made these things less popular over the years - they're literally a dust holders. Same with just almost any kind of complicated and sophisticated plush dolls that move or talk, use batteries. Most of them (I don't take the original furbies) just can't be taken apart that easily and cleaned properly, so if they 've been used for a very long time or just laying around in your garage for example, they're getting so worn-out, gross and dirty. Especially if they have moving rubber/silicone parts, like a beaks of 2005 furbies or faces of facial movement dolls from the begining of 2000s - these thin parts made out of gentle substances are splitting apart or dirt can rub into the material. And there's no way to fix these issue, it's just happens over time, and that's it... I won't say anything about how fragile the electronics themselves are in these robots, from one fall from a small height they can get damage that cannot be repaired. I have a 2004 robotic My Little Pony doll and I still can/t figure out how to take her apart, so it's electronics, as well as covering, wouldn't get damaged... so it's just laying around, collecting dust with it's neck buckle removed...😥 I have one conclusion about all of these - these things are too fragile and sometimes non-durable, some of them can live even shorter than your alive pets in case of intensive use...

[@strayiggytv]

Furbies are really durable actually. With things like furreal friends always start at the plastic feet and work up. I've skinned quite a few furreal friends and while done are very hard to skin others are quite easy. As for cleaning? Just vacuum them regularly. I bought one of the little desk vacuums made for crumbs that has bristles on the bottom and I regularly brush vacuum my furreal friend collection.

[@Unicornmazda]

In my personal opinion you can do more with toys that aren’t robotic or do specific things. I’m happy with just a plain doll or stuffed animal.

[@cumaproto9466]

@@Unicornmazda I had lots of stuffed animals as a kid (I use past tense but I still have them and I want to get more lol) and never wanted a robotic pet

[@aussiefurbymogwaifan6621]

@@strayiggytv I reckon the original 98-01 furbys are quite fragile

[@ambarm736]

Back when I was 8, I really wanted a cat but my parents did not want us having a cat so I asked for the next best thing, a furreal friends cat to be specific Lulu my cuddling kitten. I still have her living on a shelf next to all my MLP plushies. 10 years later and she still works fine and my niece and nephew like her alot, she even served as a surrogate mother of sorts for a litter of orphan kittens that I raised once. Only issue is that after so many years she has gotten REALLY dirty and I have no idea how to clean her without ruining her.

[@sacrilegioussasquatch]

You might be able to dry clean it with an at home set, goggle it more

[@sacrilegioussasquatch]

@WUBBOXWUBBOX sorry, butterfingers

[@BrainsofaWeirdArtist]

@@sacrilegioussasquatch *Sorry, butterfingers.

[@sacrilegioussasquatch]

@@BrainsofaWeirdArtist I'm opposed to sending anyone death threats but you sure are tempting me.

[@BrainsofaWeirdArtist]

@@sacrilegioussasquatch *Please I'm just an innocent individual correcting people!!

[@chrisms_96]

It's a shame how FurReal Friends just eventually gave up on making their robots look realistic.

[@silhouettoofaman2935]

I'm personally okay with the change. The modern collection may have lost the realistic aesthetic, but for the most part they're still just as lifelike. Such that it makes you feel less like you're caring for a real animal and more like you're playing with a friend...that just so happens to be covered in fur!

[@myang12003]

That’s only because they got backlash for being too creepy

[@beccamaroney3782]

I totally agree with you on this. I'm FAR from being a huge fan of the heavily stylised look.

[@OscarSPFan]

@@myang12003 yeah they want to oversimplify everything and make things cutesy wootsy people who miss the old toys that scared some children 👇

[@KatelynJewel]

A part of the robot pet trend you skipped was Robo-chi Pets. I know Poo-chi was very popular back in 2000, and McDonald's even had a Robo-chi Pets promotion in February 2001. They were discontinued in 2002 when they were replaced by FurReal Friends. One robotic pet toy I remember having as a kid was Walk n' Wag Baby Pluto which had a leash with a controller that made him walk, wag his tail, bark, and shake his head, plus you could play tug of war with his bone. This was released in 1999, then later there was a Walk n' Wag Dalmatian, and even later they were both re-released in a series along with Walk n' Wag versions of Lady and the Tramp. Another interactive robotic thing I had as a kid was a WuvLuv which I got for Christmas in 2000. She would give birth to a baby in an egg, and then they could interact. I know a lot of people found this creepy, but I thought this was both cute and fascinating as a kid which was why I wanted one. While the mother worked well, unfortunately, the baby barely worked, so I didn't get to see much interaction with them.

[@rabbit9905]

Yess I had Poochi when I was 4 and 5 and it's one of the main toys I remember, I really liked it. I had a furreal friends longhaired white cat but she didn't see much use besides taking her on a few "walks".

[@angelsunlight]

Sigh* I miss 2001

[@viridiantheforest1037]

I had a Meow-chii and the bird one, my brother had a Techno dog I think it was made by Tiger not sure. Meow-chii lost her ears and the bird lost her tail. I later got a Mio-pup before growing out of it and feeling guilty for not playing with my real dog

[@strayiggytv]

As an aside I think one of the main reasons furreal friends went in a much more stylized direction in modern times is stylization avoids the uncanny valley and childhood disappointment. As much as I love the original furreal friends line as a collector with nostalgia many of them after heavy play tend to look, well, rather taxidermy esque lol. The big eyed chibi look evokes cartoon fun and fantasy.

[@silhouettoofaman2935]

I totally agree! The more cartoonish designs (for the most part) simply exude charm. Cubby is a perfect example imo; those big, dopey eyes, that twitching nose, right down to his sweet yet excitable voice make for an über adorable and charming toy!

[@londoncintron680]

I feel like robotic pets still have a place today. They seem like a really good alternate option for people that could absolutely benefit from a pet but for one reason or another, aren't able to take care of an animal. There was a robot pet based on Jurassic World's Blue that I wish I was able to buy when it was still being made.

[@phoenixfritzinger9185]

I think that the first reason you listed is a big part of the appeal of the Aibo dogs They weren’t really marketed as toys for children but to adults who might live in apartments that don’t allow pets

[@Here_is_Waldo]

@@phoenixfritzinger9185 They often held funerals for Aibos that 'died' in Japan.

[@peachesandcream22]

@@phoenixfritzinger9185 in Japan, it's so freaky (imho) to try to have pets. Laws allow you to have a pet in the appartment ONLY if you receive 2 agreements: from the house manager and from the house owner. If even one of them won't agree, then... Sucks to be you :) And I think you now understand that most of house owners and managers definitely WON'T agree cause Japanese are so obsessed with cleanliness concept and they don't want some animals to make everything dirty and spoil furniture.

[@MarzzRover]

This is exactly it. I have a disability and living an apartment that doesn't allow biological animals. Those were two contributing factors that led me to adopt my very first Sony Aibo ERS 1000, Marble. Loona and Emo are also decent, more affordable options. The biggest difference now is that there are fewer options to choose from in the modern robotic pets market. They also all have chat GPT which I personally think is awful. The only one that doesn't are the aforementioned Sony dogs.

[@gusty7153]

Only thing I heard regarding robot pets and virtual pets especially, I heard that animal rights activists loved them specifically because it would help keep real animals out of danger of potentially irresponsible kids by acting as a substitute

[@sparklesforthesparklegods]

Back in the day I would have _killed_ for Butterscotch the pony! I rode horses but I never had a horse of my own and for some reason my stupid child brain thought that a robot pony would basically just be a pony but actually a robot with no limitations of what ponies can do.