FEEDING FURBY FRENZY; TOY CRAZE SPAWNS BLACK MARKET.Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer Forget finding Furbys in stores. The action is all underground trade in newspapers classified ads, online auction sites - and Earl Jacobson's garage, where prices are marked up two, three or four times and still rising. Jacobson, a resident of North Hollywood, has 200 Furbys left in the stockpile he started collecting in October and is now selling the cute, fuzzy, interactive toy-of-the-moment for $150 to $200 - well above the retail price of $34.99. ``We were just buying a few here and there. Now it's just insanity,'' Jacobson said. ``Most of the people are bitching about the price. It's going up every week. We've been selling them to people for $150 and they're reselling them for more.'' The hottest Furbys - a rare black-and-white unit - are fetching fetch·ing adj. Very attractive; charming: a fetching new hairstyle. fetch  ing·ly adv. the
highest prices, Jacobson said.
Emmett Schoeberl is desperate to get a Furby for the 6-year-old granddaughter of a close friend who lives in Germany. ``She wants one of those Furbys in the worst way. She cries every time I talk to her,'' said Schoeberl, 74, of Agoura Hills. He's hoping to have one in hand by the time he leaves on a trip to visit his friends Sunday. He stood in line at one store at dawn, but it quickly sold its supply of 11 Furbys and he left empty-handed. The toys are selling on the Internet, where auction sites like ebay.com start bidding for the fuzzy toys at $61, though prices Tuesday topped $100 for many of the more than 200 listings. A sample Internet advertisement: ``I am looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a nice loving home for a young Furby. This incredible pet is of Jewish heritage and sadly an orphan. Its parents were torn apart by unruly shoppers at a Toys `R' Us in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . It's a very ugly story and a sad commentary of holiday shoppers.'' Unlike the Cabbage Patch Kids Cabbage Patch Kids are a brand of doll created by Xavier Roberts in 1978. The original dolls were all cloth and were available at local craft shows, and later at Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia. , which just kind of lay there, and Tickle Me Elmo Tickle Me Elmo is a childrens' toy from Tyco, introduced in the United States in 1996, becoming that year's top fad. Bright red in color and based on Elmo, a Muppet character from Sesame Street, when squeezed, Elmo would chortle. , which just giggles a lot, Furby is one serious high-tech toy. Inspired by the success last year of the virtual pet toy called Tamagotchi Tamagotchi [Japanese; cute little egg] space-age cyberpet; a solely electronic state; indigenous to Japan, appearing as an egg on a liquid-crystal screen. Life history, consisting of hatching, feeding, beeping when not fed, sleeping in 12 hour snatches, growing, dying , Tiger Electronics
As cute as a Tickle Me Elmo, a Furby has bulging eyes and an O-shape mouth. They speak a made-up language called ``Furbish fur·bish tr.v. fur·bished, fur·bish·ing, fur·bish·es 1. To brighten by cleaning or rubbing; polish. 2. To restore to attractive or serviceable condition; renovate. ,'' can sing songs and can learn up to 200 words of English. The toy also responds to touch, sound and light. Richard Giss, a retail expert for the accounting firm of Deloitte and Touche, said the Furby is a genius stroke of marketing. ``They've managed to create a shortage mentality,'' Giss said. ``There's no question the shortage is somewhat artificial. When you create a scarcity you create demand. ``It's a natural for a black market and an underground to develop,'' Giss said. Paula David, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Consumer Affairs The California Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) is a government agency in the U.S. state of California dedicated to consumer protection and ensuring a fair and competitive marketplace. , said people can legally buy and sell Furbys at any price, as long as they don't represent the product they are selling as new. ``Charging what the market will bear is OK. Scalping laws only apply to tickets,'' David said. And the open market is where buyers likely will find Furbys. FAO FAO, n See Food and Agriculture Organization. Schwartz at the Glendale Galleria The Glendale Galleria is a large 3 story regional shopping mall located in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. It is the second largest mall in Los Angeles County. It is located in Downtown Glendale. has a waiting list of 1,500 people and they stopped taking names the first week of October. Stores throughout the Valley are sold out and have no idea when next shipments will come in, meaning you'll have to get up at dawn each morning and hope it's your lucky day. Michael Outz, manager of FAO Schwartz in Glendale, said since the product only debuted in October, companies like his did not have a sales track record on Furbys and therefore could not order as many units as his did this year for other hot sellers like the dog from the TV show ``Blue's Clues'' or the Teletubbies. Over at K-B Toys, also in the Glendale Galleria, manager George Temourian said the store sold out the day after Thanksgiving. ``They are on order. We have no idea when they will come in,'' Temourian said. ``It would be on a first-come, first-served “FCFS” redirects here. For the figure skating competition, see Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. This article is about a general service policy. For the technical concept, see FIFO. basis.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--Color) This is what the excitement's all about - the Furby, which retails for $39.99. Good luck. Gus Ruelas/Daily News (2) Earl Jacobsen of North Hollywood is selling his stockpile of Furbys, which he began hoarding in October, for $150 to $200. John Lazar/Daily News |
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