HORDES of tiny creatures - covered in fur and with an insatiable appetite for attention - are about to descend on the children of the SAR.
They claim to come from a land in the clouds, speak in 'Furbish' and English and can communicate with children.
But for parents, who will be forking out up to $350 for the electronic pets next year, they are snoring, sneezing, singing, talking robots which cannot be switched off.
The Furby craze, led by manufacturer Tiger Electronics, is sweeping the United States, Canada and Britain and is tipped to hit Hong Kong in the early weeks of next year.
Tiger international director Les Forgham said the US-based company had already sold millions of the electronic toys and expected them to outdo the Japanese Tamagotchi wave.
'This is the little beast who's setting the world alight,' Mr Forgham said amid distribution meetings in Kwun Tong last week.
'The technology is phenomenal. Its eyes and ears and mouth move in time with the speech so it looks almost human.