While every decade had its fad toy crazes, the ’90s took the cake in that department. There was Tickle Me Elmo, Beanie Babies, the Tamagotchi, just to name a few. But the Crown Royalty of ’90s fad toys might have been the Furby. Between 1998 and 1999, the furry little robot that spoke its own language— aptly called Furbish—sold some 40 million toys. Although, much like the Gremlins film that inspired them, they were both cute and also kinda creepy.
Now, a Twitter user named Chad Etzel has doubled down on the Furby creepy factor, by fusing the Furby with an Xbox controller. Because who doesn’t want to stare down at that while playing a game? And it is both amazing and slightly terrifying. In a tweet, Etzel said his “Furbtroller” was “fully functional, you just jam your thumbs on the eyeballs and wiggle them around. Same for mouth d-pad.”
So where did the inspiration for this adorable little monstrosity come from? Well, it seems that Etzel got the idea from someone else’s tweet last year. A Twitter user named Ben Bayliss created a Furby/controller mock-up image, and said in a tweet “I was overcome with inspiration earlier and so made a new Xbox Series controller design. Xbox Series x Furby.” Bayliss also notes to Nerdist, “the idea came about when Xbox announced the revival of its Xbox Design Lab last year.” And we love to see the creativity.
Ultimately, Etzel decided to make that dream a reality. And thus, the Furbtroller was born. You can see the original image right here:
Although its creator says it’s really a “terrible idea,” we actually think these would sell. If someone had the gumption to make them. Enough people out there still have a soft spot for their Furby from childhood. Why not stare at one every day that looks like it was gene-spliced with an Xbox controller in a transporter accident from Star Trek? In the meantime, someone out there needs to create a petition to make certain that the Furbtroller becomes something you can buy for real. We’d sign it.
