Magic: the Gathering is releasing a batch of five Furby cards which reimagine the fluffy, talking toys as horrors from beyond your worst nightmares. Secret Lair x Furby: The Oddbodies is just one of three Furby themed Secret Lairs arriving on October 13, as part of Wizard of the Coast's enormous Secret Lair: Secret Scare Superdrop.
Although a collab with The flippin' Office was just announced, this still has to go down as one of the strangest Secret Lairs in Magic's history. An Oddbody is a fan term for a Furby that has been extensively customized so that it no longer resembles its original form, and the six cards in this drop all play on this concept for as much horror as possible.
There are some truly terrifying variants of Hullbreaker Horror; Maddening Cacophony; Serum Visions; Umbris, Fear Manifest; and Spellskite available here. That long-Furby Umbris makes the original look like a fluffy kitten.
The other two Furby card collections are much more classic in their appreciation for the hit 90s toy. For instance, Secret Lair x Furby: Doo-Ay Noo-Lah emphasises their cuteness, with a psychedelic color palette in a million shades of pastel. It contains the cards Distant Melody, Explore, Inspiring Call, Chromatic Lantern, and Sol Ring. The flavor text on these cards is also written entirely in Furbish.
Finally, Secret Lair x Furby: The Gathering brings Furbies into the MTG Multiverse, showing them threatening Phyrexians, countering spells, attacking Aurelia and generally making nuisances of themselves. This drop features the cards Sphere of Safety, Miscast, Phyrexian Arena, Tormenting Voice, and Tamiyo's Safekeeping.
It will cost $29.99 (£22) to buy a regular version of any of the Furby drops, $39.99 (£29) to buy one in rainbow foil and $59.99 (£44) to buy one with a sparkly confetti foil treatment.
For those who never lived the 90s kid experience, Furbies are fluffy owl-gremlin creatures that were unbelievably popular from 1998-2001. These talking toys initially speak their own 'Furbish' nonsense language, but then gradually begin learning and parroting (owling?) a variety of English phrases.
Then the batteries run down and you forget all about them, until one night they wake you up at 3am, eyes blinking, ears twitching, and warbling like something possessed.
As you may have guessed, while intended to be cute, the combination of realistic and cartoonish or animatronic features tipped these toys right into the uncanny valley for some fans.
Since Hasbro, who own the rights to Magic: the Gathering, also own the rights to the Furby franchise, it was only a matter of time before these avian-mammalian monsters made their way into Magic. This is also why we've already gotten crossovers with Clue, and - recently - Play-Doh.
Whether you find Furbies heartwarming or horrifying, you're welcome to join the Wargamer Discord to share your views on the latest wave of MTG crossovers. And if you're wondering what comes next for Magic, take a look at our Magic: the Gathering release schedule. We also have news on upcoming crossovers, including everything announced at Magiccon Atlanta and a teased TMNT collaboration.