Hasbro unveiled the new Furby to an international delegation of young kids Tuesday at the United Nations Plaza.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Another noteworthy but less controversial "ambassadorial" appointment made a United Nations' debut Tuesday when Hasbro marked the return of the new multi-lingual Furby to a group of young international "delegates-in-training" in New York.

Hasbro (Research), the No. 2 toymaker after Mattel (Research), unveiled the new version of the '90s toy phenomenon at the United Nations Plaza Hotel -- not far from where newly appointed U.S. ambassador John Bolton was presenting his credentials to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Besides fluently speaking its native language "Furbish", the new Furby is also programmed to speak one of seven other languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Dutch.

"Furby was in hibernation for the past eight years but it's waking up today," Allen Richardson, director of marketing for Hasbro, told a gathering of media and kids at the event.

Richardson explained that the most noticeable difference from the original interactive plush toy is that the new version is noticeably bigger and uses "Emoto-Tronics," which is a combination of robotic technology, puppetry and realistic life-like reactions and movements.

Through the use of five-built in sensors in the new toy, Hasbro said this Furby will talk to kids, dance, sing, tell jokes, play games and even laugh when tickled.

Industry watchers have already picked Furby for the short-list of the hottest toys for the holidays, although it remains to be seen if Furby fever will be as contagious this time around. Hasbro has sold 40 million Furby toys since its introduction in 1998.

The new toy is available in white, white and black, gray and pink, and brown and pink. Each toy is priced at $39.99.

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