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Do Kids Even Care About Actual Toys Anymore?
It was late 1998. And there was one thing on kids’ minds: FURBY.
Yes, I’m referring to the adorable, semi-sentient toy “pet” that, according to Wikipedia, “resembles a hamster or owl-like creature.”
It was THE must-have toy of that holiday.
We didn’t celebrate Christmas in the Ali house. But I vividly remember my parents scrambling to procure these toys for my brother and me, thanks to the constant pressure and pleading from our part.
“If you really love us, you’ll get us a Furby,” we told them.
LOL, just kidding. We didn’t go that far.
But still, every kid at school was raving about Furby. And we were NOT about to get FOMO’ed.
Channeling Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Jingle All The Way,” my dad called up every toy store in the Chicagoland area. But no dice.
It wasn’t until he heard the good news from the FAO Schwartz in Chicago’s Water Tower Place: “Yes, we have a few here. But we close in an hour.”
It was 45 minutes from the suburbs to downtown Chicago. I’ve never seen my dad drive so fast as he did that evening.
Alas, within an hour, there we were, in FAO Schwartz, walking away with two coveted Furbies. These amazing toys could now make our…
