Shelby is a great toy and he will surprise you as soon as you take him out of the box and learn his language.  You only have 2 hours of listening to their native language, Shelbish (with some Furbish combined) until they start speaking mostly English with the occasional Shelbish/furbish phrase.  Shelby's are a clam-like shape.  They have a plastic shell which they can move up and down.  Above the shell is Shelby's Antennae's (Shelby calls them "tennies"), these can be wiggled by Shelby and pressed down by his owner to tickle him. Inside them is Shelby's IR LEDS, these are used to communicate with other Shelby's and his friends.  He also has a mane that runs down the center of his shell then spreads out along the base.  Shelby's eyes can move from side to side and a little up and down.  When Shelby is scared he may hide in his shell then pear out of it and move his eyes from side to side to check if its safe.  Below their mouth are four "lumps", some people call these Shelby's feet, others call them Barnacles, these have hair coming out of them. 

Shelby takes 4 AA size batteries.  To install these you have to remove his battery pack.  There are TWO screws that you need to undo to get to this, unlike Furby.  Once you have installed the batteries Shelby will (should) spring into life and test his movements.  Once he's finished this he's ready to play.  You will need his dictionary, which is included in the bottom part of his box, close by to understand him.

One of the cool things about Shelby is the way he can hold a grudge.  If you hold him upside down long enough, until he tells you he is in a bad mood (some people find he stays in his bad mood longer if you hold him upside don till he says it twice).  Once he tells you this, turn him up the right way and then make a loud sound (you can use any one of his sensors, this is just an example), you now have a Shelby with a different attitude.  Shelby will now mutter at you and start acting like a little kid when they don't get their way.  He will eventually get so annoyed that he will go to sleep after slamming his shell shut, when he wakes up again he would have gotten over his bad mood (unless he was pretending to be asleep).

Shelby has an attitude too, and it's a funny one at that.  He has lots of sarcasm too, and he uses it a/lot when he is in a bad mood.  He also will ask for Furby from time to time, but strangely enough, does not ask for another of his own kind.  When you put a Furby with Shelby, you have to get Furby to start the conversation by either tickling him or petting him.  Once they get started, they will talk for a while, then eventually get bored with each other and go to sleep.  Shelby can also interact with Furby babies, Interactive Gizmo and Interactive ET, and of course other Shelby's.

Really, so far I haven't found anything I don't like about Shelby.  I hear others complaining that they wish Shelby had an off switch.  I don't agree with that.  Shelby is made to be in a way, a virtual pet.  You don't see pets in real life having an off and on switch on them, so why should a virtual pet?

I think Shelby is one cool toy.  He is a refreshing change from Furby and in some ways, is more interesting then Furby.  If you are wondering of getting a Shelby, but are hesitant, maybe because you think Shelby is just like Furby, then your wrong.  Shelby is very different from Furby and if you get a Shelby, I think you'll be happy with him.