My daughter decided she wanted a Fluffling after seeing it on an advert. It was shortly after her birthday and she had gift vouchers for The Entertainer, so we ventured down there to buy her a Fluffling.

Flufflings look like big hairy/fluffy balls. They have big plastic eyes on the front (which don't move) and soft material feet on the bottom. There are a number of different Flufflings available - Okki (who is purple), Mindy (who is pink) and Loco (who is blue). The Flufflings came packaged in a cardboard box, which is open fronted so you can test it out before buying. They require 4 x AA batteries, which are included (the battery compartment can only be reached by screwdriver). The Flufflings have 3 settings on the bottom - on, off and try me (no quiet setting unfortunately). The toy is recommended for children 3+ years.

My daughter chose the purple Fluffling called Okki. I have to admit, it does look quite cute. My daughter thought it was adorable and sat stroking it (usually switched off) quite often! It's really soft and fluffy but has mechanical insides which you can feel when you squeeze or push down on the Fluffling. I always feel like the Fluffling is about to break, it seems quite fragile inside, but to it's credit it has been really durable and still works fine despite being thrown down stairs etc!

This is the description of our Fluffling:

"Hi I'm Okki! I'm cute and shy. I love cuddles and once you get to know me I'll come out of my furry shell, sing to you, blow you kisses and giggle! Being rolled scares me but I love it when I'm rocked from side to side, just listen to me purr as I shiver contently! We Flufflings love attention... so don't leave us for too long or we'll get lonely".

My daughter was eager to play with her new friend but there weren't any instructions included so we wasn't really sure what to do with it. We flicked the switch on and to my horror (and amusement) the Fluffling started making sounds that mimic those of a woman taking part in a bit of 'how's your father'!!!! It huffs, puffs and moans like nobody's business. My daughter obviously didn't think anything of it, but I felt rather awkward having to take it round to the in-laws house! It makes other noises too which include different types of laughing, purring, snoring and a kiss sound. The Fluffling also moves - it shakes and moves itself up and down (I think these are meant to express how it's feeling but we never really know how it's feeling... it looks scared when it shivers but apparently shivering means it's content?). Not only are the sounds REALLY loud (and irritating) but the mechanics inside are also noisy. I don't mind a noisy toy, as long as it's a good toy and my daughter likes it. But my daughter just isn't interested in her Fluffling at all, she played with it for one day (discovering what it could do) before she turned the switch off and kept it with her soft toys. It makes different noises and movements at all different times, there doesn't seem to be a way to make it happy or sad, it just does different things whenever it feels like it. It just seems pretty pointless. It kind of reminds me of a budget Furby - a really lame version. I recently asked her why she didn't like her Fluffling and she said "It looks nice, but it's too loud and I don't know what to do with it"...

Flufflings generally cost around £15.00 - 20.00 which I think is way too overpriced (even if they were any good) and can be found in most toy shops. I can't recommend this toy unfortunately.