LOCAL COUPLE CREATE EMPOWERMENT TOYS
Many of our readers will recognize Crissi Boland from Margaux Interior Designs on Sunset Drive, where she has worked with her mother for the past sixteen years.
And now, meet Crissi and her husband Ed who have created HEROBOYS — toys with a purpose. Inside each boy is a hero.
Both Ed and Crissi attended Boston College, where Ed majored in Philosophy and Crissi double-majored in Art History and Spanish. After graduation, Ed moved to New York City to work at the New York Times as a reporter for six years. He then moved to Boston, where he worked as a writer and producer at the local Fox affiliate, WFXT. After graduation, Crissi moved to New York City where she worked as a buyer for both Bergdorf Goodman and ABC Carpet and Home. The college friends reunited after Crissi moved back to her hometown of Miami. They have been married for over nine years, and they live in the SOMI area with their two young boys, Charlie and Jamie.
Crissi and Ed Boland with Charlie and Jamie.As parents of young boys, they discovered a void in the marketplace that provided thoughtful, meaningful, superhero-related content for young children. They quickly sprang into action to create an exciting line, HEROBOYS, bringing their vision to life with 18-inch heroes, comic books and apparel such as capes and masks.
“For years the toy market for young boys has been dominated by dated characters and repackaged by corporations for PG -13 movies and TV shows they are too young to watch,” said co-creator Ed Boland. “Our boys deserve meaningful toys that celebrate boyhood, promote values, and encourage the art of play.” Likening the “empowerment toy’s” potential to the American Girl doll, co-creator Crissi Boland says, “The 18-inch hero is unlike anything on the market for boys. The comic book tells the story of a seemingly ordinary group of boys brought together to do good in a city overrun by selfish behavior. The comics provide teachable moments for parents, promote literacy and teach there is a hero inside every boy.”
HEROBOYS, directed toward young boys ages 3-10, injects positive messaging and meaningful, educational content into a superhero landscape dominated by movie marketing related products. The characters, Blazer, Gusto, Rocko, Stormsurge, Techno, and Thunderhawk, learn to work together and use their inherent strengths and talents (something that all children have) to help make a positive impact in the world.
“We are so happy to finally offer parents a toy line that teaches their children the importance of being kind, generous and empathetic,” explains Ed Boland. “My father, who served in the US House of Representatives for 30 years, was a major influence in the creation of HeroBoys because he instilled in me the importance of giving your children the right foundation built on real morals and values.”
Developed by Whimzy Entertainment, HeroBoys is a line of toys, comic books and apparel made for young boys about young boys. HeroBoys retails online at HeroBoys.com and Amazon.com and at book, toy and gift retailers nationwide, including Books and Books in Coral Gables, Miami Beach and Miami and for wholesale at the Enchanted Moments showroom in AmericasMart Atlanta. For more information, visit
