“The guy’s a douche bag! You can print that, right?”
That was the initial reaction of Emil Vicale when asked why he decided to produce a 12-inch tall Richard Heene action figure.
Heene, for those allergic to cable news and screaming mimis on “Access Hollywood,” is the father who allegedly set up the “balloon boy” hoax.
Vicale owns Oxford-based Herobuilders.com, a company that has received a ton of press for its tongue-in-cheek “action” figures.
Past toys include mass media darlings Sarah Palin, Joe the Plumber, Bernie Madoff and Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (wearing a T‑shirt reading “Let them eat yellow cake”).
Vicale usually maintains a journalist-like integrity with the action figures. It’s hard to tell whether he adores or abhors Palin from looking at the array of toys.
But, he broke his code for the Heene toy, which comes with a T‑shirt reading “I’m with stupid,” arrow pointing up.
Vicale said he watched along with the rest of the horrified country when the “balloon boy” saga, complete with flyer-saucer looking object, blasted across television screens earlier this month.
Then, seeing Heene granting television interviews while his son vomited — and news of the alleged hoax spread — Vicale grew angry.
“I got more and more hostile toward the guy. I have a child, too. I thought how horrified that child must be,” Vicale said. “When I found out it was a hoax (string of expletives deleted).”
The “balloon boy” action figure went on sale this morning for $34.95.
The Valley Independent Sentinel learned of this story from NBC 30’s Twitter feed.
